What Part of Customer Service Don't You Understand?

To avoid or to admit--that is the question too many people face and unfortunately, to my way of thinking, they most often choose to avoid. What I'm talking about is responding to requests from existing clients and customers. Just this week I have asked three different people to answer my questions--and when they couldn't give me an answer they were comfortable with, they choose to avoid responding to me altogether.

What happens then is the original request takes a back seat to the avoidance. As I try mightily to contain my frustration (being polite and "understanding") I get more resentful of having to work so hard to get some kind of response. By the time I get an answer, even if it is favorable, the relationship is strained and I will think twice about reaching out to them in the future.

Take one of these situations. I am expecting a check in payment for a service I provided to a client on time and on short notice. When I send an email to the controller asking for a date by which I will receive the check, I get no reply. Two days later I leave a voice message, still simply asking for the date by which I will receive the check. No reply. I call again and he answers the phone--and tells me that it will be a week or so until he runs his next batch of checks.

So he had an answer, which I admit I don't like very much, but the delay is made much worse by the effort it took for me to get an answer. He could have replied to my email with the date and that would be that. He didn't reply because he knew I wouldn't be happy--but I end up not only unhappy about the payment date but more unhappy because of his avoidance of me.

Service means doing what needs to be done even if it is unpleasant or uncomfortable. If you have an answer that won't be well-received, don't make it worse by not sending the answer. If you know it will take time to get an answer, let the person know that. The worst thing is to ignore people who have reached out to you.

I don't get how this behavior is not actively criticized by managers and CXOs. Companies large and small go to great lengths to build their brands, recruit new clients and customers, and beat the competition. Being responsive to existing client's requests is such a simple way to retain loyalty and spread brand awareness. Yet too often companies forget the people they already have as they serach for the next new one. If you took care of the people you currently have a relationship with you wouldn't be so deparate to find new people.

Schmoozing Can Get You in Trouble

I spent 40 minutes in front of a business audience, demonstrating the value of asking the one great question when they are at business networking events, and urging them not to fall into the trap of asking personal questions or schmoozing.

So after the event, a member of the audience comes up to me, engages me for a minute with some interesting questions, then asks me a personal question--and it's the personal question I most hate being asked.

So what do I do? What I really want to do when I am asked this question is to answer that that is none of the person's business. Of course, that seems rude, so I try to deflect the question. And that feels evasive to both of us, so inevitably the conversation ends shortly on an awkward note.

You don't know what personal questions will bother people. Something that most people easily talk about may hold lots of discomfort for one person here and there. And you won't know that until it's too late. Save your conversation and your opportunity for strengthening connections by sticking to business.

You Schmooze, You Lose

How many times have you heard this networking advice: "Be prepared to chat about little tidbits of local news." "Keep a story or two in mind that you'll talk about with others." "Schmooze with others so they will like and trust you."

What's going on here? Are you going to a party or a business networking event? I hope that business networking events will provide a light and festive atmosphere, as you would find at a party because it's certainly more pleasing to carry on conversations with strangers when the environment lifts the mood.

You're there specifically to take a few steps towards finding people with whom you might build relationships. Networking activities put time, money and your energy at risk. If you don't know how to learn whether someone you meet is likely to be someone you could build a relationship with, you've increased the risk that your investment is wasted. I do not believe that being a great schmoozer is the way to lower your risk.

Schmoozing is like groping in a dark room for a single light switch hanging on a string from the ceiling. You could walk around and around and never quite touch it, leaving yourself in the dark forever. So it is with schmoozing or small talk. Where people live, their thoughts about the traffic, the weather or the local sports franchise are shots in the dark. If you ask general questions, you'll get lots of one word answers, or the all time favorite, "I don't know." You might find a point where your interests intersect, but there's a strong likelihood you won't.

There is one question which is sure to elicit a long, authentic, meaningful answer when you are at a business networking event. This all important question is so direct, so relevant, and so inviting, that your conversational partner will be thrilled to answer it. All you have to do is listen attentively, use encouraging words, and ask the occasional question, and you'll find out more information than any schmoozing would lead to.

The question to ask is: "What's the biggest challenge in your business today?" Ask it with curiosity in your voice, be a bit playful, such as "you know, I'm really curious, I hope that's okay, what would you say is the biggest challenge in your business today?"

Imagine not having to search for local news tidbits or stumble through a barely memorized list of cute stories. You won't have to put on false cheer when you're in a serious, curious, business frame of mind. You only have to be prepared with your one question, and you'll find out whether the person you're talking to could be a client, a vendor or a referral partner. If none of the above, you have a perfect opportunity to say, "thanks for telling me about that, as I meet other people, I'll keep you in mind." And then you're on to the next person, and you ask again: "What's the biggest challenge in your business today?"

