It's the Customer, Stupid!: 34 Wake-up Calls to Help You Stay Client-Focused

Chapter 1. Unhappy Customers Will Not Only Fire You but They Will Tell Others!

Dissatisfied customers tell an average of 10 other people about their bad experience. Twelve percent tell up to 20 people.

Every company on the planet talks about rendering dynamite customer service. Some like to refer to their customer service departments as "Customer Care Centers." Ironically, however, the cuffs often don't match the collar. Although these organizations espouse the great respect they have for their clients, they build multiple walls around the company to prevent these very customers from getting a fair shake.

While I'm amazed by the hypocritical attitude that seems to pervade much of the corporate world today, I'm not surprised when corporate culture asks customers: "What have you done for me lately?" Their mission statement espouses one thing; their actual mission does quite another.

The term "customer satisfaction" may be too subjective and impossible to define. Why? As it is with beauty, it is defined by the buyer, not the seller. Indeed, most corporate cultures couldn't care less what their buyers think. After all, just look at the way they treat them.

First, they assume that most customers are trying to find "something for nothing." Second, they make the client wait on hold for unreasonable periods of time before grandly coming on the phone line to ask how they can "be of help." Third, they build impossible barriers that the client is forced to navigate to garner any "satisfaction." ...