Internet Marketing Today

When was the last time you had a really poor customer service experience? I recently had a friend of mine tell me about her worst customer experience.  This is an off line example. However, it shows the impact of a bad customer service on your business online.

What was your worst example of poor customer service?

Here is what she said.

“The other day I went to a local café for dinner. I had never been there before and I did not know the menu very well. After standing in line, I finally got to the counter. I told the cashier I had never been here before. I was getting something for my daughter who recently had surgery and had many restrictions on what she could eat.

“I explained this to the cashier, and he rolled his eyes at me. He was very disinterested in what I had to say. I asked for suggestions as to what I could get, and he would not help me at all. He very rudely said he did not know of anything that would fit what I needed.

“I asked to speak with his manager, and he said he was the manager. Finally, I gave up and left. I was so upset that he would not even try to help. I can’t believe this is the way the manager would treat a customer.”

Always the marketer, and customer service professional that I am, I was curious as to what she did about it.

She told me she had gone back and talked with the head manager. They spent the entire conversation defending their assistant manager. She walked away more upset than when it started. They did not listen to her problem at all.

What did she do?

She went on Facebook and posted to all her friends to stay away from that café. This started a chain reaction of other people joining the comments who had similar experiences at the same place.

She also got on several other sites and started comments about her service. That café lost not just one customer, but hundreds of potential customers, all because of one poor customer service experience.

How does this affect you online?

This shows how one bad experience can travel virally. One tweet retweeted; one bad comment on facebook with several hundred friends jumping in, one bad blog post, and your business is ruined.

Take the time to listen to every customer. Now the customer is not always right, but at the same time, they need to be treated with respect and compassion. You don’t know what else is going on with them outside of your business.  Find a way to help them, and you will have their gratitude. Disrespect them, and refuse to help, and you will get slapped with a bad reputation.

Bad news tends to travel faster than good news. People will be more likely to talk about a poor customer service experience than they will about a good one.  With the viral nature of online media, you need to be aware of how quickly it can destroy you.

Although you will not always make everyone happy, strive to give the best service possible to everyone who visits your business, whether it is online, or a brick and mortar store.

What is your worst example of poor customer service? Leave your comments,  about your offline or online  bad experiences.