Welcome to the special Halloween 06 edition of The Dynamic Dispatch, the email newsletter of Dynamic Advantage, filled this month with terrible true tales of customer service gone wrong!
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This Month’s Dispatch Data
- The drugstore of the damned
- Tips & tools: keeping Dracula at bay
- Exemplary shopper of the month
- The zombies at checkout
- Curse of the Phone Phantom
- Shriek of the banshee
- Monstrous customer service
This frightening tale comes courtesy of our v.p., Stefan Doomanis.“About a year ago when we moved to a different area of town, we located another 24-hour Scare-on drugstore, which was great because all our prescriptions were already with them. But after patronizing this location for the last year, it is now commonly referred to in our household as ‘the drugstore of the damned.’
“In the last year the Scare-on pharmacy has misfilled prescription quantities, lost necessary insurance forms, and has offered absolutely no problem solving or customer service skills. The lines are always too long and the pharmacy techs are just plain unfriendly. In fact, this whole store is plagued with unhappy employees who find comfort in displaying it in their work.
“Well, I finally saw the ‘We’re Open’ sign at Walgreen’s and a few days later got a $20 coupon to be validated with their easy prescription transfer and I quickly took advantage of the offer. Although I already had an incentive (not giving my money to Scare-on anymore), Walgreen’s incentives really motivated me.
“While I was at Walgreen’s picking up my transferred prescription, I heard horror story after horror story about Scare-on: lost prescriptions, bad service, and customers who have been going to Scare-on for 20 years who are now happy to be leaving. The pharmacy tech is empathizing, and explained how they are processing about 20 prescription transfers a day and the process is a little slow because the requests are getting hung up at…Scare-on (gee). With that, their doors have been open just a couple of weeks, and with high demand – I still had to wait in line, but the pharmacy tech who helped me was friendly and they turned my transfer around in the time promised. This just solidifies how happy I am to be leaving Scare-on.”
What’s the most frightening part of this tale? This scary scenario is happening right now to businesses all across the country, where customers are desperately hoping that a competitor will open to put you right out of business.
Concerned that bad customer service is haunting you? Call us toll free at 866.870.1251. We’ll help you chase away the specter of slow sales.
How do you keep Dracula out of your house? Don’t invite him in.
It’s a little-known fact that Dracula has to be invited into your house – not once, not twice, but three times. Until you’ve asked him inside three times, he cannot enter. Some legends have it that this applies to all vampires, while some restrict it solely to the lord of the undead himself.
What is the thinking behind this?
That your house is what you make of it – and that when you open your door to evil, it enters. But if you don’t want it, it cannot come in.
The same applies to customers. Like Dracula, customers want to be invited into your business. Unlike Dracula, customers are beings you actually want crossing your threshold. How do you make sure your doorway beckons them forth?
Not sure whether you’re providing a haven for customers? We’ll help you measure – and improve – your customer service. Contact us.
It’s a little-known fact that Dracula has to be invited into your house – not once, not twice, but three times. Until you’ve asked him inside three times, he cannot enter. Some legends have it that this applies to all vampires, while some restrict it solely to the lord of the undead himself.
What is the thinking behind this?
That your house is what you make of it – and that when you open your door to evil, it enters. But if you don’t want it, it cannot come in.
The same applies to customers. Like Dracula, customers want to be invited into your business. Unlike Dracula, customers are beings you actually want crossing your threshold. How do you make sure your doorway beckons them forth?
- Keep your doorway clean and well-lit.
- Welcome people who cross the threshold.
- Provide useful signage to help them find their way.
- Smile.
- Offer to be helpful.
Not sure whether you’re providing a haven for customers? We’ll help you measure – and improve – your customer service. Contact us.
Our Exemplary Shopper of the Month, KI1525, shops in and around Los Angeles for us. Nancy has been shopping for Dynamic Advantage for two-and-a-half years and loves shedding the light of day on good – and bad – customer service. Her response to learning that she’s been given this award? “Awesome!”
We’ve all seen them: Their eyes wild, their behavior irrational, their mad lust for giddy distraction leaving them unable to focus. Seemingly they’ll do anything but take your credit card and let you leave the store.They are the people working the cash register.
They aren’t everywhere – yet – but sometimes it seems that their numbers are growing rapidly.
Some personal experiences we’ve heard recently:
“There were a bunch of them,” says Joan, our human resources administrator, recounting a recent store visit. “They were ‘playing around,’ but it made me uncomfortable as a customer. There did not appear to be anyone in charge” It got worse, as the ghoulish employees’ “horseplay” (which included smacking a female employee on her backside) continued until customers wanted to run screaming from the restaurant!
