THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Customer Service

"In business you get what you want by giving other people what they want." - Alice MacDougall

TOPIC OF THE DAY

Don’t Mess with Your Customers

Everyone knows to keep customers happy. But far too many companies are still making them angry. Customer rage results in lawsuits, mass defections, and social media attacks. Here are three ways to prevent your customers from revolting:

1. Don’t squeeze them. Often a company’s most profitable customers have the most reason to be dissatisfied. Be sure that all of your customers feel the value they get is equal to what they pay.
2. Get rid of unnecessary rules. Eliminate rules that you want customers to violate (i.e., charging for ATM transactions). They make customers feel taken advantage of, and rightly so.
3. Rely on satisfaction, not contracts. If your customers are sticking around because of lengthy contracts, something’s wrong. Demonstrate confidence in your value proposition and give your customers good reasons not to defect.

Thought adopted from the "The Management Tip" blog posted on November 11, 2011