Defrine : Bad 

customer service can be defined as when a business fails to meet the customer

expectations in terms of service quality, response time, or overall customer experience.

Service is an intangible product that brings utility or value to the

customer.

Why is USA customer service is so terrible? Why is it done poorly in so many service centers? There
are many reasons for this, just look at all the books written on this subject. We would like to focus on
7 core reasons that we have seen in many different companies and have helped correct:

WHO HAS THE SAY IN YOUR

CUSTOMER SERVICE CALL CENTER?
Who is running your USA customer service call center? What we mean by that is it your financial
department, your marketing department or your sales execs? Who has the most say, who is the
squeaky wheel that always seems to have to be appeased? The mindset of the people running your
center has a lot to do with the culture and the personality of your center.

Now a great center can still balance all these different aspects but when one takes over as being
more important, as what happens in a lot of companies, you can have a disconnect and the
customer takes the brunt. If…

FINANCIAL IMPORTANCE IS YOUR MAIN

EFFORT:
When this happens you feel the pressure of constantly being efficient even to a fault. High service
levels do not mean as much as low AHT, Wait Times, and Wrap time. You get pressure to handle
more calls in a shorter period of time. When this happens you have a couple of issues, one you
already are going to get irritated customers before they even get to an agent because of long wait
times in queue, second when reps feel the pressure of quicker calls the service of the call drops.
This has a snowball effect as well because the bigger the queue the more pressure you and each of
your supervisors put on the reps to handle the next call. WE HAVE ALL BEEN THERE!! It’s funny as
well when you look at the SL and Wait times for people calling in to buy something from the
company… they are overstaffed and the customer service is understaffed. This is true in most
companies.

COMPANIES STILL DO NOT REALIZE THAT SELLING TO AN EXISTING CUSTOMER WHO IS

HAPPY WITH THEIR SERVICE IS SO MUCH EASIER AND CHEAPER THAT GETTING NEW
CUSTOMERS… MARKETING 101!!!

MARKETING/SALES IS YOUR MAIN EFFORT:

So many USA customer service centers, rightfully so, are trying to make their center not just a
customer service center but a profit center. There is nothing wrong with cross-selling your customer
service calls as long as we all understand it is an add-on. Some mistakes we see here is when:

A) Your cross-sell effort does not match your call type (we have seen crazy things that have tried to
be sold just for a quick buck)

B)  Your selling effort takes over as the main reason for the call.

When this happens not only are you not getting a sale but you may be losing a customer. You have
to make sure you handle the customer’s issues first; build a rapport and then try to cross-sell based
on a product that meets the needs of the customer. Do you just keep track of how many sales your
reps have in a day? That’s probably posted in the room, right? Your top salespeople get all the
rewards right… I hope you have your quality scores and reps satisfaction scores posted as well…
most don’t.

EDUCATION
Most companies put all their education (Notice we said Education, not Train, you TRAIN animals…
you EDUCATE people) in how to run a specific program, skill, or channel. What to look for, what
screen do you have to be on, who button do you have to click? They do NOT do a great job in
facilitating tone and delight in their calls. Most companies want to educate as fast as they can so
they can have reps producing as quickly as possible even to the detriment to their client or customer.
Remember you need to understand in the age of social media your customers will talk to others. We
want them to be evangelists for our brand. We need to understand that as we educate.

NO FLUID PROCESSES
Large and small companies can all have this issue but you normally see it in large companies. When
multiple departments have a say in how the customer service for their specific department is to be
handled you can get inconsistent and confusing service. Different 1800 numbers, transferred calls,
multiple call resolution. It’s really frustrating! When you are told by a company rep that they do not
handle that issue in his/her department the frustration level rises and you may have already lost that
customer. Disjointed departments all handling sales/service is a huge reason for the lack of service
in the marketplace.

