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Topics relating to managing people and relationships

MJ DeMarco

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CUSTOMER DISSERVICE: The act of feigning customer service for the sake of saying you have customer service. In execution, the "customer service" does not exist to solve problems or to be helpful, but to affront as a poor lead generator, hence not delivering helpful customer service, but delivering customer frustration and lost sales; customer disservice.

In this example, the lost sale was over $50,000 -- all because BELL LEXUS wanted to be cheap and outsource their service operations, probably overseas.

As the customer put it...

"And this is why I just can't buy any cars from dealerships... how do you outsource your dealership chat overseas? Isn't the lead worth well more than a few bucks?"

The customer also inquired about an NSX ... to which the operator had no clue.

Oh well, nowadays cash buyers are just raining from the sky.

17862833_10212066748479873_3388118853912717125_n.jpeg

Take note of the difference between ....

Customer service that SUCKS. (Above)

or

Customer service that SUCS. (Superior Unexpected Customer Service, exceeding expectations)

Special thanks to @biophase for the replay.
 
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KSR

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Did 'Maryann' just learn the word "verify" or something?

WORD OF THE DAY IS: Verify

We should have a word of the day on this forum.
 

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She has a script. That's my guess.

A lot of chats like this have pre-scripted responses that they can just click on to insert into the chat. They CAN type freehand as needed and make minor edits to the script before sending but largely they are told to stick to the script whenever possible.

The theory goes that this ensures company-approved, grammatically correct responses along with the discretion required to answer questions that the scripts don't cover. Although for consistency, they still reply free-hand in the same "voice" as the scripts. If you look at the chat box you can clearly tell which are pre-loaded and which are freehand.

The reality is that this is bullshit and nobody likes it.

When I answered company chats as part of my sales duties I re-wrote all the scripts to sound like a human being in my own voice and only used them for very, very common questions I didn't want to re-write a million times. Otherwise it was all freehand. It takes longer but converts a hell of a lot better and people don't get pissed off at you.
 
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Andy Black

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CUSTOMER DISSERVICE: The act of feigning customer service for the sake of saying you have customer service. In execution, the "customer service" does not exist to solve problems or to be helpful, but to affront as a poor lead generator, hence not delivering helpful customer service, but delivering customer frustration and lost sales; customer disservice.

In this example, the lost sale was over $50,000 -- all because BELL LEXUS wanted to be cheap and outsource their service operations, probably overseas.

As the customer put it...

"And this is why I just can't buy any cars from dealerships... how do you outsource your dealership chat overseas? Isn't the lead worth well more than a few bucks?"

The customer also inquired about an NSX ... to which the operator had no clue.

Oh well, nowadays cash buyers are just raining from the sky.

View attachment 14581

Take note of the difference between ....

Customer service that SUCKS. (Above)

or

Customer service that SUCS. (Superior Unexpected Customer Service, exceeding expectations)

Special thanks to @biophase for the replay.
Whoa. It's like watching a train wreck...

Businesses exist to get new business and then convert them into long term customers.

There's a lot of effort involved in generating bona-fide enquiries. I don't understand why they'd not jump all over one when it comes in. What's going through their heads?
 

Longinus

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Since I read Jeffrey Gitomer, I'm allergic to everything what does not provide premium service (Was on a B&B lately which was all fine, except breakfast. They asked me if they needed to go to the bakery to get more. The poor unpremium guy didn't understood I rated him lower for this, lol.).

It's insane that even big companies don't understand this, BUT a huge opportunity for fastlaners!
 

CycleGuy

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Great example of why in-house service is so important.

I manage a social media page for another business. I am not an expert in that business by any means. However I have nearly all the answers to customers' most common questions about the product. I made sure if I'm highlighting a specific product I have a "cheat sheet" of all the details of that product. It allows me to double check myself prior to answering. I also have a direct relationship with the owner and manager where I can get a text answer almost instantly if the question is above my head.

Lots of businesses underestimate the ability of customers to "sense" they are dealing with outside service. Customers can instantly pick up on near robotic like service from these foreign help centers. When making large, personalized buys this can be an instant turn off like the OP.
 
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JAJT

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However I have nearly all the answers to customers' most common questions about the product.

And you know what a lot of companies forget? It's okay to not have all the answers right away!

After 10 years in sales in both B2C and B2B I've almost never lost a customer to "I don't know, let me get back to you within (timeframe) on that".

