I don’t know about you, but I love it when Carol gets snarky. In her recent post on the Progressive blog, “3 Ways to (Unknowingly) Annoy Your Customers,” Carol shares some of her pet peeves. She begins:
“Some pet peeves vary by individual, but some are fairly universal. This is especially the case when it comes to customer service and other business interactions.
Think about the number of people you know—yourself included—who look forward to calling their cable company or cellular service provider. If the experience was good—or, at least not a huge time-suck—you’re thrilled! Otherwise, you’re dreading every last minute you’re stuck on the phone.
Looking at what not to do can help you create policies, procedures and experiences that make your customers happy and loyal—and less likely to rant on social media. Here are three common but easy business practices to avoid.
1. Have inflexible company policies
The quickest way to irritate your customers is to quote company policy to them. In fact, within seconds, they will be asking not-very-politely to talk to a manager.
Most customers understand there are things a business can and can’t do to accommodate them, so always try to frame your responses that way. As a customer, we think the company that made the policy can break the rules, too.”
You can read the rest of the post here.
