Recovering From Customer Service Mistakes

Even the best companies stumble sometimes and offer poor customer service. It does not matter so much that a customer had one bad experience so much as it does that the company corrects its mistake before they lose the customer for good. Recovering from customer service mistakes takes more skill and ingenuity than building a good relationship in the first place.

Be honest
Customers realize that a company is run by individuals working as a team and those individuals are human. Mistakes are made and many customers are very reasonable and understand this. The part where customers feel alienated is when an error is covered up or hidden from them. The first step to recovering from a poor service experience is to tell the truth. Admit to the customer that something went wrong and you will do everything in your power to correct the mistake in order to retain their business.

Always be a helper
A hallmark of good service is to help even when a mistake that was made was not the company’s fault. Service representatives should avoid laying blame on anyone and simply set to work fixing a mistake. Although a company may extend resources it did not have to, this is a sure fire way to gain and retain a client for life. It is also good to err on the side of caution, as a customer may feel that something is the company’s fault when it really is not. Compensation in the form of money back, in-store credit, and others are also an option. A customer will be very happy to receive compensation in some form as a result of an inconvenience they have suffered.

Client service mistakes are a routine part of doing business. No matter how good a company’s systems are, there will inevitably be mistakes made. Being honest and not covering a mistake up is the best policy. Fixing problems, even if they were not your fault, is a great opportunity to build rapport with new or existing customers. Sometimes fixing an error may only involve a few extra steps, while other times it may take compensation of one form or another. Either way, companies must work hard to fix customer service mistakes to maintain a good reputation.

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Announcing the Winner of Mojo Helpdesk's Favorite Features Contest

Thanks to all who entered our Favorite Features Contest to win a Google Chromebook.  In the end, almost every feature of Mojo Helpdesk was mentioned, making it difficult to pick one winner from all the entries. 

We're excited to announce the winner of the Samsung Series 5 3G Google Chromebook is Dave Carey who's winning tweet was:

"Love @mojohelpdesk!! Notifications from mojo rock - as a small business that's never in the office, it saves our butts on a regular basis."

Congratulations to Dave, and thank you to everyone who participated. We hope Mojo Helpdesk has helped all of you find your customer service mojo.

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Beat Your Competitors with Awesome Customer Service

When customers come back to do more business with a company, it is often not because they got a good price or even a quality product. Most times, customers return because of the awesome customer service that they received. Many businesses offer good service but there are definite distinctions between good and great service.

The difference between good and great
Service to customers will depend heavily on the type of industry in which a business operates. However, it is easy to tell when agents are doing the standard level and when they go above and beyond. For instance, it is common for online retailers to offer “no questions asked” return policies on the products they sell. This is a service that many customers expect. A company that offers great service is one that pays for return shipping on an item and expedites the new product to minimize the amount of time it takes to resolve the issue. Taking steps to make sure the customer literally has to do nothing in order to accomplish a goal or performing tasks that are not standard in an industry are what differentiate good service from that of great.

What changes can companies make now
One of the best things a business can do immediately to impact customer satisfaction is provide the tools and training for representatives to make customer experiences great. For example, giving representatives the authority to make their own decisions on how a particular transaction should be handled increases the speed at which customers get their issues resolved. Showing employees what options they have at their disposal and focusing on service as a core priority helps all parties involved get what they need faster.

Companies competing within an industry will match each other on almost every facet of the business. The thing that will separate them is how they treat their customers. Companies that empower employees to provide awesome customer service and provide the tools to do so are the ones that will come out ahead. Making sure human resources knows what tools they have at their disposal, as well as how to use them, is a sure fire way to reach customer service success.

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Avoid These Customer Service Mistakes That Send Customers Running

Customers are the lifeblood of any company, and service provided to them is what helps them thrive. Unfortunately, this is an area where many companies make common missteps that cost them future business. By avoiding these common customer service mistakes, businesses can be on the road to growth and productivity.

