Examples and Consequences of Bad Customer Service

The quality of your customer service has a direct correlation to the success of your company. Bad customer service may have a negative impact on sales in the near term and on your firm in a variety of ways over the long haul. It can damage your company’s image, for one thing. This article will go over the negative effects of poor customer service on a company, helping you to identify problem areas and formulate a plan of action, if necessary.

Bad Customer Service

When a company’s service quality, response time, or overall customer experience falls short of what its customers anticipate, they are providing bad customer service.

The success of your contact center depends on the quality of the service your agents provide to your customers. Expecting exceptional performance from new hires after only providing them with rudimentary training is a recipe for financial disaster.

Instead, you should monitor agent activity, look for causes of poor performance, and provide solutions. First, you should know what to look out for; here are seven scenarios typical of poor customer service calls (along with suggestions for improving them).

Placing Customers on Hold for an Excessive Amount of Time

This is typical of calls to customer service departments. Any caller, no matter how cheerful, would feel a pang of fear at the thought of being put on wait for what could be many minutes. This is the most important part of bad customer service that can be damaging to the image of the company.

A Negative Tone

Good customer service is about more than just talking to them in the proper way. Even if they don’t, your clients want to feel that your representatives are experts who can solve any problem. Agents who claim they are unable to assist a customer are not likely to win their trust, and the customer is more likely to become dissatisfied with your service as a whole. In order to reduce the likelihood that customers would hang up on agents and have a negative experience, it is crucial to train them to maintain a cheerful attitude and take a proactive approach to solve problems.

Constantly Redirecting Callers

One of the most common complaints about customer service is being transferred from one representative to another. That your workforce lacks problem-solving skills and that your organizational structure is flawed is a double blow.

Whether a consumer is calling with a highly technical question or a more straightforward problem, they should be able to speak to an agent with expertise in the precise area of their inquiry. Instead of diverting the call and crossing their fingers, the answering service representative would know exactly who to put the consumer in touch with.

Asking Customers to Repeat Their Statements

Examples of bad customer service calls include being asked for the same information or having to repeat yourself numerous times.

It should be easy for agents to look up a previous caller’s details (name, call history, etc.) or enter new information about an unknown caller. This should be up on their screen so they don’t have to repeat asking the same questions over and over again.

Lack of Empathy from Agents

When a customer complains about a problem with a product or service, they want a representative to take their side and provide an apology on the company’s behalf. The customer wants the representative to apologize for the wait.

It’s possible that a client can feel that they’re getting no acknowledgment of fault or sincere apology if the agent is unable to relate to them and is simply going through the motions of the script. This might cause them to get so frustrated that they finally hang up or lodge a formal complaint.

Sending Potential Buyers to a Web Page

It has become a typical practice for call centers to refer clients to the corporate website instead of providing the assistance they have requested. There is a good chance that a consumer has looked over the site but still has questions. Nobody who calls customer service wants to hear that they should just hang up and figure it out on their own.

Indeed, I can see why that might be the case. The goal is to process as many calls as possible, and the caller’s problem may already have been addressed under the Frequently Asked Questions area. But they have a cause for calling, and your group must deal with it.

Impoliteness and a Negative Demeanor

There are up days and down days for everyone. There will be days when even the notion of talking to one more customer is too much for your staff. This is a reality that cannot be avoided.

You must ensure, however, that even when clients are abusive, they always stay professional and polite. The key is to find an amicable way to resolve the caller’s issue as soon as possible.

Repercussions Of Providing Poor Customer Service

The value of a satisfying client experience cannot be overstated for any company. Inadequate customer service may have a major effect on a company’s customer retention rates, driving away potential customers. Some negative effects of providing poor service to customers are listed below.

Defections

Customers who experience poor service may decide to go elsewhere, cutting into profits and increasing overhead. If a client has trouble reaching a representative or thinks they aren’t being handled properly, for instance, they may look elsewhere. Companies of a smaller size may have a harder time finding new clients as a result.

Damaged Reputation

A company’s online image can take a major hit if customers have a negative interaction with customer care. It’s very uncommon for dissatisfied consumers to take their complaints to the internet in the form of a bad review, an indignant message on Twitter, or something else as public and damaging to a company’s reputation. Even if a client had a favorable overall experience, they are more likely to write a bad review if they feel strongly enough about the issue.

Non-Converting Leads

Consider this: you make an inquiry about a product or service but never hear back from the company. I mean, how irritated would you be? When it comes to that company, how likely are you to return?

To that, the answer is probably not. People won’t do what you want them to if you’re not willing to do it themselves.

If some workers aren’t pulling their weight, others will need to do so. You’re aware of how this might aggravate workers who are forced to take on extra tasks and obligations that aren’t theirs. This raises the possibility that they will grow dissatisfied with their jobs and seek alternatives. That’s not what you desire, right?

Reduced Number of Clients (Both Current and Future)

The effectiveness of word of mouth cannot be overstated. And the opposite is true when it’s negative: it spreads like wildfire. One furious tweet or nasty review about substandard services might cost you several more customers…

Hold back the disgruntled reviewers and work to fix problems as soon as feasible.

Why not put money into call analytics if you’re concerned about losing customers? You may listen in on calls to hear how agents deal with unhappy consumers and adjust training accordingly.

Drop in Revenues

When consumers go, revenue goes down. And, of course, if sales drop, so do earnings. The amount of money your company stands to lose as a result of a drop in customers and sales might have far-reaching consequences.

Possibility of Damaging Morale Among Workers

Employees may begin to lose faith in the company as a whole as a result of poor customer service.

Inadequate customer service can lead to a rise in inquiries, which can overwhelm your support staff.

It’s no surprise that this causes burnout and discontent among workers. Without a system in place to address client complaints, having to deal with unhappy consumers may be demoralizing for your support personnel.

If your business receives negative press, you risk losing not only your average employees but also your best ones. Having one’s reputation tied to a bad name is something nobody seeks.

Maintain Good Customer Service or Risk the Loss of Clients

It’s clear that providing poor customer service may have an effect on your business, but that doesn’t mean it has to destroy you. You may swiftly raise your company’s standing if you make it a priority to monitor and address customer complaints as soon as they arise and reward workers who go above and beyond in their service.