By Toni Hetrick

Have you ever met a person that says they absolutely LOVE working in customer service?  I’d be willing to bet it’s rare. Especially in this day and age where customers have several methods of contacting you regarding a service or product sold.  For me, it’s rare that I see a customer in person. Texts; emails; Facebook messaging; Instagram messaging; commenting on Facebook posts and website inquiries are all ways that I am regularly contacted by customers.  For whatever reason, many people take on a whole new level of confidence when they aren’t speaking to you in person, and therefore can be extra difficult. Don’t get me wrong, some people are extra difficult in person too, but removing an in-person experience creates many “telephone tough guys” (yes that’s a Lethal Weapon reference ;) ).  I also feel that removing direct communication from a transaction can open up room for misunderstandings.  

You can’t please everyone.  Let us make that clear from the start.  You can, however, do your very best to have amazing customer service, which to many people is a very important factor.  Personally, I will be a return customer and will make referrals to a company that I’ve had good experiences with. Especially if there was a problem somewhere along the way and they did their best to fix it.  With that being said, prepare yourself for the times where you try your best, but just can’t seem to come to a reasonable solution with your customer. It’s bound to happen at some point, so be prepared.  

When it comes to this topic, the first thing that enters my mind is doing everything that you can to avoid reaching the point where you have an upset customer.  For me, I try to communicate clearly with customers to lessen any confusion. Please don’t take this the wrong way, but I feel it’s safest to explain things in a manner where even a small child could understand.  We all communicate, listen and interpret things differently so it’s probably best to simplify things to a crystal clear point.  

Let’s dissect “communicate” a little further so that you have a good idea of what I’m referencing.  With my business, I take orders for several custom made items. When taking an order, I have a conversation with that customer to see what they are wanting.  During this conversation I ask many questions, attempting to get the best image of what that customer wants as an end result. I then summarize that order and have them confirm in a few different ways.  If at all possible, I create a mockup to give them an idea of what their item will look like. This gives the customer the opportunity to approve a proof. This is the ideal situation. It’s not possible for all orders, but I try my absolute best to create this situation.  

With custom made items, I require payment upfront (heads up, there will be a blog post about this in the future).  I add their order to my website and send them the link to review their order and make payment. I ask the customer to review the proof carefully, check the spelling and the design, as once the proof is approved, that is the design that will be used to make their custom item.  By the time the customer has paid for their order, they have had the opportunity to review the description of their order multiple times. In the event that this person claims their order is wrong once it’s complete, you can show them all of the opportunities they had to review the order before it was custom made. 

At this stage, you also have the opportunity to insert some of your company’s policies such as return policies, turnaround times, shipping methods, etc.  Not only does this provide some additional comfort to new customers that you are a more grounded, legit business, but it may clear up questions that they may have instead of them having to ask you.  If you don’t have such policies in place, this may be a good time to sit and develop some. The few minutes that it takes to create a policy may save you some headaches in the future. Take some time, do a little research and develop simple clear policies.

Since implementing such things to my business, I have had far fewer issues than I had in the past.  You will still come across people that simply don’t read or pay much attention to detail and then later come back to say that their order is wrong.  My initial tactic in such situations is being as nice as possible to them from the very start. Apologize that they are unhappy with their order and then take the time to review the documentation to support the way their order was placed.  If you were the one to make the mistake, then, by all means, own up to that mistake and make it right. Yes, you may lose money by replacing the product, but it was your mistake and if you want a return customer, good reviews and word of mouth referrals, you want to make sure you do the right thing.  If the mistake was theirs then try breaking that to them nicely. Show them the order details, mockup and whatever else they had the opportunity to review before placing the order. Perhaps, express sympathies for the error but that your policy states……. You could then offer them a discount to place another order with the correct information.  If I were the customer, I would be upset with myself for making the mistake and would be happy to get a discount even though the error was not on behalf of the business. Again this may not satisfy everyone, but I have found that it works a very large percentage of the time.  

To summarize, cover your butt!  Provide detailed product descriptions.  Take good pictures, from multiple angles if possible.  Create mockups as much as possible. Keep your customer informed.  All of these things will help you run a successful business with happy customers.  Happy customers equal return customers. I hope you found this blog post helpful. If you did, please click the heart button below to show some love.  Please refer your friends and family to this blog if you feel they may enjoy it. As always, thank you for visiting the website.