One of our shoppers told us a story about a grocery store’s wine display – and the dead-eyed response from cashiers.
“They had bottles of wine that were in the wrong location. When I asked about it (when the bottle rang up incorrectly) I got treated like I didn't matter,” she says. “An employee even admitted that the bottles were in the wrong spot and that it was too bad for me. They didn't bother to move the bottles or remove the old sign. It was by far the coldest/worst customer service I have ever received at this store and some of the worst I have ever experienced.”
One of our best shoppers has noted that it isn’t just the presence of cash registers that draws these fiends. She has seen them at banks, too!
“The bank wasn’t busy, and employees were socializing,” she notes. “They weren’t keeping an eye on customers entering, and I had to interrupt them to get help. Then, when they turned to look at me – I wasn’t sure I wanted it!”
Are the walking dead working at your place? Contact us! We can help you identify them by their traits, and make sure that your customers get the warm, living treatment they deserve.
Have you been cursed by the Phone Phantom, finding yourself stuck on hold with no further recourse? And when it picks up, its behavior is even worse. Is it alive? Is it undead? Is it some strange construct of science gone wrong?This just happened to our quality control administrator, Eren.
“I recently called my phone service provider to ask for the number of the National Do Not Call Registry as I have been receiving nuisance sales calls at all hours of the day and night,” she says. “When I asked for the phone number, the customer service representative placed me on hold (without having been asked if it was okay to be placed on hold) for about 15 minutes.
“When she returned, she stated she did not know what I was talking about and suggested that I add an expensive feature to my line where callers would have to announce their name and company and I would determine if I wanted to take the call. I explained that I did not want to pay for a feature that would still allow sales calls to be transmitted at all hours of the day and night. I also explained that there was a registry mandated by the Federal Communications Commission that served to block all solicitation phone calls. She replied that my only option was to add the feature and nothing more could be done. Her tone was very matter-of-fact and did not show any concern for my problem. I declined the feature again and hung up feeling as if my call was useless.
“Shortly after the phone conversation, I researched the registry online and found what I was looking for. I felt the representative should have had the information readily available as they too are regulated by the FCC. She could also have used a concerned tone while she interacted with me.”
Who pays the ultimate price for being cursed by the Phone Phantom? The business that employs her. She will drain the customer loyalty right out of your company.
Afraid that you’ve got a Phone Phantom? Let us know. We’ll test your phone service and help rid your company of this curse.
Our president, Greg, shares this true tale of customer misfortune.“A customer leaned against a liquor display in a grocery store,” he says. “The entire display fell and destroyed every bottle of Jack Daniels.”
The hapless customer is not the frightening part, though. That could have happened to anyone. What followed is what raises the hairs on our neck.
“A store employee watched this customer as she destroyed the display he built. He immediately started yelling and swearing at the customer, who was already upset. He told her to get out of his store. The other customers watched as the employee made a bad scene much worse.”
The banshee’s wail portends death – in this case, the employee’s shrieking behavior could have led to all sorts of financial illness. Who was truly at fault? The employee who set up a dangerous display – and the business that employed him.
Fortunately, the store manager was called and restored order and apologized to the customer. The manager made sure the customer was physically all right, took a report and corrected the employee.
The work of fighting bad customer service never ends. Every day we work to find terrible interactions like these and drive a stake through their heart.Our vice-president, Cherie, shares two such examples:
“Being transferred to someone who is suppose to help with my big problem and getting this as a greeting, ‘Make it quick, you just need to make an appointment, right?’” And who was this person? Her business banker.
“Showing up for a scheduled appointment, and being told the person will be 30 minutes late and no one else is available to help.” As though her own time was not valuable.
Finally, we leave you with this. Always remember that the devil has his own perspective. Here it is:
“This is from a shop. The shopper had a problem and went to the manager and these were some of the lovely quotes the manager had to say when ‘solving’ a customer complaint:
He said that I did not know how the restaurant industry worked. He then told me "I will be honest with you, I do not believe the customer is right." He said, "I do not believe in that school of thought at all."Are there horror stories like this at your place of business? Contact us. We will exorcise bad service from your domicile.
Let us know what you think! Email us at info@dynamic-advantage.com. We’d love to hear from you.
Dynamic Advantage | 866.870.1251 (toll free) | info@dynamic-advantage.com
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| Dynamic Advantage 356 East Olive Ave #118 Burbank, CA 91502 Phone: 866.870.1251 (toll free) 818.238.1251 Online: Dynamic-Advantage.com |