Over promising and under delivering
Whether it is a parent, a friend, a co-worker or a company that has promised something, no one wants to find themselves being let down. When customers know what to expect, even if it is not what they want, at least they feel secure. A common mistake made by employees is promising more than they can deliver to their clients. Especially in large companies, representatives may not be aware of the capabilities of other branches of the organization and find themselves in the trap of promising something to their client that is not achievable. It is best to take the approach of under promising and over delivering rather than the other way around.

Not being there for your customers
When a client is going through a transaction, they often have questions about the process. When they cannot get answers to their questions, they are left at an impasse. Representatives often make the mistake of not being accessible enough to their customers. Not returning emails, phone calls or other messages promptly will ensure that customers go to the competition or not return for more business. Constant and consistent communication is the key to maintaining good relationships with customers.

Bad record keeping habits
Nothing is more frustrating to clients than representatives who lose paperwork or other records. People may have been promised promotions or be relying on representatives to maintain information and when those records are lost, the entire transaction can come to a screeching halt. Keeping good records is an essential part of maintaining a good relationship with clients.

Arguing with customers
Disagreements happen during business transactions and are a common part of any industry. The important thing to remember is to treat clients with respect, understanding and patience. It costs, on average, 5 times more to gain a new customer than it does to keep a current one. Representatives may fall into a trap of arguing with clients over details or issues that arise and this should never take place. Keeping customers happy is the number one goal of any organization.

Without customers, businesses cannot survive; therefore, maintaining good relationships is paramount. Avoiding these and other common customer service mistakes ensures that an organization will have repeat business and continue to grow in the future.

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Win a Chromebook with Mojo Helpdesk’s Favorite Features Contest

Our goal at Mojo Helpdesk is to provide our customers web-based support ticket software containing the features you need at a great price. Now, we want to hear from you about your favorite Mojo Helpdesk features. In fact, we’re giving away a Samsung Series 5 3G Google Chromebook ($470 value) to a lucky person who shares their favorite feature on Twitter from September 19 - 23.   

To enter the contest:

1. Follow us on Twitter.
2. Post what you love most about Mojo Helpdesk on Twitter, and include the hashtag: #mojohelp. Update: include our Twitter handle: @mojohelpdesk.
   It can be anything from the ability to create automations to the ease of logging in with your Google account.

We’ll pick the best response and post the winner on both Twitter and our blog on September 26th.

All tweets must be made September 19th - September 23rd to be eligible.
Contest limited to the US.

Follow us on Twitter and tweet to win.

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What To Do When the Customer is Wrong

In the business world there are always challenges, but most pale in comparison to the challenge of dealing with people. One of the most revered times in any customer service transaction is when the customer is wrong and employees know it. The old motto is that the customer is always right; however, this should seldom be taken literally. This motto should be interpreted conceptually as, a client should always be given patience, understanding and education to make the right decisions for themselves.

Never lose your cool
No one knows more about a company’s processes, products, services and procedures than the employees who work there every day. For this reason, it is easy for employees to get frustrated with customers who cannot seem to grasp a concept that an employee knows so well. Some customers will be adamant about being correct when they are not; this is where a client service agent must exercise patience and understanding. They must empathize and realize that this person may simply need a little more education on a subject or perhaps a different explanation approach. It is important for employees to never lose their temper or become noticeably upset or agitated with a customer. These behaviors may only enrage a person further or make a situation worse. This is also a sure fire way to lose business and begin building a reputation for poor service. Using phrases like “let me explain it differently” or “does that make sense?” are great dis-armors for agitated customers who are too frustrated to listen or understand.

Customers are not wrong
It is very tempting to tell someone they are wrong when you know you are right. This may be fine in a personal situation but in a business relationship, it is the kiss of death. Customers that are told flat out that they are wrong will feel alienated, discouraged or insulted. Once a customer feels this way, there is little that can be done to bring them back. If the relationship can be resolved, it may cost the company more than that customer is worth in most cases. That is why service representatives must never utter the words “you are wrong” to a customer. Instead, phrases like “tell me how I can help you” or “how can I help you understand” are far less volatile and prompt the individual to offer solutions to their own problem.

