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How to Please Difficult Customers
September 2007
By Ann Barr
If you saw this news report, you probably had the same reaction I had: Unbelievable.
“Sprint Ditches Customers Who Complain Too Much”
What? Could this really be possible?
What would happen in your business if you did what Sprint did?
This was the report:
Sprint Nextel Corp, which recently launched an advertising campaign to attract new customers, is disconnecting more than 1,000 subscribers for calling its customer service lines too often and making what the company called “unreasonable requests.”
The No. 3 U.S. wireless provider with 53 million customers said it started sending service termination letters on June 25. Sprint said the cancellations involved 1,000 to 1,200 customers who had called the company about 40,000 times a month in total.
“These customers were calling to a degree that we felt was excessive,” said Sprint spokeswoman Roni Singleton, adding the company needed to cull its customer base to improve services. “In some cases they were calling customer care hundreds of times a month for a period of six to 12 months on the same issues even after we felt those issues had been resolved,” she said.
Singleton, noting that mass cancellation letters were not routine, said this call volume was 40 to 50 times more than average customer monthly calls. She would not say how often customers can call before being deemed too demanding.
The company also declined to say what percentage of monthly service calls the 40,000 figure represented.
Sprint waived final balances on canceled accounts and gave customers 30 days to transfer their phone numbers to other wireless providers, she said.
“We’re working very hard to improve customer service. That’s our number one priority,” Singleton said. (Oh, really?)
The termination letters started going out days before Sprint kicked off a nationwide “Sprint Ahead” ad campaign on July 1.
Sprint’s customer growth has disappointed investors for several quarters after its marketing message was criticized as being confusing and it had network problems after its 2005 purchase of Nextel.
Providers AT&T Inc and Verizon Wireless, a venture of Verizon Communications Inc and Vodafone Group Plc were quick to point out differences between their policies and Sprint’s, saying they very rarely cancel services.
AT&T, the U.S. wireless service with the greatest number of subscribers, sometimes cancels or restricts services for customers for “excessive data or voice roaming on other carriers’ networks,” according to spokesman Mark Siegel, who said competitors had similar policies.
Tom Pica, a spokesman for Verizon Wireless which is second to AT&T by number of customers, said his company sometimes cancels services for callers who are “extremely abusive” to its customer service representatives. But, he said, this would be handled on a case-by-case basis.
If Sprint had used the following tips when getting calls from unhappy customers, they may not have felt it necessary to disconnect more than 1,000 subscribers. And the negative publicity resulting from the terminations would have been avoided.
FIVE TIPS TO PLEASING DIFFICULT, COMPLAINING CUSTOMERS
1. Let them know you are there to help.
When customers are on a rampage, it is difficult to get a word in edgewise. But when you do get the chance to say something, tell them you want to solve their problem.
2. Ask for details.
After you have reassured the customer, ask detailed questions designed to give you enough information to start solving the problem.
3. Paraphrase what they tell you.
When they are upset, customers sometimes seem to explain things in circles, never getting to the real issue. Before you work on a solution, repeat the problem to them in your own words to be sure you understand their complaint. You might say: “Before I take care of this for you, I want to make sure I have all the facts.”
4. Tell them how much you value them.
When customers have problems, they feel unappreciated. Before you resolve the situation, tell them how much they mean to your organization. You might say: “We value your business, so I want to resolve this for you quickly.”
5. Tell them how you are going to solve the problem.
This is the moment your customer has been waiting for; you are going to fix things and make them right. But irate customers will not believe that you are going to solve the problem unless you tell them how you’re going to do it. You might say: “Here’s what I will do for you. I will ship your complete order today so that you can have it by noon tomorrow. Will that work for you? Thank you again for bringing this to our attention.”
Notice the “thank you” at the end. That goes a long way toward reassuring customers that it is your job to solve their problems. u
Ann Barr is a consultant and sales trainer who haswritten eight books on sales and marketing.You can sign up for Ann’s free Weekly Sales Tips e-mailed newsletter at her web site www.sellingsupplies.com
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