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Customer Service Pitfalls Part 3 [2023 Update]

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The Official Merchant Services Blog finishes its titanic trilogy on the affect Customer Service can have on a business. In our first blog we discussed anecdotal evidence and how it pertains to the perception of service and what can be learned from those anecdotes. In our second blog we took at look at the numbers, examining charts of data to determine a measured impact that customer service has on a business. The combination of strong anecdotal evidence and detailed charts demonstrated how integral quality customer service can be to a business’ financial success. Today we’re going to delve into the tips that get offered regarding inferior customer service — both tips on how customers can deal with customer service they find lacking and tips on how businesses can improve customer service that their customers find lacking.

I got onto this topic recently because of an online discussion that suggested that customers weren’t worth the effort of listening to their complaints. That discussion was sparked from  The story of Jennifer Hepler found on The Mary Sue. It brought up the concept of gamer entitlement and video game customers going too far in their negative complaints to video game developers. Added to that was this Forbes article about The Myth of Gamer Entitlement. This really created a framework where customer complaints were presented as too much hassle for game companies to listen to. So the game companies would place customer service extremely low on their priority list.

I really have issues with that concept. It makes no sense to me. Customers and quality customer service are extremely valuable to long-term business. So I set about to prove how valuable customer service can be for a business. After seeing the anecdotal evidence and the numerical data stack up, it’s quite clear that quality customer service has an impact on a business’ bottom line. Good customer service helps retain customers. Happy customers also give a business good word of mouth advertising — the most powerful and effective advertising a business can receive. Good customer service leads to high customer loyalty. High customer loyalty gives your business higher sales and a stronger brand identity.

What to Do if All is Not Well?

So let’s bring this back around to what started me on this line of thinking: Difficult Customers. The strategy that some video game companies are using to “deal” with the difficult customers was to launch a bit of an online campaign through gaming sites and other avenues to paint those difficult customers as unreasonable, and set the company up as a victim of their irrationality. From what I’ve seen and read of that option, the negativity has simply bred more negativity. Making the customers even more difficult and a lot of bad word of mouth has started to seep into the reputation of the company hurting their brand. So instead of creating an antagonistic atmosphere with difficult customers, I did a little research and found some tips and advice on how to deal with difficult customers and turn it into a positive.

The Customer’s Side

To get a handle on difficult customers I think it’s important to understand the perspective of the customer. This article by Mind Your Decisionsis amazing at giving us insight into that perspective — and it gives consumers a series of tips on how to get the service they desire from bad customer service situations. It hinges on the premise that for customers to get what they want from a business’ customer service department, their strategy should be reasonably unreasonable.

It states that being reasonable with bad customer service usually leads to the customer not getting what they want as they let the business continue to ignore their issue. It then states that being unreasonable with bad customer service also misses the mark as making a ruckus may get you what you want, but may leave you feeling like you made a mountain out of a molehill. So it advocates a strategy of being reasonably unreasonable: Holding firm, continually going after what it is you want from the company but not raising a ruckus while you follow that path.

The article is focused on giving customers advice on how to get businesses to respond to your desire for customer service: “When dealing with bad service, one of the easiest ways to be reasonably unreasonable is to explain you are a frequent customer and that you would like a full cash refund. Cash, unlike in-store discounts, can be used at competitors. This small request quickly gets the attention of managers who scramble to keep you happy. You may end up accepting an in-store discount, but it will likely be much larger because you started asking for cash.”

Articles like this are important to be aware of when you’re planning  your own customer service protocols. You find again and again that the advice offered to consumers is to not back down. To continue to push for service. To be difficult. Sure, there are always going to be a tiny selection of customers that are the exceptions to the rule — ones that are difficult to be difficult, ones that thrive off of confrontation, and ones that simply want to try and take advantage of your customer service to get something for nothing.

But these are the rare exceptions. Most of the time you are dealing with a customer that feels like they got a defective product or did not get the value of their purchase. They are seeking some sort of compensation, some understanding and some assistance. And because they feel justified in their crusade, they are going to feel entitled to service. They aren’t the unreasonable villains that the “gamer entitlement” tag suggests they are.

