Your To-Do List or Not To-Do List?

Whether you’re an entrepreneur or not, you should always create and complete your “not to-do list” first.  Remove the things which stand in your way – those things which slow you or your business down.  In your personal life, watching television, snacking, and sleeping-in should all be reduced to a minimum.  For your business, I’ll reveal some bad customer service habits that will eventually cause catastrophic failure.

And if you have bad personal habits just stop them now.  If you wish to be an entrepreneur, self-control is paramount.  In order to be your own boss, you must be able to manage yourself properly.  So do it.

The philosophy here is to stop doing the bad things before you start doing the good things.  Then, when you create and execute your “to-do list,” there will be nothing in your way.  This is a good practice for everyone, but I’ll focus on business related items from this point on.  So stop smoking, and then read on.

Take some time and write down a list of things which you should no longer be doing.  Since customers are your most important asset, I’ll list 10 bad customer service habits to put into your “not to-do list.”

10 bad customer service habits to add to your “not to-do list” right now!

Not to-do list item#1.  New customer preferential treatment

Treating new customers better than your loyal, long-term customers makes the number one spot on your “not to-do list.”  We all fall victim to the temptation to commit this type of crime.  Loyal customers have the highest value, so treat them that way.

Not to-do list item#2.  Breaking your word or late delivery

This touches on the honesty aspect of customer service.  Customer loyalty starts with trust – customer confidence.  So don’t stress out your customer by not delivering on time.  Every minute they wait causes that trust to diminish.

Not to-do list item#3.  Surprise expenses and hidden fees

Lack of transparency throughout all of your company’s processes, especially the billing process, causes diminished trust and loyalty and even customer loss. Practice the golden rule with this one, as I’m sure you know how surprise expenses feel, right?

Not to-do list item#4.  Taking customers for granted

It may be human nature to become complacent over time, but don’t let that happen.  Knowing that complacency CAN happen, put measures in place to prevent it.  Keep your level of customer service high and ensure that it improves year after year.  Keep it fresh, and treat all of your customers as if they mean the world to you.  If you don’t, your world will certainly collapse around you as they migrate to your competitors.

Not to-do list item#5.  Failing to go above and beyond

You should know, good customer service is EXPECTED by the public, especially from small businesses.  To stand above, and to stay ahead of your competition, you need to go above and beyond your customer’s expectations.  Come up with a plan for implementing customer service that will surprise and impress your customers.  Maybe an item on your “not to-do list” is laziness.

Not to-do list item#6.  Un-returned calls, emails, or texts

Nobody likes to feel insignificant.  “Not to-do list ” items like this will ensure that your customers feel as if they don’t matter to you at all.  Being busy is a good thing, but be sure to have measures in place to ensure your customers concerns are answered quickly.  They do matter, so get back to them right away!

Not to-do list item#7.  Lack of attentiveness

Have you ever been to a store, had a question, and was unable to get the attention of one of the workers?  Then, after choosing your items, you go to pay for them and nobody is there to help you?  Be sure to not make your customers feel this way.  They may never return!

Not to-do list item#8.  Mistakes made without apologies

First rule:  Don’t make mistakes.  They make you look bad to your customers.  Of course, everybody makes mistakes, so it WILL happen.

Believe it or not, a good recovery from a mistake will have more of a positive impact on a customer than the type of impact they receive from a fast, flawless transaction – as long as mistakes rarely occur.  Complete transparency, a humble attitude, a sincere apology, and a token of appreciation will not only make it right, it’ll cement customer loyalty and provide word-of-mouth marketing from that customer.

Not to-do list item#9.  Tardiness

Treat your customers the way you would treat a prospective employer.  The rule-of-thumb for job interviews is to show up 10 minutes early.  Do this for your customers as well.  Tardiness is certainly one way to ruin customer experience.

Not to-do list item#10.  Inconsistent cross-channel customer experience

Since customers usually deal with multiple points of contact with companies, consistency is very important.  If a customer service agent tells you one thing, but then billing person tells you another, or when you call back days later and receive conflicting information from another agent, you will certainly feel many negative emotions and stress.  This kind of experience can cause customers to look elsewhere, and then migrate to your competitors.

Thank you for reading:
Your To-Do List or Not To-Do List?

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