First, I was bombarded with questions about last week’s tip on fee-setting. In response, I added an example conversation to that tip from one of my coaching clients, to do more than just explain the concept.

I hope that clears up some confusion.

Bad Customer Service

My partner and I have cell phones through AT&T. Cindy, my wife, has the same plan, and last week she wanted to see if she could get better rates, because she isn’t using all the minutes she has on her current plan.

During her conversation with AT&T customer service, the woman who was helping her (I’ll call her “Joan”) mentioned that Cindy’s current plan had gone down in price by $10 per month, and that this reduction in fee had actually happened more than nine months ago. Of course, we had never heard of this reduction and had been paying at the old rate the entire time.

When Cindy complained, Joan attempted to appease the situation by saying, “I can’t give you the entire amount back, but I can credit your account for three months of overcharges.”

As luck would have it I had walked into Cindy’s office a minute or so earlier, and she was keeping me apprised of the conversation as it progressed. So, when Joan made the offer, Cindy asked me what I thought. I replied, “AT&T overcharged you for nine months and wants to credit you for only three months to make up for it? What do I think?! I think they’re six months short on their offer, that’s what I think.”

That, of course, is when Cindy handed the phone to me and said, “You argue with her.” (Call me weird, but I love this stuff.)

During the next minute or two, I explained to Joan that in addition to Cindy’s account, we had two other cell phones with AT&T that were also overcharged, and that we should have been notified of the rate changes last September. I told her I wasn’t willing to accept a partial credit and that anything short of a full credit would cost AT&T my business.

At several points Joan responded with these statements:

• “We’ve been advertising the rate change since September. You should have called to take advantage of it.”  

• “Every time you pay your bill, you’re ‘signing’ the agreement written on the back and legally committing to those terms.”  

• “I don’t have to credit you at all. I’m doing this as a courtesy.”

And my favorite:

• “Listen, I’m trying not to lose my patience here. I don’t have to do this at all. I’m trying to be nice.”

This week’s tip is about customer service. If you remember nothing else, remember this: Good customer service isn’t about doing what you believe will appease a situation and get you out of the doghouse, and it’s not about, “The customer is always right” either!

Good customer service is about doing what’s right and what’s fair. Good customer service would have been to admit the oversight and credit the full amount. Great customer service would have been to send us cards last September that said, “Great news! The rate on your plan has been reduced, and, effective immediately, you’ll be paying $10 per month less for each phone.”

I realize that, in the grand scheme, AT&T probably couldn’t care less about my business. After all, my company is not a multimillion-dollar account. However, we do have three cell phones, three land phone numbers, three long-distance accounts, one toll-free number and an AT&T Worldnet dial-up account we use to connect to the Net when we’re traveling.

After I hung up the phone with Joan, I ran a QuickBooks report spanning the last five years; during that time frame, we spent $21,705.29 on phone service, long-distance and ISP services. And for the past five years, every time someone called to offer me better rates, I replied with, “I have everything with AT&T. I am very happy with their quality and service, and I’m not changing providers.”

I can also guarantee that AT&T spends more than a lousy $180 to secure one new customer – even one as small as we are. Yet the company refused to give back the additional $180 it overcharged us, which would have kept one loyal customer on board.

Big mistake.

Great Customer Service

Yesterday, I rode the 100-mile Tour de Cure bike ride for the American Diabetes Association. In preparation, I started carbo-loading last week, and bean burritos (plus lettuce, tomato and onions) from Taco Bell are one of my favorite carbo-loading meals.

Last Thursday, while I was standing at the Taco Bell counter waiting for my order, a woman walked up to the counter with her son’s order. The manager happened to walk buy and asked, “Can I help you?”

She held out three items and said, “My son ordered the wrong meal. He wanted meal Number 3 but ordered Number 4, and he doesn’t like these.”

The manager replied, “No problem,” promptly replaced what her son had actually ordered with what he really wanted, gave her some change that reflected the difference in the prices of the meals, and told her to keep the original order, “because I’ll just have to throw it away.”

Enough said?

Remember, it’s always harder and more expensive to find new clients than it is to keep loyal clients.

So follow Taco Bell’s example, not AT&T’s.

Have a great week!

Gill