Customer ‘Care’?

Most of the companies now have a special focus on Customer Care,  some MNC’s have little more enthusiasm than what we Indians have.  Most of the inbound call centers are the best example for that.

I remember a story of Cadbury, some years back a person bought a bundle of Cadbury chocolate, when he reached home, he shocked to see the chocolates were not  eatable, there were some problem. He send that chocolate to Cadbury office.  Cadbury sent him an apology letter along with a bundle of fresh chocolate, not only that, Cadbury have taken back all the chocolates in that batch.

This shows the commitment towards a customer, Cadbury could have thought that, one person is coming with a complaint, why do we bother. But that was not the case. I am sure, if it was an Indian company they would call that customer and say ‘we apologies for the inconvenience caused to you’ or ‘we are so sorry’ like a parrot.

They does not even know for what they are saying it, the frequency of hurting people have increased and we have an easy solution-‘sorry’.

Some times back, I had an encounter with a sales person of a well-known company. She called me in the morning, to be precise sharp 10.00. She said she is calling from ______company (I do not wish to disclose the company name, since the issue is settled down) and the call is regarding payment. (I was not opted any payment service, the call was to convert from free to paid option). I told her that I am aware of  their payment options, services, discounts etc,  and there was no need to call me. She was not willing to listen at all.

Some observations:

1. She did not even bother to wish me.
2. Did not ask whether it is the right time to talk.
3. Was not well in local language-Malayalam.
4. She could not pronounce my name properly (I do not believe that my name is too complicated)
5. Did not listen to me, she was keep on saying whatever she wanted to, and she was even having  an argument with me.

These are very simple things, you do not need a training for that, if you have little sense, then everything is fine, and can have a positive impact otherwise negative.

Any person, who holds a responsible position may not wish to have an anonymous sales call early in the business hours. Every sales/customer care people should keep this in mind. Some times, you may not know the position other person holds, so be simple and do the following;

• Wish him/her and ask whether it is the right time to talk.
• Listen to them, no arguments, explain things in a polite way.

Coming back to my story: It was irritating to have such a conversation early in the morning (May be the first thing in the office) so I thought of taking this matter up with the company. I approached a live chat executive, but there were no proper response. I have given complete details on chat as well as given a feedback.

To my surprise, I got a call from their main office (Chennai) in the next moment. The person were very polite, had telephone etiquette. He introduced himself as the Dy. Manager Customer Care. I have explained entire issue, he apologized to me and assured that there will not be such incidents in future.

What we need to understand from this episode? Just because of one person’s attitude there were,

• Loss of time (my time, live person, Dy. Manger) need to understand ‘time is money’
• Loss of money (internet usage, telephone cost (for the company-STD rates have came down drastically, but if the practice goes on, then company will have a huge telephone bill))
• Loss of potential customers (because of this issue, I will tell my friends not to opt their services and I can also spread this information through various medias)

Ultimately, company is at looser side- just because of an entry level sales person.

Message to companies: They should,

• Teach sales/customer care staff basic telephone etiquettes.
• Train them with basic manners  when talking  to customers/leads etc.
• Check whether they are good in local language or else do not allow them to talk.

It is important to have a re-thinking from both employer and employee side and have corrective measures or else they could be in trouble, because today ‘there is no monopoly’

Image: http://www.abramo.com

Management Practices Cadbury chocolate, Customer Care, inbound call centers, no monopoly, telephone etiquettes