RECOGNIZE AND DEAL WITH CUSTOMER TURNOFFS

Customer Turnoffs

  As a customer, client, patient, etc…what are some of your turnoffs?

According to statistics very common customer turnoffs may be;  Being ignored, receiving rude or indifferent service  Having to wait too long  Poor-quality work (especially on repair jobs) or shoddy products  Sale items that are not in stock  Merchandise prices not marked, forcing a price check at cashier  Dirty restaurants or restrooms  Phone calls put on hold forcing you to select from a long menu of choices  Employees lacking product knowledge (who may also try to bluff customers)  High-pressure sales tactics

Getting to know your customer

 It is in the best interest of an organization to

Get to KNOW their customers

. The easiest way to understand a customer is to recognize a customer’s satisfaction and/or dissatisfaction .

 At the end of the day…what do your customers like or dislike?

 What are several methods that may be used to pinpoint customer satisfaction and/or dissatisfaction?

 Customer Surveys  Customer Feedback Questionnaires  Customer Focus Groups  Customer Interviews  Customer Advisory groups

Categorizing Customer Turnoffs



Through extensive research customer turnoffs can be categorized into three distinct categories



VALUE

Turnoffs 

SYSTEM

Turnoffs 

PEOPLE

Turnoffs

Value Turnoffs

 In short, value turnoffs can be described as

not getting the value of what you have paid for

.

 Example: You receive a 30 minute massage from the massage therapist in your chiropractors office, it is terrible. You feel like you have just been run over by a lawnmower, not to mention that the office has just raised the fees for a massage by 50%.



Value can be defined as: quality relative to price



Examples of value turnoffs:

 Poor guarantee or failure to back up products   Quality not good as expected Price too high for value received

Where do value decisions originate from?

 

Value decisions usually come from

management

or the

head of an organization

. In a medical or dental facility value decisions may be regulated by a medical or dental

board

The head of an organization will define what is called the;



value proposition

—

what the company intends

to exchange with its customers.

System Turnoffs

  System turnoffs arise from the way a company

ITS PRODUCTS OR SERVICES .



DELIVERS A system is

—any process, procedure, or policy used to

‘ DELIVER

’ the product or service to the customer. Systems are the processes that we use to get value to the customer.

Systems include things such as:

 Company location, layout, parking facilities, phone lines  Employee training and staffing  Record keeping (including computer systems for handling customer transactions)  Policies regarding guarantees and product returns  Delivery or pickup services  Merchandise displays  Customer follow-up procedures  Billing and accounting processes

  

Where do system decisions originate from?

The responsibility for minimizing system turnoffs lies with

managers

, and

owners

,. System changes often require spending organizational resources which are usually authorized

by managers or the head of an organization.

 A companies decision to add personnel, provide additional training, change locations or implement new delivery methods, will require management approval.

This does not mean that non-management employees should not be involved in suggesting system changes. Customers may also indirectly be involved in system changes through customer feedback question, surveys etc…about company systems.

Examples of system turnoffs:

 Slow service  Long lines   Untrained employees Poor signage  When transactions are unnecessarily complicated or inefficient (example: complicated form forms)

System Turnoffs in a healthcare facility

  Can you think of a system turnoff in a healthcare facility?

 employees who lack the knowledge to answer customer questions  Telephone menus that are unnecessarily complicated  poor location  cluttered workplace  Lack of adequate seating  Dirty facilities  clumsy or repetitious paperwork requirements  lack of parking  Long periods of waiting

What do you think is the number one system turnoff according to customer research?

 Slow service and/or having to wait

People Turnoffs

 

Employees that fail to communicate properly with words or nonverbally without words will almost always lead to people turnoffs.

 Employees at all levels may create people turnoffs unconsciously. This usually happens because people fail to understand how they are perceived by others…how can this be

remedied…Chapter 2:

Use behaviours that engage customers and be aware of how and what you are communicating to a customer.

THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR REDUCING PEOPLE TURNOFFS LIES WITH THE

EMPLOYEE

Examples of People Turnoffs

       Employees who fail to greet or even smile at a customer People who give inaccurate information or convey a lack of knowledge Employees chatting amongst themselves or allowing telephone interruptions while ignoring a customer Behaviours that project a rude or uncaring attitude Work locations that appear dirty or sloppy Employees who are dressed inappropriately or have poor grooming Any communicated message that causes the customer to feel uncomfortable

Creating Loyal Customers

A satisfied customer may not necessarily be a loyal, motivated or repeat customer. A bad service experience may push the customer over the edge and lean them towards

becoming a DISSATISFIED CUSTOMER .

How to Create Loyal Customers

1.

2.

3.

 Reduce or eliminate value, systems and people turnoffs Exceed customer expectations to create, positive awareness   Loyalty comes from customers awareness that SERVICE IS YOUR BUSINESS It is only when organizations realize that foundation of any business that they will begin to serve customers effectively.

SERVICE

is the Companies have to acknowledge that without their customers they would not exist.

Service only becomes meaningful when it becomes and internal dynamic within an organization.

 Customers’ quickly see the depth of a company’s commitment to service.

The payoff to recovering a potentially lost customer…increasing customer loyalty  Studies have shown that: a customer who encounters a problem with a company and that problem is

addressed promptly and effectively—

this customer will be more likely to remain loyal that a customer who never had a problem.

 Even in cases where the customers problem was not resolved 100 percent in their favour, the loyalty still increases.

 Just the fact that

the problem was acknowledged and addressed

seems to be the key variable in strengthening the customer relationship