Opinion: Listen up – customers know best

It is a 10-by-14-inch sign that reads: “Suppose we refund your money, send you another one without charge, close the store and have the manager shot. Would that be satisfactory?

‘Customer Service.’”

We thought it was hilarious and remembered all the difficult customers we’ve dealt with. It is up in my home office, and I have often released feel-good endorphins by laughing as I passed it.

Recent experiences have made me question: Do we really want to hear what customers have to say, or are we just giving lip service?

I remember going to a National Speakers Association conference workshop. An audience member raised her hand and asked, “How do we know we are any good?”

The speaker had a one-sentence response that really hit home: “The market will tell you.”

A friend of mine had a shocking experience in customer service. She, an early riser, had been going to an early morning gym workout. There were few staff members on duty in the morning, so when she noticed an urgent repair problem, she sent the manager a well-written e-mail that stated the facts and asked for a resolution.

The manager e-mailed her back saying that with all her complaints, they could probably never please her, and basically, good riddance.

My friend was shocked. She liked the gym. The problems she had faced were ones that could have been easily repaired to make the situation more pleasant for everyone. Now she was being asked to take her business elsewhere.

Do you really want to hear what the market is saying?

I stay in a lot of hotels in a year and always fill out a comment card. I try to balance my comments between positive and negative. In some rare instances, the comments are all positive. One of our best experiences was at a Quality Inn on the Navajo reservation in Arizona, and one of the worst was at a four-star hotel in Vancouver, British Columbia.

What bothers me is that I don’t know if these hotel chains really take the comments to heart. Do they, instead, blame the customers with excuses like, “Business travelers are so picky,” “Boy, this woman is a crank,” “Yeesh, this looks like ‘Gone With the Wind’” and “Well, one out of 100 is pretty good”?

Rarely do I receive a response to my comment cards. One of the funniest, however, was a letter from a hotel at the Lake of the Ozarks. The room had been horrible with spiders, a nonsmoking room that reeked of smoke and had a dirty bedspread and a filthy fireplace. The note said they were “so sorry for any inconvenience that you experienced. We would like to offer you a two-night stay at no cost as our way of saying, ‘We’re sorry, and we want you back.’”

I can find plenty of spiders and smoke right here in Springfield, thank you.

Did they really listen to the customer?

Arguing with a verbal complaint is another virus spreading in the service industries. I have heard the following:

“Well, what do you want me to do about it?” “My manager isn’t here.” “I just came on.”

Mostly, there is the “baleful stare” that I wrote about a few months ago.

If someone complains, do what you can to fix it. If you can’t fix it, then take notes, go over them with your manager and call the customer to explain how it will be resolved.

In March, I had a very bad experience with a clinic doctor. Among other things, he did not examine me after an injury but immediately began prescribing drugs and treatment. I went home and told my husband about it. He suggested I write it all down while it was still fresh.

I did so and went to see the office manager. She reacted very professionally. She escorted me to a conference room so that we would have total privacy. I handed her my memo, and she read it silently. I could tell by her expression that she thought it pretty shocking, but she remained silent.

Finally, she said, “I am very sorry that you have had such a distressing experience in our clinic, Mrs. O’Donnell. We will do an immediate investigation and get back with you. Is there anything you would like to add?”

Her tone was neutral but conciliatory. She made an appointment for me with another doctor and thanked me for letting her know what happened. “If you hadn’t come forward we wouldn’t have known there was a problem. Thank you.” She actually thanked me for the bad news.

At 3 p.m. that day she called to tell me an investigation was under way and that while she couldn’t give me details, she could assure me that the company was taking it very seriously. Again, she thanked me.

This was a bad situation that was completely turned around by someone who was professional and acted in respect to all parties.

Ask yourself: Do you really want to hear what your customer is saying?

The effects of not listening may be disastrous!

Sinara Stull O’Donnell is a professional speaker and writer through Springfield-based SinaraSpeaks. She is the author of “Be The Star Of Your Life: Are You Ready For Your Close-Up?” She can be reached at sinaraspeaks@earthlink.com or www.sinaraspeaks.com.[[In-content Ad]]