Can Your Customer Understand Your Jargon?

When you speak to your customer, can he or she be expected to understand? In other words, are you guilty of using jargon or acronyms?

Jargon or acronyms give your employees or industry members a way of communicating efficiently, of saying the information in a shorter amount of time. But others who come from different backgrounds cannot be expected to understand.

Today I sent an e-mail asking for information from an organization. I clearly indicated that I am not a member of their industry. The group sent back a response within 2 hours, to my amazement. However, it had an acronym in it, and I did not understand it. It was past business hours when I read the message. I finally went online and was fortunate to find an explanation.

This was a poor customer service response; I was frustrated.

When you convey a message to a listener, make sure he or she can understand it!

World-Class Service!

Sometimes service goes so far beyond the expected that it really makes you take notice. Today, my windshield wiper literally flew off my windshield when I turned the wiper on. Thankfully, it did not hit anyone or anything, although it certainly could have. It was also not raining, merely frosty out, and I was trying to clear the last remnants of frost away. Later in the day, I drove to an O'Reilly's Auto Parts store, and spoke to an associate named Jack. Jack helpfully found me the right wipers and cheerfully put them on. I mentioned that my car had had a spill earlier in the truck, and what could he recommend for that? This is where the service gets unbelievable.
Jack recommended a product, which I bought. But when I explained that the spill was in the trunk, and I could not fully get out the carpet in the trunk to clean it, Jack took 5 minutes and competently helped me to do it! Although I had been driving the vehicle for many years, I had no idea how it was put together. Jack truly went beyond what was expected - and he and, by association, his chain, certainly made an impact.

Well-trained entry-level staff make a difference!

Yesterday I stepped into a drugstore chain, and was quite surprised at the well-trained young workers there. When I went to the cosmetics counter and asked for a kit of grooming products,
the young woman regretfully shook her head and said the store did not carry one. However, she walked me to the various aisles and showed me the components I needed. Then, at the pharmacy counter, a "pharmacy cashier" located my prescription, took my money, and smiled as he thanked me by name.

Do these techniques make customers decide to return there for future purchases? Yes they do, and the young workers learn to take pride in their well-learned skills.

What has your best buying experience been, and how did the staff's customer service skills play a part?

Going the Extra Mile

I recently signed up for a trial period of a new service on the web. My previous service provider ignored my e-mails, disconnected his telephone, and was generally hard to deal with. My new service provider is offering me a 30 day trial. Although pricey, in 2 days I have been contacted by the account executive by both e-mail and telephone, offering his help, and spent some time with the tech support team as well.

The service so far is excellent. Whether I stay with them depends on the results.
Have you received excellent service, especially at the beginning of your relationship with a company? What in particular made the service so great?

Strike While the Iron is Sizzling Hot!

Have you ever had a wonderful opportunity for someone to do something he had wanted to do, offered it to him, and then watched with amazement as he procrastinated until it was too late?
How did it make you feel? If he does this often, it is logical that he will get fewer opportunities (and possibly fewer friends).

It's true that everyone has different priorities and schedules, but it pays to strike while the iron is sizzling hot!

Are you responding to prospective customers' requests for information VERY promptly?

Why would a company invite customers and prospective customers to e-mail them for more information, and then not respond? What does this lack of responsiveness tell the (prospective) customers about the service the company provides?

Recently I had two instances of companies not responding to my e-mails. In one case, a web-based company was referred to me by a third party. When the third party heard I had not gotten an answer to my query, she then told me the web-based company was "overwhelmed" right now. A simple auto-responder would have told me the query had at least been received, and when I could expect to hear from the company. In the case of the second company, it has not responded to repeated requests for information, so it is about to lose my business.

If your company is trying to gain new customers or at least not lose the current ones, it MUST respond within 24 hours to web-based requests for information. Otherwise, you give a very negative impression of your services or products.

If you have had especially great or poor experiences with companies responding your requests for information, please tell us!