Proactive, Reactive
Service Makes Customers Happy: Are Utilities Doing Everything Possible for
Their Customers?
Energy Pulse 11.21.05
There isn’t a
utility in existence that doesn’t make a mistake from time to time that
impacts customers. The questions is, are they properly reactive in solving
the problem and are they proactive in their service so that customers always
feel they are treated well?
Here are some
tips on reactive and proactive customer service.
Reactive
customer service comes after the fact.
Reactive service
comes after a customer has a problem or complaint or is generally
dissatisfied. This type of service is in reaction to your customer and,
therefore, is likely to be affected by both parties’ emotional states.
Actively
listen and don’t interrupt the customer.
Set your emotions
aside and pay attention to your customer. Interruptions will fuel an
agitated customer. If your customer has been inconvenienced, listen and then
extend a sincere apology – the operative word being sincere.
Make an
action-based gesture.
Even the smallest
gesture of this type can diffuse an upset customer. It’s critical that you
take responsibility and demonstrate that you own the problem. Depending upon
the situation, the gesture can be something as simple as making an
adjustment to the customer’s account or sending a small token of apology,
such as movie tickets.
Speed is
critical.
Your resolution
must be presented immediately, if possible, and without layers of management
approval. This is how you turn a disgruntled customer into a happy one. This
also turns second chances into a loyalty-building activity.
Customer
service is often viewed as a complaint-handling system.
Customer service is
a marketing technique. If you develop customer service and customer
retention programs, you will reap benefits in many ways – increased sales
and profits, happier employees and customers, less stressful work
environments and more time to think creatively and proactively.
Only 4
percent of customers complain.
Your utility may
never hear from 96 percent of its customers and, of those who are unhappy,
92 percent may just quietly go away because they feel complaining will not
do them any good. Complainers are more likely to continue doing business
with your utility than non-complainers.
Most
complainers end up staying with your company.
Fifty-four to 70
percent of complainers will do business with you again if you resolve their
complaint. Up to 95 percent of these customers will refer new customers.
Customers
always have a choice: they can call or not call.
If they don’t call,
their frustration doesn’t go away. They may just put it “on hold” until
something else happens and then they are even more upset. Or they can share
their frustration and opinion of your utility with others and in those
conversations, you are certain to be the bad guy.
Proactive
customer service may come before or after the fact.
But proactive
service is always about taking action to improve the customer’s experience
and outcome. Proactive customer service anticipates the customer’s current
and future needs.
Proactive
service begins before the customer walks in the door.
Proactive service
means your utility is already prepared to do everything to satisfy and keep
the customer. Review all the activities at your utility and examine how well
your employees perform to satisfy customers. Go well beyond just handling
complaints, providing refunds and smiling at customers.
Proactive
service means going out of your way for the customer.
Do everything
possible to meet your customers’ needs. Sometimes that means making
decisions that benefit customers even at the expense of the company.
Measure the
process.
Take a close look
at all your processes and procedures, as well as interactions your staff has
with your customers both over the phone and in person. Identify the most
common situations that cause customers to get upset or frustrated. Review
the process with all departments involved, brainstorm ways to improve it and
test the new process to confirm it will create the desired result. A new
solution will reduce calls to your customer service staff. Overall, the
number of unhappy customers your utility has to work with should decline.
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David Saxby is president of Measure-X, a Phoenix,
Ariz.-based measurement, training and recognition company that specializes in
customer service and sales skill training for utility companies. He can be
reached at 888-644-5499 or via e-mail at
david@measure-x.com. Visit the Measure-X Web site at
www.measure-x.com.
