Harassment, Brick Walls, & Apathy: How NOT to treat Members, Clients, or Customers

Customer service (also known as client service or member service) is what sets apart any company or organization that is committed to excellence. While all organizations need to earn money to survive, that cannot be the only driver when it comes to serving the people who use your products or services. Think about the best experiences you have with any organization providing you with a service: it almost always comes down to how helpful, informed, and service-oriented the representatives are.

One of the companies I hear the most about when it comes to quality services that lead to a positive reputation is Chewy.com. That’s right: pet supplies. Before I started using Chewy.com, I heard many of my friends and colleagues rave about their wonderful and sensitive service. Their customer service policy is to focus on creating positive customer experiences whether on the phone or online and they deliver. (Please note I did not read that statement on their website; that is my takeaway from my own experiences with Chewy.)

The Chewy.com Experience stands out because they are friendly, informed, and most importantly EMPOWERED. They do not read from a script. They actually pay attention to your question or service need and address it. Chewy representatives can solve problems and they do. That is why their reputation is outstanding in the customer service area.

Imagine if your members or clients had similar experiences when dealing with your nonprofit or consultancy or service provider company. When we have the power and the culture of service and problem solving, everyone comes away feeling good about the experience. Money doesn’t make the world go around; relationships do.

When dealing with my own clients and customers, it’s my company so I get to decide. Someone needs a payment plan? Okay, let’s make one. The proposed fee is too much for the budget? Let’s talk about what we can do. Helping clients with a new solution can lead to better policies in the long run. For example, when we first started offering the ethics course, it was always on the first Tuesday of the month at 10 am Eastern time. A friend contacted me and said, “I really want to take your ethics course but I have a standing meeting that day and time. Will you offer it a different day?” A reasonable request in my opinion, so I asked my co-facilitator Cheryl Ronk what she thought and we said sure! We’ll offer it on a Wednesday. Problem solved.

This also led us to realize that we should offer the course on different days and times throughout the year. Our ethics course schedule now shifts days of the week and times of day with morning, afternoon, and late in the day options. An improved approach was developed based on a customer request.

We also have a commitment at Rogue Tulips called, “You sign up, we show up.” If one person signs up for a course or webinar, we are there. We don’t cancel because we know that person needs or wants this course so we offer it.

I recently wrote a blog post about my concerns over harassment marketing, an approach that to me is relentless bullying and intimidation. Constant phone calls, texts, and emails to the point where you need to start blocking people is not the way to win someone over. In fact, it has turned me against a well-known CRM company in our profession. Don’t harass people; let them come to you.

Brick walls are another customer service obstacle that seems to be increasing. Comcast is the most notorious company for the most terrible customer service on the planet. They use brick walls, apathy, and poorly trained customer service representatives to keep you from getting any form of real service and they make every attempt to get you to give up by NOT connecting you with a person who actually will talk to you. At a recent Zoom networking meeting I attended, almost everyone in the session had a bad Comcast story. Considering it is a group from around the country, the data is strong that Comcast sucks.

Comcast’s automated telephone system is programmed to hang up on you 2 out of 3 times; it will tell you to go online and use the chat assistant even if your internet is out (I am not making this up – it has happened to me at least 3 times in the past 2 years). I was reading the Comcast Customer forum earlier this week and it was filled with complaints and questions about the poorly informed and poorly trained representatives who give out wrong information and outright lie to customers.

Comcast has a long history of poor customer service but there was a short period where it improved dramatically – it was when they wanted to buy NBC Universal and they wanted to make a good impression on the federal government. Now that the deal is done and they have owned it for a few years, customer service is worse than ever. And I can say that sincerely having been a customer since moving to Maryland in the late 1980s.

We all have horror stories about bad customer service experiences: hours on hold, automated systems that hang up on us or tell us things that are not true, poorly trained service representatives, and being told can’t when they mean won’t.

In working with our own customers and members, let’s make our mantra this: Don’t be Comcast. I highly recommend that you Go Rogue in your approach to customer service: solve the problems or come up with alternatives. In the end, it’s relationships and reputation that matter.