The moral of this story is a customer that wants a refund can be difficult about it. But can be turned back into a loyal customer if they receive understanding and compensation. It doesn’t even have to be in the form of a refund. But ignoring them or antagonizing them is only going to do more damage to your business and its reputation than the refund is usually worth. Most difficult customers aren’t that difficult once you initiate customer service that actually addresses their issues and their concerns.

Customer Service Tips

This article from Customer Service Manager offers five tips for dealing positively with difficult customers. Those five tips all hinge on engaging the customer’s emotions. As the article states in its conclusion: “Make no mistake about it; customers, be they internal or external, are primarily driven by their emotions. It’s therefore important to use human responses in any interaction particularly when a customer is upset or angry. If customers like you and feel that you care, then they’re more likely to accept what you say and forgive your mistakes.”

The tips break down to:

  • Have a thick skin. Be aware the customer is going to be angry and upset and don’t let that get to you.
  • Listen. Listen to what they have to say.
  • Don’t use the word sorry. Sorry, the article says is overused and has little impact with difficult customers.
  • Show empathy. The customer is upset and empathy will help mollify their anger.
  • Build a rapport. While empathizing with the customer opens the door for you, building a rapport gets you to your destination — customer service.

Most other lists I’ve found on how to deal with difficult customers breaks down to a similar set of tips. The important tips that I repeatedly ran into were all a variation on listening to the customer, showing them understanding and not letting their anger get to you. It all comes back to giving the customer your time, your ear and your energy. Giving them the attention they need to service them and address their issues. You do this and most of the customer service complaints you get are defused. You turn many of these customers into loyal fans of your business who will turn around and spread the news that you give excellent service. You attract more business and build a reputation for your business.

For me, the bottom line of customer service is this: There’s no such thing as gamer entitlement. Those gamers are customers who purchased your product and they are entitled to quality customer service. If you run a video game company you should beat the pants off of your competitors by being one that gives quality customer service. You’ll set yourself apart from the ones that are painting their own customers as the villains and themselves as the victim of a group of people who simply want what they paid for.

Customer Service Pitfalls Part 1

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The Official Merchant Services Blog returns to one of its favorite topics today — Customer Service. We can’t stress enough how important customer service is to every aspect of this industry. So we’re going to do a multi-part epic underscoring the value customer service has to your business. This is drawn on the foundation of Host Merchant Services — Superior Customer Service. In addition to the savings on processing fees that the company guarantees, its motto is “You stay with us because you’re happy.”

The HMS Guarantee

Part of this is reflected in the transparency that HMS offers. The company works against the grain in the Payment Processing Industry, shining light on hidden fees and showing customers where they can save money in their statement through the free statement analysis offer. The company backs that up with 24x7x365 customer and technical support. HMS makes sure there is someone available to handle any problems or issues its merchants have. Host Merchant Services states “If you have a problem we will make it right, guaranteed.”

Working in this environment, I’ve come to accept these standards of customer service as the norm. I recently got involved in a discussion online revolving around customer service and it shocked me how willingly some customers not only accept terrible service but defend the practices. I work under the idea that quality customer service is something to be valued. And that delivering a high level of service is something a business places priority on because service has an impact on the success of that business. So it was very surprising to find myself involved in a discussion that spent a lot of time defending bad service.

Internet Drama

The discussion began, as most internet discussions begin, with something tangential: The story of Jennifer Hepler found on The Mary Sue. Hepler, a developer for the video game company Bioware — known for the popular Mass Effect series and Star Wars: The Old Republic game — was interviewed about her job in 2006. Some of the answers she gave in that interview garnered the attention of  video game players and Bioware customers in 2012. Those customers became very irate and then launched a scathing internet assault chock full of personal attacks against Hepler and the company. I’m not going to go into the details of the internet attack. It’s really tangential and fits everything you might think would happen in an internet environment where anonymous people have no inhibitions in what they say.

The topic did lead me into a discussion about customer service from video game companies — or more to the point, how video game players are so willing to accept terrible customer service from video game companies. This came up because many people felt that the customers, who were upset with Bioware, were crossing the line and becoming a detriment to the entire video game industry.

