Bad Customer Service Behaviors to Avoid

Perhaps the best question I’ve heard after they have provided no help and no service is “would you mind taking our 2-minute survey to tell us how we are doing?” Sheesh…you can’t make this stuff up.

What’s considered bad customer service is fairly consistent across different industries. If you recognize any of these behaviors in your team, a business communication skills refresher training might be in order.

Bad Customer Service Behaviors to Avoid at all Costs:

When customer service reps do all the talking. 

Customers come to you because they have a problem, and they want to talk about it. Your job is to listen. 

Yes, providing instructions and explaining things is part of the job, but the talking/listening ratio should still tip towards the customer.

Unreturned emails and calls. 

Not returning calls and emails make your customers feel more than just unappreciated, they feel ignored and angry. If they don’t feel appreciated, guess what will happen? They’ll look for someone who appreciates them–your competitor. 

Your customers, the people who put you in business, don’t like feeling insignificant. And perhaps worse than going to your competitor they blast your company across social media…all PR is NOT good PR.

Deciding everything on your own. 

Sometimes you know too much and all this knowledge leaks into how you interact with customers. Knowing the solution doesn’t mean you know what your customers will like. It’s like asking the usual “Would you like some fries with that?” question, but getting the fries before you hear their answer.

That’s just bad customer service.

Give your customers all the options available to them and then help them decide which is best for their situation. 

There is never a one-size-fits-all solution to handling problems.

Inconsistent information across different departments. 

He said, she said arguments are the worst, but they occur regularly, especially when you deal with big companies and their call centers. It’s already an inconvenience to many customers when they need to be transferred to someone else, but it’s bad customer service when the next person they talk to has no idea what they’re saying–or is refuting what the other person just said.

Get your process straight and consistent across all departments. 

Train service representatives to relay information to the point of contact before handling a customer’s request. It really is all about good communication skills.

Dull, monotonous, obviously bored representatives.

The average customer service employee talks to 50 or more people a day. Yes, it’s no wonder some of them sound irritable and bored by lunchtime. Doing the same thing pretty much the whole day can cause even the most energetic employee to be apathetic. It’s just natural.

But you can improve an employee’s business communication skills by giving them ongoing training, moving them from one area of customer service to another, providing new and interesting script and language for them to use, weekly contests on anything from the best customer service call to keeping cool when a customer is swearing at you.

I’m sure you’ve experienced bad customer service. What happened? What do you think the business could have done better?

Great customer service does not happen by accident

A lack of customer service and can turn an unhappy customer into a raving lunatic if you don’t handle the interaction well. 

When done right, it can turn them into your best marketing tool. 

Get the guide to great customer service and master your customer service experience! 

CLICK HERE TO GET STARTED!

Linda Finkle

Executives and top performers in leading companies rely on Executive Coach Linda Finkle to call them on their blind spots, expand their influence, and create bigger things for themselves and the companies they lead. High-achieving professionals from Ameriprise, Mass Mutual, Blue Cross Blue Shield, major law firms, and dozens of others have come to know Linda as their secret weapon to overcome leadership and communication challenges that stand in their way of making an even bigger impact.

Linda is described as ‘the best of both worlds in that she understands revenue pipeline management as well as running organization day-to-day’ and ‘an invaluable resource and advisor’ by others. No matter how they describe her, clients regularly welcome the benefits that come from their work together. Most notably, clients’ gross revenues skyrocketed, communication skills have been refined creating a lasting ripple effect across the organization, allowing them to make bigger impacts at work and in their personal lives, and learn smarter ways of adding value without burning out.

Known for her great rapport and relationship-focused demeanor, she is often called direct and has a truth-telling way about her. Linda Finkle has coached and trained more than 2,000 leaders in six countries since 2001. Widely known as “The Elephant Chaser”, Linda has a reputation for going straight for the throat of whatever problems a business is having and working closely with leaders and managers to resolve them and to heighten the company’s overall performance. Whether working one-on-one with clients, as an inspiring speaker, as a leadership team facilitator, or with partnerships in distress, Linda is committed to guiding clients to clarity about their communications, behaviors, and stumbling blocks that stand in the way of their effectiveness.

Before launching Incedo Group, LLC, Linda built and managed an executive recruiting firm for more than twenty years. Her recruitment agency identified talent for Fortune 500 companies and small to mid-sized businesses as well and ranked among the top 10 recruiting firms in the country. Her ability to understand the corporate culture and needs of the company for both the long and short term ensured her clients returned time and again. Even today, clients and candidates from her recruiting days reach out to her for advice, help, and guidance.