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Twelve Customer Turnoff's
Knowing these 12 customer turnoff's can improve your customer relations and increase profits!
12 Customer Turnoff's
Identifying Customer Buying Decisions
As business owners, managers, salesperson, team member etc. it is vitally important that you know, what it is, that affects your customer’s buying decisions. In order to do this you need to be aware of what turns your customer off. When a customer is turned off from your business they may not complain or tell anyone except their friends, relatives, and other's who may have been potential customers.Many unhappy customer's just stop doing business with you. In order to understand what customer turnoff's are you have to put yourself in your customer's place, and think of things that have turned you off as a customer. Scroll down to see the top twelve customer turnoffs.
As business owners, managers, salesperson, team member etc. it is vitally important that you know, what it is, that affects your customer’s buying decisions. In order to do this you need to be aware of what turns your customer off. When a customer is turned off from your business they may not complain or tell anyone except their friends, relatives, and other's who may have been potential customers.Many unhappy customer's just stop doing business with you. In order to understand what customer turnoff's are you have to put yourself in your customer's place, and think of things that have turned you off as a customer. Scroll down to see the top twelve customer turnoffs.
List of Top 12 Customer Turnoff's
1. Not remembering your customer
It is a good idea to try to remember things about your customer's because it makes your customer feel important and valued. For example: Greet your customer by name, remember what their last purchase was and make a comment about it. Ask your customer questions and remember their responses. As a rule, most places I shop people are welcoming, know my name or remember what product or brand I usually get when I shop at their store and they are very polite. However, not all shopping experiences are pleasurable. I have had many problems with customer service in various businesses and I am sure that the negative shopping experiences stand out in my mind much more that the positive ones. Your customer's will remember negative experiences faster than they will positive one's so you need to make sure your customers have a positive experience every time they do business with you.
2. Rude employees
Rude employee’s is a chief complaint among customers.Training programs should be put in place to show manager's, employee's, customer service reps, salesperson's, and any employee who may come in direct contact with your customers, how to treat your customer's. All employee's need to realize that each customer is important and should be treated as such. As a customer, I have stopped doing business with different companies because of things like being ignored or brushed off by rude employee's who appeared more concerned with what they were doing rather than what I might need. Some employees do not seem to care whether the customer is there or not and continue to do whatever they were doing stocking, filing their nails, or talking on a cell phone rather than taking care of customers. Employee's should pay attention to each customer as if that customer is the only one they have.
3. Waiting too long
Customer's do not like waiting in long line's or waiting in customer waiting rooms for long periods.
Whether it is in a checkout lane, in a waiting room, waiting in a line or on the phone waiting to speak to a customer service representative-studies show customer's do not like to wait and waiting stresses your customer's out. So it is important that you find ways to prevent long waiting periods, such as, hiring more customer service representative's to handle the customer's, have things for your customer to do while they wait, provide a comfortable waiting room. Communication with your customers to let them know you are sorry for the extended wait time and that you will do your best try to resolve their problem can relieve some of the distress customers undergo while waiting.
4. Shoddy material or workmanship
Shoddy material or workmanship can lose you customer's very quickly. Let's say you are selling products for another company and some of your customer's are complaining about certain products being of poor quality or made from shoddy materials. Some customer's will complain but many of them won't complain to you but to other people. Oftentimes, the customer will just stop buying from you. For example, I stopped buying chicken coops on line from one specific company because when the coops arrived pieces were missing, the materials were low grade and of poor quality and recently the last one I purchased had the whole front of the little house missing, the customer service rep assured me they would ship it out the next day. I was appeased for the moment because the customer service rep was confident, reassuring, and made me feel as if my problem was resolved. When the part never showed up I was distressed again and simply stopped doing business with them. However, I also told all my friends on Facebook and Twitter about how upset I was with the company. You should have easy ways for the customer to contact you if they are upset about the product or service they receive. All complaint's should be handled personally by a competent customer service rep who care's about the needs of the customer, and does everything they can to appease the unhappy customer.
5. Wrong prices marked on products
If products are not priced correctly customers can quickly become frustrated, and if whoever handles the customer who has tried to purchase a product that has a wrong price on it can make a difference between keeping and losing a customer. While waiting in line at the service desk a young woman and a cashier approached the manager. The cashier was holding a price tag and a product and the customer was standing next to her. The customer insisted that she should get the items at the sale price because the items had the advertised sale price in large print which is what she noticed. In the fine print at the bottom was the sale date. The employee’s had failed to remove the outdated price tags and as a result the manager went ahead and gave the customer the items at the sales price while explaining to her that there is a date on the tags and if they are past that date they would not be able to do this again and refunded her the difference due to the misunderstanding.
6. No price on the product
No price on products can cause confusion, irritation, and frustration for your customer's. Prices should be clearly marked on products and shelves to avoid problems. Putting myself in the customer's position-for example, I purchased a pair of boots, there were several styles available and only one pair of the style I liked but I was somewhat concerned because they did not have a price tag on them. When I got to the counter the cashier went back to look at the boots to get a price and not finding a pair like the ones I wanted she gave me the boots at the same price as the cheaper but most similar boots on the shelf. I knew the boots were worth more and was happy to get them at a lower price but then I thought about the store inventory would come up 1 pair short on the more expensive boots and 1 pair over on the cheap ones which means the store lost money on that pair of boots but the manager was okay with losing a few cents to keep me as a customer.
