We all experience bad client service from time to time. Usually anger or resentment or some other negative emotion lingers for a long time after. In reality, little can be done to reverse and remedy the bad impressions that are implanted from such an experience.
I’m a client of a firm in a specialized niche. My initial experience was excellent and met or exceeded my expectations. A few months ago, I purchased some additional services and unfortunately, my experience as a client dropped precipitously.
The intriguing thing is that no one involved with the management of this department intervened or tried to make it work…or did anything. From my perspective, it was a client service failure. I cut my losses and moved on.
This week – completely unexpectedly – I spoke with someone at the firm who, on her own initiative, took on my situation and righted the wrongs that had previously occurred.
Leaders, please pay attention to what she did.
She listened. I gave her the background of what had happened, and especially what didn’t happen. She asked clarifying questions and responded sympathetically.
She told me the truth. If she didn’t know the answer, she found the answer from someone else. She didn’t try to “BS” me.
She did what she said she would do. She followed up and (promptly) provided what she said she would give me.
She was proactive. I asked her to find out some information from a subject matter expert and she went one step beyond and set up a call for me to speak with this person.
Simply put, she surprised and delighted me!
Her actions reversed months of feeling devalued as a client. During our conversations, I had to stay focused on my situation because I was so distracted and fascinated by how well she did her job. Her humble reaction to my profuse thanks impressed me even more.
Do your client-serving employees do what she does?