WRONG METRICS
So many companies that have in-house USA customer service centers are stuck on metrics such as
First Call Resolution, SLA, TT, or proprietary formulas to tell if they are good at service. These
metrics should be used to diagnose and put service issues and techniques under the microscope,
not be the goal. Your goal for world-class service should be to have your customers become so loyal
that they become evangelists for your brand to all their friends. In the age of social media, this is the
direction your company must be moving to. Check out our post on our the Metrics that really matter
for more information.

DEPENDENCE OF SELF-SERVICE ONLY

Many organizations believe that by FORCING self-service they are saving money by stopping calls
going to a live agent. Show me a company that does this and I will show you one with low Customer
Sat and Net Promoter Scores. Self-service is a GREAT thing when done properly. It is a needed
channel. Too many organizations frustrate customers by forcing you into a long painful IVR or even
worse they HIDE their 1-800 numbers. WANT TO TALK TO YOUR CUSTOMERS!!! You have
limited chances to really build loyalty with your customers…don’t push them away! More on using
self service properly here.

POOR CALL CENTER CULTURE

If your USA customer service call center is a miserable place to work then how can you expect great
service from its associates?

The contact center can be a place where you can do things that you cannot do in any other
department. You can yell out loud, high five, cheer each other on! You can’t do that in
accounting! Show me a quiet contact center floor and I will show you one with high turnover,
low quality, and more importantly one that reflects that the associates are not enjoying
themselves.

It does not matter if you are running a center with insurance, banking, pure customer care, or sales
vertical. You can, and in my opinion, must make the environment enjoyable. Check out the Expivia
Call Center Culture…how we hire and operate!

POOR MANAGEMENT TRAINING

How do you educate the supervision in your USA customer service center? Do you have a training
plan at all or do you just take long-tenured associates and make them supervisors/team leads when
a supervisor leaves? If you hire a supervisor off the street what training do you give them?

Most call center organizations that I have seen do not do a very good job of preparing their
supervision for the job at hand. Many call center managers assume that because an associate did a
great job on the phones they will be a good supervisor. Big mistake.

We have found that having a solid management trainee program not only trains your future
managers on their job but also shows career progression to all employees which limits turnover. For
information on starting your own
Bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb
bbbbbbbbb

Now that is a million dollar question. Why do companies that ought to provide superior customer
service, not? Don’t they realize they are just shooting themselves in the foot?

We have all been on the receiving end of sub-standard support. It can be frustrating as hell when
you’re stuck with this product that just won’t do what it is supposed to and turning to the one
person that can help you out of your jam, ie, the customer service executive, is anything but
helpful.

Rude, obnoxious staff, a chip-on-the-shoulder attitude and poor quality of service – these are all
just some of the negatives these companies dish out. In this day and age, with the insane
competition and the ability of social media to shine a light on your worst moments, you would
think that these companies would buck up and start singing a different, more conducive, tune.

You’d be wrong.

So why do they do it? What motive could they possibly have to sabotage their own interests?

They are too big

Oftentimes, when a big name brand is guilty of providing sub-par customer service, the reason
why would be as simple as this: the brand, the company is really, really big. They have been
around for ever and have weathered plenty of storms to consider this increasing obsession with
great customer service seriously and are just going about as they always have.

A David and Goliath situation, it may well seem to the customer beating his fists against the
behemoth. But remind me again, who won that infamous battle?

They do not pay their employees enough

This one is simple. If you do not pay your employees enough, you run the risk of getting shoddy
products. If you underpay your customer service staff, who are the first point of contact of your
company when things go wrong, then you run the risk of putting out crappy customer support.
After all, if you do not treat your people well, they are not going to be bothered with treating
your customers well, are they?

When your support staff are just punching the clock, as the only reason they are in the job is to
make ends meet, the comfort and welfare of the customers aren’t going to rank very highly with
them.
Here’s a fix: pay them well. If your support staff ain’t happy, ain’t no one happy!

The powers-that-be aren’t invested enough

A friend recently moaned to me about the state of affairs in her company, where the Big Brass
doesn’t care if the customers are handled correctly as long as the job gets done and the bottom-
line remains unaffected.

When the powers-that-be that run the company are only worried about the money they make, that
simply means that they aren’t invested enough in their product and the customers that buy them
in good faith.

