By N D Brown
A small business collapses the customer contact pyramid. As an owner, you are much closer to one-on-one contact with all of your customers. It is a huge selling point. The key to success is a customer relationship, not a sale. It should be part of your culture.
Here’s my story:
Recently, I went through two convoluted labyrinths that large businesses can force on their customers. It made me wonder how many small business owners overlook this important connection. Our digital world can save time and add efficiency but it can be the Achilles Heel of customer relationships. It can keep you and your customers at arm’s length – actually at “phone’s length”.
It started with a glitch on my cable service signal. (I’d love to identify the humongous company that delivers and maintains my cable service but their brand name doesn’t matter; it’s the breakdown in the customer service culture that is important.) I went to their website to find the phone number for customer service.
I pay them what I think is a large amount each month to deliver what they promise. I thought it should be a simple task to explain the problem and let them fix it. Silly me.
At top of the page that was designed to sell me stuff, there was a customer service link. It led me to a long list of different types of services, from the ubiquitous FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions which rarely answer my questions), to how to check my bill, or to pay my bill and on and on. After what must have been five minutes, and seemed like thirty, I finally found a ‘contact us’ link.
Guess what? – Another long list of options to keep me away from a real person. But finally, there it is; the 800 number that will connect me with technical help. Does it? No.
What I get is a long, twisty path designed to be sure I am who I am. Finally, I am connected with a person with a strong accent who starts by asking me all the questions I already answered to prove I am me. Then, I heard an apology assuring me the person could help, but the person can’t. The person is in the Philippines or some other low-cost labor country that is far, far away; and the person is working from a standard list of responses. No deviations!
Okay, I know you have gone through the agony. It is the price we must pay for the supposed efficiency of the digital age; but there is a major small business point to this story.
In my case, it dealt with bureaucratic confusion. Over the course of five days, my “customer service” calls were dropped repeatedly which caused me to go through the endless computer questions each time only to be asked by the customer service agent in a far away land the same questions. Hey! I know the answers are on their computer screens. Then, over a period of five days, three different field technicians arrived and blamed the problem on someone else.
The story has no end. After two weeks, my glitch was still there. After hours of frustration, I never encountered one person willing to take ownership of the problem. Each one apologized and assured me they would help, but quickly passed my problem on to another person.
As a small business owner, you have the authority and responsibility to take ownership of ALL problems. Are you sure the people who work with you know how to take ownership of customer problems?
A large digital leadership company does. You might associate the brand with a fruit! When you call their customer service call center and outline your problem, you will hear, “I will take ownership of this situation and help you find a solution”.
Key Word: OWNERSHIP.
You don’t get bounced around and you won’t hear the blame getting passed to another anonymous person.
I sent a note complimenting an employee and making a few observations about the product to the CEO of a billion dollar company. To my amazement, he called me. He spent fifteen minutes discussing my observations. That is ownership!
An assistant manager from a local grocer called me about a question I had emailed and he offered me a full refund saying, “I want to make this right”. Not the CEO; an assistant manager! Now that is ownership!!!
Do yourself, and your brand, a favor. Make sure everyone in your small business exhibits your ownership culture. It is the best way to beat your much larger competitors.
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N.D. Brown is a Principal of Brownchild Ltd., Inc. that is located at 3754 Sunset Boulevard, Houston, TX. 77005. You can reach him by phone at 713-807-9000 – office or 713-822-8370 – mobile, by email at don.brown@brownchild.com, or visit his website at www.brownchild.com.
