Customer Care Without Pulling Out Your Hair Presented

Customer Care Without Pulling Out Your Hair Presented by Gary Hall, Extension Agent CSU Cooperative Extension Developed by Mike D. Woods, Oklahoma State University

Why Do Customers Quit? Dr. Michael Le. Boeuf, in his book, “How to Win Customers and Keep Them for Life” reported from a survey on why customers quit that: • • • 3% move away 5% develop other friendships 9% leave for competitive reasons 14% are dissatisfied with the product 68% quit because of an attitude of indifference or rudeness toward the customer by the owner, manager or some employee

Creating and keeping customers is the single most important goal of any employee.

Cost of Lost Customer Mrs. Smith 1 Person • Tells eleven others +11 People • Who tell 5 each +55 People Total who heard 67 People • Maybe 25% decide not to shop Only 1 of those 25 dissatisfied customers will ever tell you that they are dissatisfied.

It costs $19 to keep a customer It costs $118 to get a new customer in the store Cost to keep Mrs. Smith happy $19 Cost of attracting 17 new customers $2, 006 Source: Dr. Paul Timm Seven Power Strategies for Building Customer Loyalty

By knowing the customer’s needs and meeting their expectations, they are satisfied and will return. As Employees we are hospitality representatives or ambassadors for both the business and community.

No matter what your business, customers buy only two things: Good Feelings & Solutions to Problems

Customers are not always right, but they are always the BOSS.

Guest Friendly • Moment of Truth – The point at which your actions cause a guest to form an impression about you, the business or organization you represent, and your community. • Positive • Negative • Neutral

Moment of Truth • Positive Experience – Customer tells 5 people • Neutral Experience – We don’t know – survey

Moment of Truth • Negative Experience – Customer tells 9 -10 – 13% of them will tell 20 – Every complaint represents 26 customers who didn’t complain…they just don’t come back. • Good News – 54 -70% will do business again if complaint resolved – 90% will do business again if resolved quickly.

“The average business spends 6 times more $$$ to attract new customers than to keep existing ones. ” (Bill Evans, Institute of Professional Training)

You Are The Value • You provide a positive experience for our customers. • You help in providing an answer to their problem. • You are critical in retaining customers. • Thank you!