If you schmooze, you lose.

Don't Make the Cure Worse than the Problem

After I hobbled into the doctors' office, unwrapped my extremely swollen knee and waited for the doctor, I began to relax. Help was on the way! I would feel better in just a short time.

Just then the doc came in. He never told me his name, curtly asked me what happened, and then approached my throbbing knee with a vengeance. He gripped my leg just above the ankle so tightly that I gasped in pain. He then pushed my leg up and down to see how much more pain he could cause me.

Then he grasped my other leg with the same vice-like grip and pushed that unharmed knee up and down. The knee was fine but the pain he inflicted on my lower leg was outrageous.

I was so stunned that he was hurting me so badly that I couldn't speak.

While this is an extreme example of a cure that was worse than the problem, I think many of us experience that phenomenon in many walks of life.

There's the garden center cashier who is so nasty and unpleasant that I want to leave all the pretty flowers I've just selected for purchase and go somehwere else.

There's the waiter who drops the check on the table without the slightest effort to ask if we want coffee or dessert.

There's the brown and wilted lettuce in a salad that clearly stood in the fridge over night, and that the chef thought I wouldn't notice.

Maybe you're not like the doctor--but what do you do everyday to ensure that you're not like these other people either?

No One Cares What You Do!

At the next networking event you attend, count how many times people come over to you, squint to see your name, then ask "So, (name) what do you do?"

If you count more than one person who asks that--and you and I both know you will--then you'll also have to agree with me that this is the single worst question to ask at a networking event. You go to these events to meet new people who will remember you. Guaranteed, they won't remember you if you sound just like everyone else.

Instead, engage them in a conversation by asking the question, "I'm curious, what's the biggest challenge in your business today?" They'll start talking. And talking, and talking. But as you listen, you'll hear about their needs, and their pain. It's pain that makes people into buyers, and the more pain they have, the more quickly they'll buy at what ever the price.

I am so tired of reading and hearing "networking experts" who talk about crafting the perfect unique selling proposition, or the ideal elevator speech. I also am amazed by the number of experts who encourage 'small talk' and 'schmoozing.' You're there to learn about people's business needs, and when you've established that there are common denominators between the other person's pain and what you have to offer, then you can engage in small talk.

Business Networking Doesn't Work

Business networking doesn't work--at least not if you do it the way most people do.

Have a USP (Unique Selling Proposition)?
Shove your business cards into the hands of everyone you see?
Believe small talk leads to big business?
Have a clever way of getting people to remember your name?

People care mostly about themselves, and their needs. These typical networking approaches are all about you, so they are doomed to fail.

Try networking approaches that put the other person first. Ask:
What's their product or service?
Why do their customers like them?
What's the biggest challenge in their business today?

Don't be perceived as an interrogator. Be prepared to respond with conversational follow on comments such as: "that's interesting, what else happened?" or "I'm curious how that came about."

You also should not talk with any one person too long. Networking is designed for quick meetings with numerous people.

When you think there's a reason to continue getting to know another person, say "it's been great learning (something they said) about you. Why don't I call you tomorrow, and we can decide if we want to get together for coffee?"

If you're talking with someone you don't really want to follow up with, say "it's been great learning (something they said) about you. When I meet someone else who might be a good contact for you, I'll send them your way." Then you move on.

Repeat Business - Do You Really Want It?

The plumber who rebuilt the flush mechanism of my toilet told me that the next time I called his company, I'd get a 15% discount. But his work was below standard and needed follow-up repairs. Getting another plumber to fix the mistake required me to have three unpleasant conversations with their customer service rep. Not only was she impatient and rude with me, she lied about the plumber's schedule. I waited four hours for a repair that took two minutes.

Now I do need additional plumbing work done, and I'd like to get the benefit of the 15% discount, but I don't want to have to talk to the same customer service rep. I don't want to be treated like a nuisance, and I don't want to be lied to.

While this company is clearly trying to encourage repeat business with it's discount and through training the plumbers to tell customers about it, they are not helping themselves by having this particular woman answering the phone and dealing with customers.

How about you? Do you make it enjoyable for your customers to take advantage of your specials? In this world of competition and promotion, you can stand out above the crowd by offering the very best experience--which starts with the person answering the phone. You're going to have someone answer the phone--why not ensure that that person is committed to making the very best impression for your company?