In spite of winter's frigid temperatures, it's time for a Spring cleaning. These are challenging times and the domino effect of the economic downturn is hurting every industry. Businesses are laying off record numbers of employees. But are the right employees heading out the doors?
Do you have a certain co-worker who always seems to get away with doing the minimum amount of effort each day while the other employees are working hard? Do you find yourself apologizing to customers because of the way a particular employee handled their service requests?
In their book, "How Full is Your Bucket," Tom Rath and Donald O. Clifton write: "It is possible for just one or two people to poison an entire workplace. And managers who have tried moving negative people to other departments to alleviate the problem know that 'location, location, location' doesn't apply to these people; they bring their negativity along with them wherever they go. Negative employees can tear through a workplace like a hurricane racing through a coastal town."
A rude customer service rep greeted me when I called my airline to report that 2,800 miles I had earned on a recent trip had not been credited to my frequent flyer account. She said she could only give me the miles if I provided her with my ticket number. I explained that I no longer had my ticket because the flight attendant at the airport had assured me that the miles had been credited to my account. Her reply? "That's your problem, not mine. You'll just have to call your travel agent and get the ticket numbers. Then you can call back and start over."
The next day I contacted the airline's frequent flyer customer service department. This time, I was greeted by a warm, friendly employee, who proved to be extremely helpful. I happened to mention the negative experience I had with the other rep. She apologized and asked if I knew the rep's name. I said it was Kayla.
At first, my comment was greeted with silence, then, with a sigh she said, "Ah yes. She tends to rub our customers the wrong way. You're not the first person who's complained about her. Everyone else in our department is so nice and we really care about our customers but her attitude makes us all look bad."
When customers and co-workers have attached a negative attitude label to a specific employee, it is time to evaluate that employee's cost to the organization. The cost of a rude employee can be measured in the following ways:
-Cost of losing an angry customer
-Cost of wasting time with re-work caused by the employee's refusal to handle the service properly the first time
-Cost of replacing good employees who leave because they don't want to work with this negative employee
-Cost of negative word-of-mouth advertising
-Cost of time wasted by managers trying to fix the employee's attitude
A rude employee is like a skunk in a field full of cats. She may look like the others but her negative attitude makes her service stink. Not only that, the behaviors of one employee can give customers the impression that the whole department and even the company stinks. Sixty-eight percent of customers leave because of an attitude of indifference by a single employee. Take a look at your field of great employees. Are skunks hiding there? How much damage are they doing to your co-worker and customer relationships? Are they worth it?
Monday, March 02, 2009
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1 comment:
I have a great example, as a matter of fact my experience yesterday led me to google "rude customer service" and I found your site...I'll just let my letter sent to Sprint headquarters in Kansas do the talking....
"This Occurred on May 7th, 2009
When I contacted Brandon earlier this evening, I was very upset, not as much about the confusion with my bill, but the treatment by one of the Customer Service Reps in the “escalations” division of one of the call centers (Leaundria Benton, who is a Manager). I was passed to her by another CSR (Jennifer Hawkins?) from Account Services that had a patronizing demeanor as well. I was not heard, and Leaundria did not “probe” or ask any questions that could have allowed her to advise me better on the situation…. I basically talked to myself for 30 minutes. She was like a statue, and it was obvious that she just wanted me off the phone. Mind you, I was upset, but I was not being belligerent or loud at all, and I was very professional, clear, and calm in my speaking. To make matters worse with Leaundria, once Brandon and I later ironed out all the specifics of my situation, it was very apparent that Leaundria (and the CSR before her) had advised me incorrectly. (What little bit of advisement she did offer, incidentally.) And if she had just taken a minute to actually do her job and investigate, she would have realized what the real problem was, and I would not have had to talk to 3 more people before I finally received help. Leaundria and the other CSR had me so discouraged that I was a hairs’ breadth away from terminating my contract (which I would not want to do). I expressed this to her, and she was not the least bit concerned. Because for most people nowadays, $608.45 dollars is not something you can easily part with, especially when you don’t really owe it! I don’t even think Leaundria pulled my account up during the call! She absolutely, positively did NOTHING to further investigate my situation, nor offer me any possible options. She was not excessively rude, she just offered absolutely no help! Did not even attempt.
Brandon, however, was very poised and professional, and he listened to everything that I said; he *thoroughly* investigated the situation, as well as provided me with understanding of what everything meant on my bill. It was obvious that my issue was a priority for him as far as resolution….He displayed no negativity at all towards me; in fact, he apologized for errors that were not his fault. He even followed up faster than he initially told me he would; he was very prompt. And most of all, I did not feel patronized or like I was a nuisance or an ignoramus! He listened and investigated.
It feels bad enough to have a discrepancy or confusion on your account, but it is compounded when you have Customer Service Reps that are stoic and unhelpful, and treat you like you are one of the deadbeats that are trying to “get over”. I wasn’t trying to get out of paying any money I may have *rightfully* owed, I just wanted to know if I honestly owed it, and have a little clarity as to why. Had Leaundria thoroughly investigated and asked the questions that Brandon did, she would have easily been able to figure out my situation, as well as realize that I did not owe Sprint the money for the phones, like she kept repeating over and over. It is people like Leaundria Benton that could be the reason a loyal Sprint customer would completely sever ties with the company. Likewise, it is people like Brandon who could restore that persons’ faith in the company, and the reassurance that in the end, some kind of resolution can be reached, in which both parties are satisfied.
Thank you so much Sprint, and in particular Brandon, for listening, and helping a loyal customer, and I will continue to be loyal, as long as the “Leandria Benton’s” are not the majority of Sprint Customer Service! ~Tabitha"
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