Why Bad Customer Experiences Are Good For Your Company
Recently, my company had an awful experience with a new customer. I obviously can’t give too much away, but this customer was referred to us through a partner, and was having problems filing paperwork. There were two solutions they could choose — solution A was quicker and cheaper, but not as thorough as solution B, which took more time and cost a little more, but would fully meet the customer’s needs. We gave both options, the customer wanted to go with A, but my team pushed B since the state could reasonably reject A after filing. And that made this customer furious. They accused my team of refusing to listen, of only wanting money, of not caring about the client. No one on the floor could calm the customer down, so it got bumped up to me and I chose to take the hit and follow solution B for the price of A.
All in all, it was a pretty demoralizing sale. The customer yelled at nearly everyone in the office, and in the end we actually lost money. But, despite all of that, I still consider that bad experience to be one of my company’s best sales for three reasons.
It forced us to define our principles
Most business owners know what they are, and are not, comfortable with their company doing, but business isn’t always black and white. Obviously, illegal and immoral acts are off the table, but what about the more grey ones? Like, if a customer is threatening to go to a competitor, is it okay for one of your employees to say that company isn’t as good as yours? Or, as in our case, are you comfortable giving your customer exactly what they ask for, even if you know it won’t meet all their needs? There are no hard and fast answers to these questions. In fact, it often takes a lousy experience with a customer to figure out what principles are important to you. I fully understand why my team didn’t want to agree to A, but digging in your heels and fighting a customer when they are clear about what they want, despite all of the information you’ve given, is pointless. I still tell my team to always recommend the best solutions, regardless of how high or low the price is. But if a customer is adamant about what they want, sometimes you just have to say ‘okay.’
It taught the team a few valuable lessons
Anyone who worked in a service role has a bad customer story. Some people are just mean — it’s how the world works. And while time can turn that experience into a funny story, when something like this happens, it kills office morale. At some point, every one of your employees working in service or sales will butt heads with a client, and it will destroy their mood. Learning how to shake off those experiences, and not take the anger personally, is important to their professional development. The customer I mentioned bounced from phone to phone, yelling at anyone they could, before I stepped in. And, when the newer employees saw the veteran members of my team take a breath and then keep going, they learned how to handle that kind of irrational anger.
It pushed our concept of compromise
Compromise is the cornerstone of customer service, and it is what turned our very irate client into a reasonably satisfied customer. I don’t blame anyone for wanting to make absolute sure that we fully solved this new customer’s problems, but the experience did show how far we could compromise our pricing, and our standards. I did not want to give up our standards, so I lowered the price. But before this happened, compromise was more about playing in the wiggle room to help the customer feel they got a good deal, without losing to company money. There are, inevitably, customers who just want to pull one over on your business and demand insane price points or perks, so it is important to feel out the boundaries of compromise. And that’s just what we did.
There is an old saying that ‘the customer is always right,’ and I agree with it to a point. Your customers keep you in business — you want them to be happy, otherwise you might end up having to answer to bad publicity and online reviews. Unfortunately some make that more difficult than others, and your team needs to know how to handle “bad” customers. When one inevitably comes into your office, see the experience as an opportunity. Educate your team, show them what is and is not acceptable, what compromises you’re willing to make, and which principles are non-negotiable. Experiences like mine are demoralizing, but they’re also vital milestones in a business’s development.
About the Author:
Deborah Sweeney is the CEO of MyCorporation.com. MyCorporation is a leader in online legal filing services for entrepreneurs and businesses, providing start-up bundles that include corporation and LLC formation, registered agent, DBA, and trademark & copyright filing services. MyCorporation does all the work, making the business formation and maintenance quick and painless, so business owners can focus on what they do best. Follow her on Twitter @mycorporation.