Is it as good as having the answer right away? No.
Is it better than bullshit and/or guessing? Every damn time.

If you are 90% sure, that is not a "yes".
Say "I'm 90% sure, but let me check this for you just to be sure, where can I call you back?"

This stuff is so simple yet almost every major company drops the ball on it.

If you think you are so big that you need to reduce your customer service expense it almost certainly means you need to increase it instead.
 
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MJ DeMarco

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This reminds me...

...anytime I hear "Thank you for your call, your business is important to us" I think it's exactly the opposite, and am often treated as such.

If my business was important, I wouldn't have been subjected to elevator music for the last freaking 15 minutes... (sorry, stole that from my book)
 

The-J

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Wtf? Lmao. Just say "Not sure, let me call in and check" to the showroom question. Then say "Not in today, will be in Thursday" or say "It's in, wanna come see it?" This has to be a chatbot, and a poorly programmed one at that.
 
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Dylan_91

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CUSTOMER DISSERVICE: The act of feigning customer service for the sake of saying you have customer service. In execution, the "customer service" does not exist to solve problems or to be helpful, but to affront as a poor lead generator, hence not delivering helpful customer service, but delivering customer frustration and lost sales; customer disservice.

In this example, the lost sale was over $50,000 -- all because BELL LEXUS wanted to be cheap and outsource their service operations, probably overseas.

As the customer put it...

"And this is why I just can't buy any cars from dealerships... how do you outsource your dealership chat overseas? Isn't the lead worth well more than a few bucks?"

The customer also inquired about an NSX ... to which the operator had no clue.

Oh well, nowadays cash buyers are just raining from the sky.

View attachment 14581

Take note of the difference between ....

Customer service that SUCKS. (Above)

or

Customer service that SUCS. (Superior Unexpected Customer Service, exceeding expectations)

Special thanks to @biophase for the replay.
Holy crap I'm not the only one who goes crazy over live chat customer service. Recently I've been wondering if any businesses provide customer service anymore, if the customer is always right (not to them), with repeated BS like this from various companies. It comes as such a surprise.. especially since this was a Lexus dealership.
 

Ecom man

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This is the exact reason I operate my own live chat. People ask questions they get the answers within seconds... the only issue is being in Arizona I miss the early morning east coast questions cause I'm sleeping lol.
 

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CUSTOMER DISSERVICE: The act of feigning customer service for the sake of saying you have customer service. In execution, the "customer service" does not exist to solve problems or to be helpful, but to affront as a poor lead generator, hence not delivering helpful customer service, but delivering customer frustration and lost sales; customer disservice.

In this example, the lost sale was over $50,000 -- all because BELL LEXUS wanted to be cheap and outsource their service operations, probably overseas.

As the customer put it...

"And this is why I just can't buy any cars from dealerships... how do you outsource your dealership chat overseas? Isn't the lead worth well more than a few bucks?"

The customer also inquired about an NSX ... to which the operator had no clue.

Oh well, nowadays cash buyers are just raining from the sky.

View attachment 14581

Take note of the difference between ....

Customer service that SUCKS. (Above)

or

Customer service that SUCS. (Superior Unexpected Customer Service, exceeding expectations)

Special thanks to @biophase for the replay.

My friend would have nailed that sale. He personally answers all live chat inquiries himself. We put wifi throughout the parking lot of the dealership he works at so he could do the following:

Customer: Do you have X car in stock?
Friend: Yes let me personally walk over to it to make sure it's still there and answer any questions you have.
Customer: Cool can you send me some pictures?
Friend: Better yet, click that video icon and I can show you it right now

He then undocks his Microsoft Surface, walks out to the lot while on the video chat, and gives them a personal walk-around of the car. It's no mystery why he's winning.
 
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KSR

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How have they not placed such emphasis on their Customer Service already? I'm not loyal to Apple because of they have superior products (they don't) -- I use Apple because of their Customer Service. If I have a problem, I can arrange an appointment to get it fixed within the day. You gain customers for life by supplying awesome Customer Service -- you lose customers for life by doing the opposite.
 

BigRomeDawg

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How have they not placed such emphasis on their Customer Service already? I'm not loyal to Apple because of they have superior products (they don't) -- I use Apple because of their Customer Service. If I have a problem, I can arrange an appointment to get it fixed within the day. You gain customers for life by supplying awesome Customer Service -- you lose customers for life by doing the opposite.

