A Customer's Superpower
In one of my previous LinkedIn articles, I introduced the idea of how a few simple yet powerful actions if taken by customers every time they go through a bad customer expereince can be a catalyst to transform the current low standard of customer experiences in Saudi Arabia. This article is about each one of the steps. As a customer, when you go through a bad customer experience with any business you deal with, perform the following steps in sequence. Therein lies your superpower.
Before diving into the steps, let us take a general and simple example of a bad customer expereince and use it to better illustrate the steps. You visit a certain restaurant for the first time, the waiter does not know much about the menu, is not helpful and is not friendly.
Indulge me, reader, before reading on, by imagining that we today live in a fictional world where these steps are already applied by everyone, every time they go through a bad customer experience. For these steps only work when most consumers adopt them.
Step one: Call over a manager to clearly state why you are unhappy and inform him/her that you will never dine there again.
It is highly likely that customers before and after you who have dealt with this same waiter will have lodged the same complaint. When enough customers complain about the same issue, management would act by either warning, better training or by replacing the waiter with someone who is helpful, friendly and who understands the menu. The result will be that no future customer will complain about the same issue, the new informed and helpful waiter will actually promote better sales (we all know what it’s like to be served by a very friendly and helpful waiter who understands what you want and makes spot on recommendations). Customers are happy and the restaurant makes more money. Everybody wins!
Step two: Keep your word from step by never dining there again.
On its own, step one is ineffective until you follow it up with step 2. In this step, you hit the restaurant where it hurts most, its pocket. Following through on your promise of never returning to the restaurant is what will create a decline in revenue over time. This decline in revenue will be the only reason the restaurant eventually takes its customers complaints seriously. Only then will the restaurant be motivated to either train or replace this waiter with one that will certainly satisfy customers.
Step three: Write an online review about your experience. Example: Google reviews.
Your online review matters. More and more customers rely on these reviews to make decisions on where to spend their money. Rate and write about your bad dining expereince. Mention the problematic waiter by name (this is what nametags are for). The restaurant will read the many complaints about the waiter and will do something about it.
Step four: Tell your family, friends, and colleagues directly and through social media about your bad experience and tag the restaurant.
By doing this, you help people around you avoid the frustration you went through. In addition, you ensure that the restaurant is cut off from new customers which in turn cuts them off from potential revenue. Again, here you hit them where it hurts, their pocket.
Concluding thoughts. I must reiterate that this approach works only if every consumer adopts these steps/behaviors. Also, these steps are applicable to every time of shopping expereince. At first, and especially for consumers who are not used to executing these steps or who are not comfortable with confrontation, executing these steps will take a bit of time and effort. However, when executed repeatedly, they become second nature and take neither nor effort. Consider doing this to be a form of public service In that these steps are a small part to play, but if we each play it, the market will respond and the standard of customer expereince will drastically shift for the better, one complaint at a time.