“We Give Lousy Customer Service,” said No. Business. Ever.

“We give lousy customer service,” said No. Business. Ever. Most small business owners take pride in their customer service. Many do take great care of their customers, but many do not, while they intrinsically believe that they do.

Since it is human nature to want to avoid conflict, many customers may never tell you that your service is sub par. The occasional outspoken customer might write a bad review, or come forward with feedback, and many companies go to great lengths to ensure this negative feedback is either minimized or obliterated. However, trying to avoid negative feedback stunts a company’s growth, and can eventually cause them to flounder.

If customers are reticent to give open and constructive feedback, how can you know how you measure up? Here are five areas where you can perform a “customer service checkup.”

1. Customer retention — do you spend a lot of time trying to secure new business, while clients and customers are leaving out the back door? Some types of businesses have a natural high customer turnover. In marketing, the Life Time Value (LTV) of clients and customers is important to calculate in order to develop your marketing budget, but it also can give you good intel about your customer service. The LTV in its loosest definition is the average projected revenue a customer will bring in to your company based on their “lifetime” use of your products or services. It’s important information you need in your customer acquisition strategy, and it also can help you with customer retention. If you provide consulting, coaching, or personal training, retention should have a clearly identifiable span based on what you offer. If you’re experiencing a high turnover that does not match your projected LTV, something is off in either your value proposition or your customer service (or both).

2. Avoiding negative feedback — a service I used, the customer service was clearly lacking (among other things). Since I know how important it is to get honest feedback, even when it doesn’t feel great, I gave constructive feedback on what was not working for me and where I needed their help. I did not attack, or express any anger, and explained that my feedback was in the spirit of helping them perform better, and helping me get what I signed up for. My feedback was ignored until I ended using their services. Only then did the owner acknowledge receiving the feedback weeks earlier, and that was all she did — acknowledge she received it. What a shame, because my LTV with this company could have lasted for years with many thousands of dollars in revenue. Instead, I sought out a different company that provided the same types of services, with exceptional customer service.

We all love the positive feedback. It feels great when people rave about us. It tells us we are doing something right and worthwhile. But if there are unhappy customers, and we don’t seek them out early, it will show up eventually. A business without happy customers is not sustainable. Customer acquisition also costs more than customer retention, so you need to create a process for soliciting honest and constructive feedback, and continue to modify that process to ensure you’re getting regular feedback.

Onboarding your clients and customers early into the feedback-loop also can help with retention. If you’re regularly checking in with them to make sure they are having the experience and getting the results they wanted when they signed on, and seek to create an even better experience (quality assurance), they will feel heard, and feel like they belong to part of the community you are building. It promotes buy-in to your mission and vision, and makes them a stakeholder in their experience with, and the growth of, your company. This is more than just checking in. You have to get skillful at having them regularly share with you how you can improve their experience, even if they are satisfied now. Don’t assume that just because they’re not complaining, everything is fine and you are doing great. You might be, but never assume (you know what they say about “ass-u-me”). Create customer-engaged feedback processes that start at the beginning of their experience with you and last throughout.

3. Outright complaints — Where companies also fall short in handling negative feedback are with the outright, direct complaints. Don’t let a complaint hurt your feelings. Instead, address it. Also don’t be tempted to avoid it by blaming the client or customer. You might think, “but what about those difficult customers?” They do exist. We’ve all experienced them. In those cases, 99% of the time it is due to some sort of communication breakdown. Most people are not out to make others’ lives miserable. In the rare case you end up with a difficult customer or client, think back to when you first met them. Were there “red flags?” You took them as your customer anyway? Hmm.

If you blame the customer, or get hurt and offended by their complaint, they will leave, tell their friends and family about their experience, and you will not have the opportunity to grow, and learn how to improve your customer service. Nothing gets resolved and your business suffers. Take all complaints seriously, and use them as an opportunity to open dialogue and turn it around. Consider it a personal challenge for you to grow and become even better. Set a clear outcome, and keep calm. Do you want to turn the situation around? Do you want to let them go, after your attempts at resolution, but have them leave feeling great? Do you want to maintain a non-customer relationship? Create a back-up positive outcome in the event your preferred outcome is not possible. Setting positive intentions and goals for resolving the issue will keep emotions in check and keep the conversation focused. Make sure to also listen, and ask the customer what their desired outcome is at the start of your conversation, and again at the end. See if anything has shifted and strive for the best outcome possible.

Always, always, always thank them for their feedback. Truthfully, while it might be hard if a customer is railing at you, their feedback is a gift. It can help you to evaluate your business, and your customer service, and improve. You’ll continue to get better and better. The two once unhappy clients I had over the past four years in business, were and still are my greatest teachers. It was hard to get the feedback at first, because I was sure I was doing everything right and didn’t know how I could have done anything differently at the time, but after I allowed the experience to sink in (which I resisted at first), I learned a lot of what needed to change in my business, and my attitude, and I wrote them and again thanked them for the gift of their feedback long after they were gone. I told them it has stayed with me, and I continually reevaluate how to be even better based on those experiences. It’s hard to “eat crow,” but trust me, a few black tail feathers sticking out of your mouth can do you and your customers a world of good!

4. Go the extra mile — Surprise and delight your customers by going the extra mile. Add more value when they least expect it. Do something unique and nice for them. Become interested in them outside of your business relationship. If you’re dealing with a lot of customers, keep an ongoing and updated customer profile with appropriate personal details they may have shared, like sports their kids play in, or how their aging parents are doing, and be sure to ask them about it. If you’re all about business in your relationship, you may have happy customers because your products or services are fantastic, and you may take great care of the business end of your relationships, but going the extra mile and letting this person (they’re not just your customer) know that you care about them and what is going on in their world stretches over into exceptional service.

Maintain the relationships long after they no longer need your services too. If you check in occasionally for no reason other than to say “hello,” and “I was thinking of you,” with nothing in it for you, your former customers will continue to have those good feelings they had with you, and it will return to you a thousandfold.

5. Sensitivity in your customer service — if a customer shares sensitive or confidential personal information with you about something they or someone they love is struggling with, show you care, and follow up with sincere interest. Don’t follow up because you want something from the customer at a future date, and don’t avoid it, because you think it is out of the scope of your business relationship. Be honored they trusted you enough to share. It might seem like common sense, but you would be surprised how often it happens that business owners don’t do this.

Always remember that your customers don’t care what you know, or want, until they know that you care, and show you truly care about them outside of them buying from you.

I love when my clients send me pictures of their kids’ recital, or tell me about their dog, or their trip, or a new relationship. Leave no stone unturned in your customer care. If you deal with a large volume of customers, it is bit more difficult, but you’d be surprised, even a little goes a long way. A simple act of kindness or a few kind words, when least expected, is great customer care.

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Melanie Patterson is a business coach who believes that business and life are inseparable. She connects mindset and strategy to help people build a business and life that support each other. Click here to get a copy of her free guide, “The Heart Centered Approach to Finding Ideal Clients (and Keeping Them).”