We are all well aware of what´s the Covid-19 pandemic done to our health and economy. But what´s happened to us as customers? As we see some excellent examples of companies adjusting their businesses to new circumstances, we also experience some that are a bit lost in this new reality.
My friends have recently shared with me examples of poor service provided by some companies and institutions. It is about refunding pre-paid travel arrangements, payments of insurance claims, services not functioning properly… Companies invoking articles and decisions to explain why they cannot or should not pay or provide a service, justified and unjustified, without a single line of explanation or apology is what some customers are experiencing right now.
Even if the message to the customer is not in his favour, it matters a great deal HOW it is communicated. State what you are doing to fix the problem and show that customers matter. The fact is, no one is more important than customers. They remember how they were treated when problems occurred. And problems occur, they always do. Showing proper customer care and taking responsibility for providing a solution is the reason why customers stay.
Crisis or not, think of a customer as THE PERSON who pays your bills now, and hopefully later!