Is this how your company treats one of its BEST customers? I can’t believe that you guys have stayed in business this long treating good customers this way! I could understand it if I didn’t pay my bills or caused a lot of problems, but I don’t do any of those things! If this how you treat your best customers, I can only imagine how you treat lesser customers!
I stopped because it was getting painful to type all these comments that we all have heard over time about the companies we work for. (Hopefully they are talking about the company not the rep) These comments and about a gazillion more are always made when you try and say NO to a customer.
I will give you a great example, just yesterday I received my wireless phone bill. Last month I upgraded from and iPhone 4G to an iPhone 4GS. I paid $200.00 for the phone and then my carrier charged me an additional $36.00 activation fee. I called the phone carrier and asked to have the charge removed. The CS rep told me she couldn’t do it, so I said, “I have been a customer for over 8 years with 4 phones on my family plan all iPhones with media packages. I pay my bill on time and I think I am a pretty good customer. I am sure if you ask your supervisor he will OK the removal.
The CS rep said she couldn’t do it but she was willing to ask her supervisor as I requested. She was back in about 2 minutes and told me he said OK.
I went from a customer asking for something that I really wasn’t due to a “GOOD” customer just to make my case. Isn’t that the way it goes with your customers? They are a normal customer, not your biggest, not your smallest, they don’t pay early but they don’t pay late either. They don’t ask for much and they get exactly that, not much. Then when you say no to them about something, they immediately become your BEST customer in their own minds!
I have fought this battle many times, I have told a customer no and had them play the “BEST” card. I have stuck to my guns and insisted NO! Only to have them tell me again how GREAT a customer they are. I say NO again, they tell me how long they have been doing business with the company. I say NO again, and they tell me how often they have ignored mistakes and didn’t make a big deal out of things that have gone wrong, and that makes them a good customer.
This back and forth battle could go on for hours, days, weeks, months, it can turn into a never ending point of contention between you and the customer. The bottom line, they are the customer.
In sales, as in life, it is sometimes just easier to give in and let the other person (the customer) win even when you are right. It is sometimes easier to just say yes than it is to keep fueling the battle and forming feelings that may never heal.
My carrier said yes to me yesterday. I knew the $36.00 charge was going to be on my bill, the sales rep in the store told me it was. I asked him if he could remove it, he said no, and then said, call customer service when you bill comes, they will try and say no, but if you persist they will remove it. Your customers may not have that information about you (at least I hope they don’t) but none the less, they know.
Don’t just roll over and give in, put up a front, let them think they have you against the ropes, make it appear to hurt a little, but keep in mind, big or small, good or not so good, they are the customer and our incomes depend on them.
Lorin
I had a couple of different reactions when reading this one. At first, I thought why play that game? Why not just give the customer the deal straight away? Don't go through the whole song and dance of Rep "saying I can't do that" and the customer saying "you have to do it." And then I remembered some training from my past and something that I do on a regular basis without thinking about it.
ReplyDeleteOur customers expectations should be set from the very beginning. The rep can head off a lot of these scenarios with the proper framing on the front side. Meaning that if you set the expectation that every time the customer says jump, you merely ask how high, you are setting yourself up to be in a subordinate position in every negotiation, will lose on price in more instances and ultimately don't convey true value in yourself or your offerings.
So while I could argue that AT&T should do away with that silly upgrade charge, I could also say that it may be a legitimate charge based on it subsidizing the phone and the huge costs that go into maintaining and expanding a wireless network. The supervisor did the right thing by crediting you. My guess, however, is that you will have this conversation once every two years with AT&T. Their action of not sticking to their guns has now empowered you to know that they should now and forever do away with this charge.
So, ultimately, your article hits the nail on the head. Stick to your guns, set expectations for your customers, deliver value and don't just roll over. We have to do what's right for our customers, but we also have to make sure that we take care of ourselves and our company. More times than not, there is usually some ground in the middle.