The underlying theory of “the customer is always right” is not that a client is correct all the time because they are not. Instead, service representatives should take this to mean that an individual should always be afforded patience, understanding and good service no matter what behavior is being displayed. Representatives should always remain calm and collected. Once employees lose their cool, the entire relationship is lost, which can have much further reaching implications for the organization. Tactics like choosing the right words or trying a different approach with a customer should be employed to maintain a business relationship even when the customer is wrong.

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Ways a Ticket Help Desk Improves Your Customer Service

Customers in today’s world deal with many different people during their transaction with a company. From initial contact with a sales person to communication with support staff, there are numerous instances where they can “fall through the cracks” of the system. In the customers mind, the relationship is singular and fluid, whereas each individual employee may be meeting that customer for the first time. Ticket help desk systems help businesses facilitate that relationship so that the entire entity can communicate with a customer just as if that client is talking with the same person throughout the entire transaction.

Getting lost in the system
It is incredibly easy for a customer to feel like a company as a whole does not care about their needs or issues. A person may have first contact with a sales person or customer service representative, but once they are passed down the line, it is all too easy for other employees to disregard the relationship because they do not know anything about how it was formed or why it is important. Assigning a ticket within software that allows for notes and other information about a relationship to be recorded so other arms of the organization can see them, ensures that a client will not get lost in a maze of extensions and lost emails and eventually be forgotten about. A ticket can act as that client’s life raft on the river that is a business’s workflow.

Centralization is key
Having a centralized method and location for data concerning customer information is key for a company/client relationship to remain intact. Assigning a customer number or some other identifying element that can be stored, modified and retrieved by any employee in the company that will have contact with the customer is an effective way of maintaining good customer service. Ticket help desk software can help facilitate these activities and make it easy for all employees to be as effective at maintaining the relationship as the first one to have contact with the client.

Even small businesses can lose sight of clients on a day-to-day basis. Ticket help desk software gives employees an effective tool to manage customer information and make sure individuals do not fall through the cracks of the system. Keeping this data in a central location so that it is always available to those that need it is also key to making it work. If customers do not feel that they are cared about, they most often will not do business with a company in the future.

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The Difference Between Customer Complaints and Customer Feedback

Businesses need information from their target markets in order to improve upon the products and/or services that they offer. Sometimes this may come in the form of customer feedback surveys and other times it may come in the form of complaints from unsatisfied clientele. No matter where the data comes from, businesses must act on the information and learn from mistakes that were made.

The difference between feedback and complaints 
There are a couple key differences between complaints and feedback that come from customers. One of the clearest delineations is that feedback is warranted or sought out by a business whereas complaints come on their own. For instance, a business may conduct a satisfaction survey on a particular product after a planned release date. Customers, participants or any other relevant individuals may be contacted and asked to fill out a form answering questions about an experience. This data is then analyzed to identify trends or patterns. Complaints on the other hand may come in the form of customers calling, writing or walking into a company to voice their dissatisfaction with a product or service. Although these interactions and subsequent data are not sought out by a company, information gained from these interactions is just as useful, if not more so. Another key difference is that feedback and the data it generates is not beyond some measure of control. A business may structure customer feedback surveys depending on the type of data they are looking for from customers. In contrast, complaints are whatever a customer makes them.

Using data to tweak processes 
Whether data is drawn from customer feedback surveys or from customer complaints, it can be used to improve how an organization operates. Companies can capture data using customer complaints software or analyze information gained from surveys. The more data a company gathers, the better it is able to see trends that are occurring. Once conclusions are drawn from these trends, decisions can be made as to how to improve a customer service process. Customer complaints, as well as feedback from survey activities, should be taken very seriously no matter how insignificant they may seem. Businesses that allow customer issues to go unresolved run the risk of having these events mushroom into full-blown PR nightmares.

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