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

Chapter 2. Great Customer Service Is About Getting the Client's Feedback

Happy customers will tell an average of five people about their positive experience.

I'm blessed to be married to the most patient person in the world. My wife, Christine, is the perfect customer. She genuinely feels that the company always deserves the benefit of the doubt and goes to great pains to give them the opportunity to fix a problem when one exists.

Christine patiently navigates her way through the corporate maze that companies construct to render achieving customer satisfaction something of an oxymoron for most of us mere mortals. And when she finally gets what she was after, she's so appreciative that she writes glowing testimonials to the same people who gave her the third degree to get there—all for doing simply what they are supposed to do. After all, she's a customer; she paid for the product or service.

I, on the other hand, have a short fuse. I want what I paid for from the beginning and I don't want to beg. In fact, the title of my most popular keynote address on customer service is "Have I Gotta Beg to Buy?" Laugh at it if you will, but the fact is most customers feel this way about the whole buying process. They'd rather milk a cobra than wander through this maze.

I've spoken on this topic at least 75 to 100 times a year for almost four decades, and nearly every single presentation is different. I do up to 50 hours of interviews with every client to find out what they think the issues are. ...