Deception In Advertising Can Cause Low Trust and Lost Business
I just saw a television advertisement touting automaker Ford’s powertrain warranty as the best from a full-line automaker. It is now five years and 60,000 miles. Something bothered me. I remember seeing advertisements from Hyundai offering a ten year and 100,000 mile warranty.
Turns out I was right. Ford’s warranty isn’t better than Hyundai’s. Then I read an article in USA Today that had an explanation of Ford’s claim. Ford claims that their warranty is the best from a “full-line automaker.” Ford’s position is that Hyundai is not a full-line automaker because they don’t sell pickup trucks.
Is there some fine print that I need to read here? Ford’s claim is almost misleading.
This is simple. People like to do business with people and companies they know, they like and they trust. Mislead me with a false claim, or almost false claim, and you will start to lose my trust, which may cost you my business - forever.
Shep Hyken, CSP is a professional speaker and author who works with companies who want to develop loyal relationships with their customers and employees. For more information on Shep's speaking programs, books, tapes and learning programs please contact (314) 692-2200. Email: shep@hyken.com – Web: www.hyken.com – Click here for information on The Customer Focus™ customer service training programs (www.TheCustomerFocus.com).
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Calling Customer Service: A Few Tips to Help Make That Call Less Painful
One of the many frustrating moments in life is calling the customer service numbers to get help from businesses like credit card companies, banks, telephone companies, etc. I call for help and all I seem to get is a list of recorded menu options. You know the ones. “For this, press one. For that press two.” Sometimes it can take five or ten minutes just to get to the menu option you want and finally get a live person on the phone.
So, here are some simple tips to speed things up and make the call go better. By no means is this complete. It is just a few ideas that could help you on the next call for help.
How do you get around the voice menu that seems to last forever? Many times, if you do nothing, a live person will come to the rescue. Don’t press any numbers, the pound or star signs. Just wait. Within thirty seconds or so, you may get a live operator to connect you to the right person.
If doing nothing doesn’t work, hit the “O” button. Sometimes an operator will come on.
This doesn’t work all of the time, but more times than not, it speeds the process along.
How about hold times? Want to cut down the time you spend listening to recorded music that is meant to relax you, but usually drives you nuts? Call at the right times. Peak times for customer service calls are just after work. If you can call a Customer Service Representative (CSR) during the day, you may not have to wait as long. Even lunch time is better than just after work.
So, finally you have a live person on the phone. What should you do? Be nice! Sounds a bit obvious, but sometimes our anger and frustration can get the best of us. This person is here to help you. They are usually listening to people complaining all day long, which means they might not be in the best mood. So, being nice and having a sense of humor can go a long way to getting someone to help you. So can treating people with dignity and respect. You may have heard the joke about the irate airline passenger yelling at the airline employee about how the airline lost his luggage. The employee said, “Sir, there are only two people right now that care about your luggage and you are beginning to get one of them very upset.”
Shep Hyken, CSP is a professional speaker and author who works with companies who want to develop loyal relationships with their customers and employees. For more information on Shep's speaking programs, books, tapes and learning programs please contact (314) 692-2200. Email: shep@hyken.com – Web: www.hyken.com – Click here for information on The Customer Focus™ customer service training programs (www.TheCustomerFocus.com).
One of the many frustrating moments in life is calling the customer service numbers to get help from businesses like credit card companies, banks, telephone companies, etc. I call for help and all I seem to get is a list of recorded menu options. You know the ones. “For this, press one. For that press two.” Sometimes it can take five or ten minutes just to get to the menu option you want and finally get a live person on the phone.
So, here are some simple tips to speed things up and make the call go better. By no means is this complete. It is just a few ideas that could help you on the next call for help.
How do you get around the voice menu that seems to last forever? Many times, if you do nothing, a live person will come to the rescue. Don’t press any numbers, the pound or star signs. Just wait. Within thirty seconds or so, you may get a live operator to connect you to the right person.
If doing nothing doesn’t work, hit the “O” button. Sometimes an operator will come on.
This doesn’t work all of the time, but more times than not, it speeds the process along.
How about hold times? Want to cut down the time you spend listening to recorded music that is meant to relax you, but usually drives you nuts? Call at the right times. Peak times for customer service calls are just after work. If you can call a Customer Service Representative (CSR) during the day, you may not have to wait as long. Even lunch time is better than just after work.
So, finally you have a live person on the phone. What should you do? Be nice! Sounds a bit obvious, but sometimes our anger and frustration can get the best of us. This person is here to help you. They are usually listening to people complaining all day long, which means they might not be in the best mood. So, being nice and having a sense of humor can go a long way to getting someone to help you. So can treating people with dignity and respect. You may have heard the joke about the irate airline passenger yelling at the airline employee about how the airline lost his luggage. The employee said, “Sir, there are only two people right now that care about your luggage and you are beginning to get one of them very upset.”
Shep Hyken, CSP is a professional speaker and author who works with companies who want to develop loyal relationships with their customers and employees. For more information on Shep's speaking programs, books, tapes and learning programs please contact (314) 692-2200. Email: shep@hyken.com – Web: www.hyken.com – Click here for information on The Customer Focus™ customer service training programs (www.TheCustomerFocus.com).
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