Does your team understand the value of what “good” customer relationships should look like? In the article, contributed by Leslie Groene, President, Groene Consulting, find out how “bad” customer service can hurt your company.

It is interesting to look at the world around me through the eyes of a sales coach and consultant…always evaluating the service of a company’s personnel or their sales person. I seem to see and ultimately measure my experiences by asking the following questions:

  • Do they treat all of their customers like that?
  • Why did they say that?
  • Do they have any clue what conclusion I come to when I hear that?

I had a couple of interesting things happen while on a recent business trip…you decide how you would judge the companies…

I boarded a one-hour flight at 9:30am out of the Los Angeles area and requested coffee. The flight attendant told me that there was no longer coffee on short flights after 9:30am.”oh really?” I said. He said that that was the new policy of the airline (He did not offer me any other explanation except that I could have Diet Coke.)

Upon my return home from said business trip, I realized that I had left a small (high-end brand) travel case behind at the hotel. I called and was transferred to the security department. They said in fact they did have the case and would send it to me. I received it via registered mail a few days later with all of the contents intact.

With the first story, I was disappointed that I could no longer get coffee but more displeased with his “dismissive, snotty” attitude and demeanor. The second story was worthy of a letter to the manager of the hotel to express a “thank you” to his staff for not only turning in the case but sending it to me so promptly.

Below are some statistics about clients and what drives them away…make sure you are aware of how your service and attitude affect your clients!

  • 96% of unhappy customers do not complain, they just stop doing business with you.
  • 91% of those who don’t complain will share the negative story with at least 9 other people, 13% will tell more than 20 other people about their experience.
  • The average unhappy customer will remember the incident for 23 years.
  • The happy customer will talk about the pleasant experience for 18 months.
  • For every complaint heard, the average company has 25 other customers with the same problem.

Want to learn more about improving customer relationships for your company? Leslie is presenting “Who Is the Correct Customer for You and Your Company” at the 2013 BIA Annual Conference, April 8–10, in Indianapolis Indiana.