Enough time spent on working on the product and making sure their customers are happy will go
a long way in ensuring that the bottom-line is healthy along with the company’s reputation.

Training? What Training?

If we have said this once, we have said it a thousand times. Nothing beats training, when it
comes to ramping up the quality of your customer support. A good training session, conducted at
regular intervals, is the best tool to iron out the kinks and fix the broken links in the system.

And when this vital tool is being under-used (or worse, not used at all), then your company is
really in the weeds. Every issue can be worked out at training, when you take the time to take a
few steps back and understand what is going wrong. Doing away with training is the one sure-
fire way to speed up the rot that creeps into your basement.

Their company culture isn’t a good one

A company’s culture comes through in their brand of customer support. There’s no two ways
about it. A company that values its staff and has a healthy work culture, will have staff that
values the company and its products. A company that values its staff, will make sure that they
are treated fairly and have a good work environment.

A company that has a great sense of ethics, will have a strict sense of code and will make sure its
employees follow it. A lack of this magnitude will be felt right away through the ranks and be
very evident to all and sundry
 Nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn
nnnnnnnnnnnnnn

Why Do Businesses Still Provide

Terrible Customer Service?

Why Businesses Still Provide Terrible Customer

Service

As most business owners already know, it’s all too easy to lose valuable customers in
today’s competitive, accelerated, consumer-powered marketplace. And providing
terrible customer service is one of the fastest ways to make it happen. So why do we
still see so many examples of companies offering awful customer service? There might
be 6 major reasons for that:

Failing to realize the cost of bad customer service

Some businesses simply fail to realize and acknowledge the importance of customer
service and, particularly, the financial impact of poor customer service on their
organizations. Here’s some curious statistics to get you rethinking your customer service
strategy:
 89% of consumers have stopped doing business with a company after experiencing poor
customer service (RightNow Customer Experience Impact Report).
 86% of buyers will pay more for a better customer experience (CEI Survey).
 45% of US consumers will abandon an online transaction if their questions or concerns are not
addressed quickly (Forrester research).

Not building a customer centric culture

What does it really mean to be customer centric? Customer centricity actually goes
further beyond just offering outstanding customer service. Customer centric strategy is
based on putting your customers first, at the core of your business. It’s about
measuring what matters to your customers, designing processes and policies from the
 customer’s point of view, engaging with customers from the get go and being
committed to customer success. Ultimately, building a customer-centric culture is a
forward-looking and profitable strategy for any business.
Not having a dedicated customer service team

Who’s responsible for customer service at your business? Do they have enough time for
customer support in their daily workflow? Do they possess the needed skills for
providing a really great customer service? Are they equipped with the right tools to
serve your customers effectively? No matter how small or big your business, having a
customer service team totally dedicated to supporting your customers (and trained to
do it right) is a ‘must-have’ aspect of any successful business.
Hiring the wrong employees

When it comes to customer service, in most cases it’s the people who make all the
difference. Are you sure you’re hiring the right people to do the customer service job?
It’s not only about having the needed skill-set, being a great listener and an effective
communicator. It’s more about having passion for this kind of job and really enjoy
doing it. Some people are just not cut out for customer service work, and hiring them
for customer service positions might just do more harm than good for your business.

Not empowering your customer service frontline

Customer service is more than answering simple questions about your products or
services. When dealing with complicated issues and complaining customers, your
customer service agents have to be real decision makers and problem solvers. Are they
empowered to take responsibility and make it right to the end when things go wrong?
To ensure customer satisfaction, your customer service team needs to be authorized to
make decisions on their own and act quickly, responsibly and effectively in difficult
situations.
Refusing to invest in customer service training

True professionals in any field are lifelong learners. The same pertains to customer
service which is a hard and challenging job. So no matter how good you think your
customer service reps are, there’s always room for improvement, and investing in it
would pay off in a number of ways such as:

 Higher employee engagement

 Improved customer service skills
 Enhanced customer satisfaction
 Increased profit for your busines