Thread: People who don't listen to their customers

My husband got a call from the "relationship manager" at his stock brokerage company today. The reason for the call is that my hubby told them on a recent customer survey that he's thinking about closing his account, so they called to find out why. As it happened, my husband is coming down with a cold and was really feeling under the weather when the call arrived, but decided to accept the call anyway.

Relationship Manager: "Hello Mr ____! How are you today?"

My Husband: "Not too good, but okay, I guess."

Relationship Manager: "Ah, grrrrrreat!!!! Okay, Mr. ____, my reason for calling is..."


Um, obviously that caller didn't pay even the least bit of attention to my husband saying, "Not too good;" otherwise, why would he have replied with "Ah, grrrrrreat!!!!" It's just as well I had my phone on mute so the poor bonehead couldn't hear my laughing at his highly inappropriate response!

After the call, my husband told me that yes, he had certainly noticed it too, and it destroyed any credibility the guy might have with him. In other words, the guy was trying to talk him out of closing his account and moving the money to a competitor, and that first impression did more harm to his cause than good.

Since many of us dancers deal with the public (students, restaurant owners, event planners, private party customers) in selling ourselves as teachers/performers, this bonehead Relationship Manager reminded me that there are a lot of people out there with people-intensive jobs who don't even listen to what their customers tell them. This is a big mistake for those who depend on that personal contact for a living!

I couldn't agree more. People do forget that their customers are the most important thing.

"My Husband: "Not too good, but okay, I guess."

So, to me this is kinda like saying, "I feel like crap but I'm willing to talk." I don't know about you but this seems like an open invite to me.

yes, a statement like that leaves few options for the caller, especially if they are working. It's not like it would be appropriate for the caller to say "I'm sorry, what's wrong." (That would have been possibly viewed as impertinent.)

Maybe they could have said "Would you prefer we call at a later time" but it's likely that they would get in trouble for not finishing all the calls on their list. Having managed a call center myself in the past, I know there is no way the owners would have allowed any of the reps to do anything but what was described in the original post.

ah, the modern world.

The person could have instead of saying 'grrrrreat!' - said, 'Oh, I'm sorry to her that - but I am glad I caught you in because ....'

Originally Posted by Bellydancingcaroline

The person could have instead of saying 'grrrrreat!' - said, 'Oh, I'm sorry to hear that - but I am glad I caught you in because ....'

Yes, Caroline, you've hit the nail on the head!

My husband WANTED to have the conversation, and was willing to do it right then and there, so yes, Jasani, he intended his response to indicate that he was available to talk. The problem was that "grrrrrrrrreat!!!!!!!!!" was not an appropriate response after being told someone's not feeling well! Caroline's suggested response would have been MUCH more suitable for the occasion!

I dunno...don't you chalk that caller's mistake up to work fatigue? like, honestly, how often I've answered the phone 'good afternoon' when it was only 9am (and I'd been in work for what seemed like hoooooours already).

You know I was thinking - sometimes when people have to make a lot of calls, they record their own voice saying the greeting, then cut in a bit later themselves. Perhaps he'd was talking to someone else, and then cut in for the 'grrreat!' part. In which case, it is the script writer who is at fault. I know that a lot of credit card companies STILL have conversations like this with their customers:

'I was mugged, they took everything, my credit card, everything'
operator ' what's your account number?'
'I don't know ! They took everything !

Rather than (and some companies do this)
operator 'are *you* OK, do you need some money for tonight?'

It seems like the operators fault - but it's the script writer.

I am a trainer in a call center and one thing I train is "appropriate questions".
Just asking a question that has no relation to what your caller just told you makes you look like a phone robot.

Making the customer feel like you are really listening to him and paying attention is the most important thing!

MEISSOUN

Really? in the UK friends working at call centres tell me they must follow the script or be sternly told off.

There's no excuse for 'Great!' as a response to someone telling you they don't feel well.

Not if the whole point of your call is to demonstrate that you're willing to listen to the customer, which it seems to have been in this case.

I agree a simple "Sorry to hear that. I'll try to be brief. The reason I'm calling is..."

If you're not going to respond to what the customer says, don't ask them how they are!

I think the problem is that questions such as "how are you?" have become throw away questions today, almost like verbal pauses in a way. People don't actually *care* about the answer to these questions--we've just been socially conditioned to ask them and move on. Not saying this is right, but that it's a problem in today's fast moving society. "how are you... great! ..."

Caroline's response is much more appropriate. It's important to make ourselves STOP and LISTEN to not just what our customers are saying, but what our friends, family, etc are saying as well. I admit I am sometimes guilty of this--and I even catch myself doing it! Aargh! I think this is a good reminder to remember to listen and pay attention.

Originally Posted by Bellydancingcaroline

You know I was thinking - sometimes when people have to make a lot of calls, they record their own voice saying the greeting, then cut in a bit later themselves. Perhaps he'd was talking to someone else, and then cut in for the 'grrreat!' part.

Well, in this case, the guy had already spoken to me. I answered the phone. He asked to talk to my hubby. I asked, "May I tell him who's calling?", and he identified what company he worked for. He said that his reason for calling was to follow up on the comments my husband had made on the recent survey regarding the fact that he was thinking about closing his account and putting his money with a competitor. I said I'd check whether my hubby was available to talk to him.

So, by the time the guy got on the phone with my hubby, he was long past any pre-recorded greeting and well into interactive mode.


I stand by my original harrumph. This was not a routine telemarketing or customer service situation. The guy called us because my husband (who had a large part of our life savings invested with this company) had said on a survey a week earlier that he was thinking about closing our accounts and moving our money to a competitor. The whole point of the call was for this Relationship Manager to ask him why he said this on the survey, and try to save the business. The guy knew before calling us that my husband was a dissatisfied customer.

For those of you defending the caller on the grounds that he was following a script, don't you think a call whose purpose was that of trying to prevent a large customer from taking his business elsewhere deserves a little bit of active listening?