What sucks is they will probably never know they lost that sale

EDIT: they probably receive the chat transcripts. So nevermind. Hopefully they pivot so they don't miss the next one :)
 
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KSR

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What sucks is they will probably never know they lost that sale

EDIT: they probably receive the chat transcripts. So nevermind. Hopefully they pivot so they don't miss the next one :)

It's outsourced -- I hate to tell you, but this is generally how it always is, my ISP, my phone service provider -- they all outsource to India. The Same formula to Customer Service. I've had to go to the ombudsman several times and you know what -- things actually get done because they put me on to someone local who cares.
 
Last edited:

GuitarManDan

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It's so valuable after reading TMF and being on these forums to change my thought process from "this customer service is awful and so frustrating" to "this customer service is awful, this is an opportunity. how can it be improved?"

Really makes you wonder how many potential sales they've missed out on because of this awful feature. I bet the owner is chasing after lowering expenses and is frustrated at the cost of the outsourced "live chat" instead of wondering why revenue isn't increasing.
 
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Drew D

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Here you go
6inCyPg.jpg
6inCyPg.jpg

(stolen from reddit)
 

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I love how companies hardly can't get away with disservice these days, even some try hard.

In the company I work, they have horrible software. It's outdated, slow, user unfriendly and they don't give a shit about feedback or requests. Even after working with this junk for 5 years. People are leaving the company, just because of this Stone Age software.

One day I got so frustrated, that I searched the company on Google and wrote them a bad review (it was the only review so far).

A few weeks later, my boss got an angry email from another IT boss in our group (he couldn't email or call me directly because hierarchy) to request that I delete that review immediately and that he has to punish me for that reason.

Anyhow, review deleted to avoid further drama.

Yesterday, WE got a bad review from an unhappy customer.

Welcome to the Age of Internet, suckers.
 

Sanj Modha

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Wow...so many epic fails. Here's my take on it:

1) customer service isn't a department.

2) poor customer service will cost you. United Airlines lost $1bn market value yesterday. Just sayin'.

3) everything you do should be centered around the customer. I'm not saying they're always right but happy customers = $$$$. Lose the battle. Win the war.

4) take every opportunity to speak to prospects and turn them into customers. I check our email mailbox every week and I also handle live chats personally. I've learnt so much and it's translating into sales or opportunities to sell in the future too.

5) never outsource 'front office'. That's the face of your business. I hate talking to non-native language speaking customer service because it tells me you don't care about earning my business.

I agree with you @MJ. Why nickel and dime when your product costs $40,000+? It's ridiculous when you can hire local people. Heck, there's broke a$$ college students on Craigslist to tap up!

SMH.
 
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Millenial_Kid5K1

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...anytime I hear "Thank you for your call, your business is important to us" I think it's exactly the opposite, and am often treated as such.
Any customer sees right theough this statement. It's nearly identical to 'Your money is important to us.' Keep the focus on the customer, not your business's needs. Even a generic 'We are experiencing unusually heavy call volume, your estimated wait time is X minutes.' Would be better than that.

Sheesh, Dale Carnegie must be frowning from beyond.
 

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Speechless. I don't know why CSRs are considered the bottom of the totem pole in an organization and seem to have high turnover with a ton of available jobs. Imagine if an organization paid native speakers-in-country to think outside the chat box? How much more business might they do if they allowed them some initiative and paid them for it? Like someone said above, definitely not the place to nickel and dime with your organization.
 
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MJ DeMarco

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In the company I work, they have horrible software. It's outdated, slow, user unfriendly and they don't give a shit about feedback or requests. Even after working with this junk for 5 years. People are leaving the company, just because of this Stone Age software.

Wow, how are they surviving? Barriers to entry so high they can skirt?
 

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Wow, how are they surviving? Barriers to entry so high they can skirt?

Barriers are pretty high (exceptional transport), but they are bleeding every day: changing strategies every two months, appointing more new managers who take zero responsibility, annexing other companies, choking all initiative,... All fed by megalomania and short term vision.

Meanwhile this bureaucratic mess encounters massive liquidity problems, but hey, at least they are the number one in their country!

The software company: I have no clue. It's a French company and French companies prefer products from their own country, even if it sucks. Sometimes I think we're the only client, hence the stress about the review.
 
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