7. Dirty store or restrooms
First impressions do count so you should keep all area's which the customer comes in contact with neat, clean, and organized. Putting myself in the customer's position-for example: If I go into a restaurant and there are carts loaded with dirty dishes, dirty tables all over the place, and dirty restrooms it is most likely I consider the time of day, if it right after a breakfast, lunch, or dinner rush when I arrive I generally am accepting of some mess as long as it is obvious that someone is taking care of it. However, if I repeatedly go to a restaurant or store that always looks disorganized, dirty, or has rude or uncaring employee’s it is most likely that I will not return and I will tell my friends and family about my bad experience.
8. Waiting on hold, automated response systems, poor communication
Customer's do not like waiting on hold or dealing with automated response systems, or dealing with customer reps who do not speak clearly. It is important to handle customer's directly whenever possible, rather than putting them on hold for extended periods, passing them from one person to the next, or trapping them in an automated response system. I have stopped doing business with some establishments are when I call and I am put on hold and then passed around from service rep to service rep having to repeat everything over and over before I can even tell them what my problem is or worse dealing with automated response machines which can’t seem to pick up on what I am saying right.
9. Employee bluffs about knowledge of the product
Customer's do not like dishonesty and can usually tell when an employee does not know anything about a product or service. Each employee should know what they are talking about when dealing with customer's. Putting myself in the customer's position-For example, I dislike going into a specialty store for a particular item such as an auto parts store and the girl behind the checkout has no idea what the car part is or where it goes on a car and she has to look everything up on a computer, assures me that it is the right part and ends up giving me the wrong part and then I have to go back to the store and deal with someone else to get me the right one or what I usually do when this has happened is ask for a refund and go somewhere else to get my car parts.
10. High pressure sales tactics
Customer's do not like high pressure sales tactics. When I encounter high pressure sales tactics such as a pushy car salesperson, insurance agent, or even a telephone sales rep I tend to extract myself from the situation as quickly as possible but I do know several people who fall victim to their aggressive tactics and buy from the person but never return and it is important to have a loyal customer base which is almost impossible with pushy salespersons because customers simply will not return, not answer the door when they see you coming, and not answer the phone when they see it’s your company on the caller Id.
11. Employee’s talking down to customers or using jargon
Employee's should never talk down to customer's or use jargon associated with the business that customer's are unfamiliar with. As a customer I do not want to be treated like I am less important or because I have a question the employee gives a disdainful look or worse talks down to me. It is also confusing when employee’s use jargon associated with their business or a product that the customer does not understand.
12. Inflexibility
Flexibility can resolve many customer issues. When a customer makes a request the employee, supervisor, or manager should be flexible to some extent like in the instance with the woman who brought the price tag to the counter, the manager could have told her that they could not give her the items at the sale price because of the fine print but this may have cost her a good customer so the manager used flexibility to make a decision to allow the woman to purchase the items at the wrong marked price.
It is a good idea to try to remember things about your customer's because it makes your customer feel important and valued. For example: Greet your customer by name, remember what their last purchase was and make a comment about it. Ask your customer questions and remember their responses. As a rule, most places I shop people are welcoming, know my name or remember what product or brand I usually get when I shop at their store and they are very polite. However, not all shopping experiences are pleasurable. I have had many problems with customer service in various businesses and I am sure that the negative shopping experiences stand out in my mind much more that the positive ones. Your customer's will remember negative experiences faster than they will positive one's so you need to make sure your customers have a positive experience every time they do business with you.
2. Rude employees
Rude employee’s is a chief complaint among customers.Training programs should be put in place to show manager's, employee's, customer service reps, salesperson's, and any employee who may come in direct contact with your customers, how to treat your customer's. All employee's need to realize that each customer is important and should be treated as such. As a customer, I have stopped doing business with different companies because of things like being ignored or brushed off by rude employee's who appeared more concerned with what they were doing rather than what I might need. Some employees do not seem to care whether the customer is there or not and continue to do whatever they were doing stocking, filing their nails, or talking on a cell phone rather than taking care of customers. Employee's should pay attention to each customer as if that customer is the only one they have.
3. Waiting too long
Customer's do not like waiting in long line's or waiting in customer waiting rooms for long periods.
Whether it is in a checkout lane, in a waiting room, waiting in a line or on the phone waiting to speak to a customer service representative-studies show customer's do not like to wait and waiting stresses your customer's out. So it is important that you find ways to prevent long waiting periods, such as, hiring more customer service representative's to handle the customer's, have things for your customer to do while they wait, provide a comfortable waiting room. Communication with your customers to let them know you are sorry for the extended wait time and that you will do your best try to resolve their problem can relieve some of the distress customers undergo while waiting.