To me I saw the attack as pretty standard for the internet and easy to clean up. All it really told me is that Bioware attracted some difficult customers — some very negative and difficult to deal with customers. And that got me thinking about the way the story evolved. How Bioware became the victim and the villainous customers were to blame for their over the top anger. I felt the core issue of customer service got lost in the telling of this story.

The Bigger Picture

Businesses in every industry have difficult customers. And businesses recognized for excellent customer service have standards and protocols for dealing with these difficult customers. These practices help the business move past the difficulty and get to the core issue — assisting a customer who is unhappy with something in an effort to retain that customer in a long-term business relationship.

And this is what I have noticed is getting lost in some instances these days. Businesses seem to be cutting down on customer service as if the customer simply isn’t valuable enough to go the extra mile for.

That makes no sense to me. Customers and quality customer service are extremely valuable to long-term business.

So I did some research, looking for some data and stats on the value of customer service. I also looked for any information I could find on the impact customer service has on the bottom line. And I looked for tips on how to deal effectively with difficult customers. A lot of the information I found was anecdotal. That type of data has its good side and its bad side. The best part about anecdotal evidence is it shares experience with the person reading it. You’re getting a story and you’re getting the benefit of learning from their story without having to go through the same situation yourself.  The downside of anecdotal evidence is that it’s a single instance. You can’t chart, analyze or track trends from one story. It only goes so far in trying to define the impact that bad customer service, or conversely difficult customers, can have on your bottom line.

Host Merchant Services Payment Network Provider, image by Ashley Salada, www.ashleysalada.com

Anecdotal Evidence

One of the more fascinating anecdotes I’ve found in my research was presented by Electrical Wholesaling in their “guide” to dealing with difficult customers from April, 2006. The story they present is: “The customer leaned across the counter. “You mean I spend thousands of dollars in here, and I can’t return a defective tool?” he said.

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“Well, the tool isn’t really defective,” replied the counter salesperson.

“So you’re calling me a liar?”

The customer now had everyone’s attention. His loud voice and aggressive manner caused some of the other customers to look at one another and roll their eyes as if to convey the silent message, Oh, one of those difficult people.

It was my first week at the counter, and I was leaning toward the customer’s point of view.

My colleague continued the fight. “No, I’m not calling you a liar. This is simply normal wear of the tool. It’s against the manufacturer’s policy to refund for normal wear and tear.”

I was now completely on the customer’s side.

The customer didn’t reply immediately, and a silence fell across the room. He straightened up, slowly scanned the other customers, and said in a clear voice said, “People only come here as a last resort.”

He turned on the heels of his work boots and marched out of the store. As soon as the door closed, you could feel the air come back into the room. People chuckled rather nervously. Someone said, “Guess it takes all kinds.”

“That guy’s always a pain,” said my co-worker.

And that was the real issue. A different customer would have received a new tool, no questions asked, but because this particular customer wore the “difficult” label, it became his self-fulfilling prophecy to get bad customer service.”

The guide went on to point out the value a business can gain from a difficult customer. It suggested the experience can teach a business how to deliver the quality customer service it promises. A business can learn more from the difficult customer than it could ever learn from your most loyal customers. Difficult customers tell a business where it hurts. Listen closely and these customers will tell you what is missing from your business. They might even suggest what can be done about the problem areas. Their feedback can be the most brutal and the most honest gauge of your success.

The guide then goes on to give tips on interacting with difficult customers — ideas such as listening to the customer, refraining from arguing with the customer, and telling the customer what you can do for them instead of focusing on what you can’t do for them. These are all really basic tips and accentuate how to deal positively with angry customers.

A lot of the tips I found on dealing with difficult customers revolved around that basic advice. Multiple sites suggest the same things over and over again. Don’t argue. Stay calm. Listen. Let the customer vent. And then find a solution for them. If you’re calm, and you don’t antagonize the customer while showing them what you can do for them you increase the chance to resolve the issue where the customer is happy. And those customers are the ones that rave about your customer service. They remember that you helped them even when they were angry. They remember your company was able to work out a solution for their problem.

In our next installment of this series, we are going to look at some of the statistics and data I found — hopefully demonstrating that going the extra mile even with difficult customers helps increase the value of your business.