All companies provide customer service or support to help solve problems, mostly to ensure good customer retention; and every year, companies tabulate their customer count – the gains and losses. Yet despite their laudable efforts, they still manage to lose many customers. Following is a breakdown of the reasons customers leave:

12% are dissatisfied

9% choose the competition

5% change strategy

3% move to another location

1% die

Total customers lost: 30%

So what happens with the remaining 70%? Their departure is motivated by the negative attitude of an employee towards them, which is a reason for concern. Especially since winning back a lost customer demands three times more effort and investment than winning a new one.

True story: I recently purchased the upgrade of a software that I commonly use and really appreciate. The original installation went very smoothly: 3 clicks and it was done. The upgrade installation, however, was another matter: it took 3 days! After a while, I finally made up my mind to contact the customer support department and speak to a technician. You can imagine the rest: I was given a series of basic suggestions, all of which I had already performed before calling them. After his sighs and slight tone of impatience, when we were done I hung up and raged against the somewhat patronizing manner of the employee.

This exchange with the technician gave me an unpleasant impression: that he took pleasure in displaying his knowledge to the novice that he no doubt considered me to be, and had no regard for the time I was wasting. In my point of view, the whole encounter was in fact a form of disrespect. Specialists, no matter what field they are in, must remember that the people who ask for their help do not necessarily instantly understand the information they are given, and the risk becomes greater of losing a customer who was a valuable asset to their employer.

This example, coming from the technological sector, was chosen because we all have to work with the tools that come from this industry, without having had, for most of -us, the chance or time to learn them thoroughly. On our first day of work, we are assigned a desk with a computer and we must try to quickly understand the workings and culture of the company, the different software and reports they use, the version of their operating systems, and what else! It is enough to create a short circuit in our poor brain.

Programs like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint are used every day, and by everyone. These are incredible and powerful tools, but unfortunately we only know and use a small portion of their potential, and what we know, we mainly learned “on the job”. Consequently, is it that surprising to have to rely so much on experts when we hit a bug? And we need to consult experts in virtually all aspects of our work: telephony, Internet, computers, security, office equipment…

There are many strategies companies can use to sow the seeds of respect in customer relations, and to improve customer retention:

• respect employees first, because happy employees will in turn make happy customers;
• promote the notion of respect in the company mission statement or in its policies and incorporate it into the annual employee evaluation;
• encourage customer feedback, and really listen;
• communicate customer satisfaction statistics;
• reward exemplary employees in front of their peers;

On a more individual level, we must remember that people who consult us do not have our expertise – but we must not forget they have their own. And shame on us if, by our attitude, we give them the impression that they “do not understand”, while it is we who must learn to express ourselves in a way to be better understood! In other words: we must learn to better use the layman’s language.

One way to do this is to ask someone close – a colleague or family member – to practise explaining a product or system as we would explain to a complete stranger, then… wait for their reaction. Our family and friends will not hesitate to tell us we are not clear.

Speaking to our audience with respect, whether to employees or our customers, will help us win the trust and esteem of people, in general, and of customers, in particular.

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The authors can be reached at: consultation.virtus@outlook.com or mj.verhaaf@gmail.com