4. Shoddy material or workmanship
Shoddy material or workmanship can lose you customer's very quickly. Let's say you are selling products for another company and some of your customer's are complaining about certain products being of poor quality or made from shoddy materials. Some customer's will complain but many of them won't complain to you but to other people. Oftentimes, the customer will just stop buying from you. For example, I stopped buying chicken coops on line from one specific company because when the coops arrived pieces were missing, the materials were low grade and of poor quality and recently the last one I purchased had the whole front of the little house missing, the customer service rep assured me they would ship it out the next day. I was appeased for the moment because the customer service rep was confident, reassuring, and made me feel as if my problem was resolved. When the part never showed up I was distressed again and simply stopped doing business with them. However, I also told all my friends on Facebook and Twitter about how upset I was with the company. You should have easy ways for the customer to contact you if they are upset about the product or service they receive. All complaint's should be handled personally by a competent customer service rep who care's about the needs of the customer, and does everything they can to appease the unhappy customer.
5. Wrong prices marked on products
If products are not priced correctly customers can quickly become frustrated, and if whoever handles the customer who has tried to purchase a product that has a wrong price on it can make a difference between keeping and losing a customer. While waiting in line at the service desk a young woman and a cashier approached the manager. The cashier was holding a price tag and a product and the customer was standing next to her. The customer insisted that she should get the items at the sale price because the items had the advertised sale price in large print which is what she noticed. In the fine print at the bottom was the sale date. The employee’s had failed to remove the outdated price tags and as a result the manager went ahead and gave the customer the items at the sales price while explaining to her that there is a date on the tags and if they are past that date they would not be able to do this again and refunded her the difference due to the misunderstanding.
6. No price on the product
No price on products can cause confusion, irritation, and frustration for your customer's. Prices should be clearly marked on products and shelves to avoid problems. Putting myself in the customer's position-for example, I purchased a pair of boots, there were several styles available and only one pair of the style I liked but I was somewhat concerned because they did not have a price tag on them. When I got to the counter the cashier went back to look at the boots to get a price and not finding a pair like the ones I wanted she gave me the boots at the same price as the cheaper but most similar boots on the shelf. I knew the boots were worth more and was happy to get them at a lower price but then I thought about the store inventory would come up 1 pair short on the more expensive boots and 1 pair over on the cheap ones which means the store lost money on that pair of boots but the manager was okay with losing a few cents to keep me as a customer.
7. Dirty store or restrooms
First impressions do count so you should keep all area's which the customer comes in contact with neat, clean, and organized. Putting myself in the customer's position-for example: If I go into a restaurant and there are carts loaded with dirty dishes, dirty tables all over the place, and dirty restrooms it is most likely I consider the time of day, if it right after a breakfast, lunch, or dinner rush when I arrive I generally am accepting of some mess as long as it is obvious that someone is taking care of it. However, if I repeatedly go to a restaurant or store that always looks disorganized, dirty, or has rude or uncaring employee’s it is most likely that I will not return and I will tell my friends and family about my bad experience.
8. Waiting on hold, automated response systems, poor communication
Customer's do not like waiting on hold or dealing with automated response systems, or dealing with customer reps who do not speak clearly. It is important to handle customer's directly whenever possible, rather than putting them on hold for extended periods, passing them from one person to the next, or trapping them in an automated response system. I have stopped doing business with some establishments are when I call and I am put on hold and then passed around from service rep to service rep having to repeat everything over and over before I can even tell them what my problem is or worse dealing with automated response machines which can’t seem to pick up on what I am saying right.
9. Employee bluffs about knowledge of the product
Customer's do not like dishonesty and can usually tell when an employee does not know anything about a product or service. Each employee should know what they are talking about when dealing with customer's. Putting myself in the customer's position-For example, I dislike going into a specialty store for a particular item such as an auto parts store and the girl behind the checkout has no idea what the car part is or where it goes on a car and she has to look everything up on a computer, assures me that it is the right part and ends up giving me the wrong part and then I have to go back to the store and deal with someone else to get me the right one or what I usually do when this has happened is ask for a refund and go somewhere else to get my car parts.
10. High pressure sales tactics
Customer's do not like high pressure sales tactics. When I encounter high pressure sales tactics such as a pushy car salesperson, insurance agent, or even a telephone sales rep I tend to extract myself from the situation as quickly as possible but I do know several people who fall victim to their aggressive tactics and buy from the person but never return and it is important to have a loyal customer base which is almost impossible with pushy salespersons because customers simply will not return, not answer the door when they see you coming, and not answer the phone when they see it’s your company on the caller Id.
11. Employee’s talking down to customers or using jargon
Employee's should never talk down to customer's or use jargon associated with the business that customer's are unfamiliar with. As a customer I do not want to be treated like I am less important or because I have a question the employee gives a disdainful look or worse talks down to me. It is also confusing when employee’s use jargon associated with their business or a product that the customer does not understand.
12. Inflexibility
Flexibility can resolve many customer issues. When a customer makes a request the employee, supervisor, or manager should be flexible to some extent like in the instance with the woman who brought the price tag to the counter, the manager could have told her that they could not give her the items at the sale price because of the fine print but this may have cost her a good customer so the manager used flexibility to make a decision to allow the woman to purchase the items at the wrong marked price.
Today's Verse
Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Exodus 20: 3
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