Customer Disservice

A few months ago, I decided it was time to get my daughter a cell phone. Not as a vehicle for endless calls and texts with friends, not to download the latest apps, not to spend endless hours playing Brickbreaker or Sudoku. The phone was a "just in case" kind of thing. The only "bell or whistle" was the $5/month text messaging package, so that she could text me, her Dad, her grandparents or other essential guardian-types without doing major financial damage.

I signed her up with the wireless carrier I've used for years. Without naming the company in question, let's just say it's one of the major carriers. Let's also say that their customer service - or disservice - is the inspiration for this post. Without going into excruciating detail, here are the basics:

The young woman who sold me the phone apparently did not apply the $5/month texting package to my daughter's line. After a few months of surprisingly high phone bills, I finally caught on to what was happening. My daughter was sending close to 200 texts/month (based upon her 250 "paid" texts) and I was getting charged 25 cents for each and every one.

There were some other errors, as well, all of which added up to significant overcharges to my account.

Again, to save you the gory details (although it feels sorta good to vent my extreme level of frustration about all of this), I'll simply tell you that my carrier's customer service was atrocious. I spoke with two customer service reps, a supervisor and the young lady who sold me the phone in the first place. Nobody was willing to help. Apparently, it was all my fault, for not having checked my bill and complained early on in the process. According to the supervisor who ultimately took my call, "If it was that important to you, you would have checked the bill and called us right away." I told him that his comment was a fabulous way to calm down an angry customer and to keep up the good work.

Long story short, there's still tremendous value in trusting your customers and doing the right thing. Sure, you'll sometimes come across someone who's trying to pull a fast one. You'll think to yourself that no, the customer is not always right. But more often than not, your customers and clients will have valid concerns. Hear them out, make reasonable accommodations, take responsibility if you haven't met their needs.

A happy customer is a repeat customer. A satisfied client will refer you to others. Bottom line, good customer service builds a great reputation, is the right thing to do and will serve you and your clients extremely well.

Until next time...

Liz

Spotlight on Leadership: Relationships Matter

I love my job. I get to work with incredible clients – bright, successful, motivated individuals who possess the courage and commitment to keep getting better. What’s not to love about that?

Many of my clients are mid to senior level executives who have already accomplished a great deal in their careers. For some of these executives, coaching provides a way to ensure success in a new or expanded role. For others, coaching helps to enhance and strengthen their effectiveness as leaders within their organizations. And for others, coaching offers a way to improve the communication, collaboration and overall performance of their teams.

Although the context varies - in terms of the particular challenges being faced, the specific opportunities to be leveraged, as well as the functions and industries in which my clients work – there are several themes that repeatedly emerge. Communication. Collaboration. Influence. Leadership. And the common thread among these? Relationships. Interacting effectively and successfully with others toward a positive outcome.

Relationships in the workplace really do matter. And for leaders, mastering the relationship “thing” is simply essential. The fact is, it is only in the context of meaningful, trusting, genuine relationships that leaders are able to influence others, communicate a compelling vision and rally the enthusiasm, support and commitment of their people.

Here are some tips for developing and sustaining key relationships:

Make a list. Write down all of the stakeholders with whom you interact and whom you must be able to influence or otherwise engage. This should include your direct reports, your peers, your boss, senior leadership, even your admin. Clients, customers and business partners are important, too. Be certain not to leave anyone out.

Rate your relationships. On a scale of 1 to 5, rate each of these relationships. How strong are they in terms of trust, candor and respect? How are the quality and adequacy of communication? Reflect upon recent conversations, conflicts and collaborative endeavors. A score of 5 means the relationship is nearly perfect. A score of 1 means the relationship is in dire straits. Most of your relationships will probably fall somewhere in the middle.

Build upon your strongest relationships. Be sure to sustain these healthy relationships. All relationships require active maintenance so don’t become complacent. Continue to engage in open dialogue. Reach out on a regular basis. Connect over a cup of coffee or a bite of lunch. You’ve got a good thing going. Make sure to keep it up.

Fix what’s broken. If things have faltered in one of your relationships, find a way to remedy the situation. Have the difficult conversations. Find out what you may have done to contribute to the poor quality of the relationship. See what needs to happen in order to make things better. It won’t always be easy but, more often than not, you will be able to improve a damaged relationship. And that’s a good thing for all involved.

Seek feedback. Don’t forget to periodically check in with each of your key stakeholders. You’ll want to examine what’s going well in your relationships and what can be improved upon. These needn’t be touchy-feely conversations. Instead, they should be focused on the quality and quantity of interaction, communication and collaboration. Offer and ask for concrete examples of what’s working well and what isn’t. This will put you in a great position to enhance and improve upon these vital relationships.