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Speed Really Does Change Everything In Customer Service
Most people involved in software in some capacity are familiar with 37 Signals, the software company that is as famous for its’ outspoken founders as it is for the products that it releases.
The founders, Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson, have released two books: Getting Real and Rework, both of which I’ve enjoyed immensely.
Rework has a chapter called Speed Changes Everything, but it is not speed of product development they’re talking about - it’s speed of customer service.
Getting back to people quickly is probably the most important thing you can do when it comes to customer service. It’s amazing how much that can defuse a bad situation and turn it into a good one.
This is very true; there is nothing that enrages customers more than having to sit on hold on the phone, or having their emails disappear into some customer service black hole.
Having said that, I think the real gold in this chapter comes at the end:
Once you answer quickly, they shift 180 degrees. They light up. They become extra polite. Often they thank you profusely.
It’s especially true if you offer a personal response. Customers are so used to canned answers, you can really differentiate yourself by answering thoughtfully and showing that you’re listening. And even if you don’t have a perfect answer, say something.”
I can’t emphasize enough how true this is. On the support management side of things, I have been in many many (did I mention many?) situations where customers were quite rightly upset about something or other, but they ended up hanging up the phone happy (or at least talked off the ledge).
Why? We talked to them as a normal person to a normal person. No scripts, no canned answers, no nonsense. We also took a lot of pride in trying to get to know our customers as people and built relationships with them. Believe it or not, this is actually possible in software support.
We’ve all had experience talking to customer service reps that do it the “wrong way”, but have you ever had an experience where you contacted customer service and they actually treated you like a person?
Photo: markhillary
The Nines and The Little Things That Make A Big Difference
My wife and I have a thing for Portland. I don’t know what it is exactly, but we love it there and usually go a few times a year without the kids for some R&R (the tax free shopping doesn’t hurt either).
Usually we do the Priceline game, but this last time we decided to splurge a bit and stayed at The Nines hotel. (Since we are cheap, by splurge I mean drop $110/night on Hotwire instead of $60-80 on Priceline). We loved The Nines by the way. It will probably be our default Portland stay from now on.
Since I am an extreme morning person and my wife is not, usually the way our trips go is I will wake up early in the morning and then, not wanting to disturb her, I will go for a walk or go hang out in the hotel lobby to read.
On our latest stay, the first morning I was in the lobby reading Linchpin, and noticed a hotel employee walking through the lobby on her way somewhere. All of a sudden she stopped, and I watched what she was up to.
She went into the little sitting area you see in the photo and adjusted the green chair. One of its’ legs had gone off the carpet. She straightened the chair, then went on her way doing whatever it was she was heading off to do.
I found this pretty remarkable for a few reasons. First of all, I was sitting right near the chair and didn’t even notice anything wrong with it. Obviously she saw something “off” and corrected it.
Second, as a guest, even if I had chosen that chair to sit, it would have taken me zero effort to move it up to the carpet. I wouldn’t have thought “This is the worst hotel ever!”, but still in the back of my mind something would have been “off”.
Third, as far as I could tell it wasn’t her job to be working the lobby. She was just passing through. However, she saw something that would cause her guests discomfort (a chair with one leg off the carpet), and stopped to correct it.
It’s difficult enough to get employees to do what they are supposed to be doing, let alone the little extra things that can make a big difference to your customers. Whoever manages The Nines has obviously figured out how to do it.
