In these times, taking care of how you attend to your customers is crucial. It’s not enough to just offer a good product or service; you also need to address questions, solve problems, and resolve issues. That’s why poor customer service really costs, leading to fewer sales and less customer loyalty.

Furthermore, the brand image will degrade, and with a bad reputation, it will be difficult to revive the company. This is why you must avoid it at all costs. How can you do that? Don’t worry, we’ll give you some tips that will undoubtedly help. Plus, we’ll tell you more about this issue so you can understand it and address it in a better way.

What is poor customer service?

We call poor service when customer expectations are not met. It happens due to various issues like lack of preparation, motivation, resources, emotional intelligence, or an incorrect approach. Generally, we associate customer service problems with these failures, which frustrate consumers:

• Long wait times: Most problems arise because it takes too long to get assistance. No one likes calling and waiting 10 minutes listening to hold music before being helped, so they end up hanging up. The same happens if you’re physically in line for too long.
• Being transferred between agents: There’s no point in being attended to quickly if you’re then passed from one operator to another, having to repeat the same thing over and over.
• Lack of staff: Sometimes the situation goes beyond control, and it’s not possible to attend to everyone. This is even more frustrating than the previous issue and is the most common form of poor customer service.
• No multichannel services: While phone calls are common, some users prefer contacting via chat or instant messaging. Forcing them to use just one channel might upset them.
• Delays and product shortages: If a company doesn’t manage its stock properly, shortages can occur, leading users to switch to competitors. On the other hand, delays in shipping are also bothersome.
• Broken promises: If you sell a product or service, it’s crucial that it’s exactly what you promised. The same applies to customer service—if you promise a response in 5 minutes, it should be that time or less. If it takes longer, you’ll look like a liar.
• Lack of interest: When you feel like they don’t want to help you, don’t understand you, speak rudely, become defensive, or don’t care about you, you’ll perceive the customer service as negative.

What problems does it cause?

Poor customer service is very costly for businesses and has disastrous consequences. These are the most important ones to keep in mind:

• Increased sensitivity to changes: If you have a good product, you might be able to retain customers as long as you don’t change the prices. However, customer service problems will make them more sensitive to changes. For example, if you raise the price, they’ll use it as an excuse to leave, even if the price increase is justified. On the other hand, with good customer service, they won’t mind paying more.
• Higher customer churn: For a business to succeed, customer retention is key. If customer service is poor, you’ll always rely on new leads because no one will return, meaning you’ll need to spend more money on marketing.
• Low customer engagement: This metric measures how satisfied users are with you. With poor customer service, they won’t trust you, they won’t recommend you, and they’ll eventually leave for a competitor. Ultimately, they’ll speak negatively about you, leave bad reviews, and warn their friends and family not to buy from you.
• Bad brand image: When a company gains a bad reputation, it affects even those who’ve never purchased from you. Your business will be seen as low-quality, scaring off potential customers.
• Lower profits: All of the above results in less money for the company. Sales decrease, more money is spent on returns, and stress fills the company as people look for someone to blame.

How to improve poor customer service: ideas and examples

Luckily, it’s possible to improve customer service in certain cases. Everything must start with proper training for your staff to handle customers, or outsourcing the service to someone who knows how to do it. An operator should be patient, practice active listening, and be quick and effective in their service, connecting with support teams and other departments.

However, not all companies have the same resources to improve customer service. Fortunately, there are tricks like using artificial intelligence to handle basic inquiries and issues on the website, leaving the phone lines for more urgent matters. This will free up operators and allow them to serve customers more quickly.

How to do this? With Indigitall’s AI chatbot. Thanks to artificial intelligence, it operates 24/7, 365 days a year, providing personalized support and resolving questions, either via WhatsApp or the website. It’s also a great source of information, qualifying leads, conducting surveys, and offering personalized experiences based on the user.

That said, don’t forget this is not everything. If you want to avoid poor customer service entirely, also take care of your product, be honest, and genuinely care about your users. If you focus on quality and listen to what customers want, you’ll undoubtedly achieve the results you’re aiming for.