Everyone has a customer service story to tell, especially a bad one. There’s an old saying that goes something like this: If someone receives good customer service, they’ll tell three people; if they have bad service, they’ll tell 10. While I agree with that, there’s always that customer who might not say a thing if they receive the bad kind. And I think there are more customers out there than anyone realizes.
How do I know this? I’m one of them.
Here’s an example: I recently went to a restaurant that I’ve been to before. I’ve not been there that many times, but generally, every time I’ve gone, the service has been pretty good, the good is great and the bill a little more than I’d normally pay, but the good food and service made up for it.
The last time I went, some of my food was stale. The server basically tossed my bill on the table. She didn’t bother to ask me how the meal was. In short, it wasn’t a great experience.
But rather than tell someone right away that I wasn’t pleased, I kept my mouth shut. Why? I really don’t know. Maybe it was because I needed to get back to the office. Maybe it was because, while I’ve been to this restaurant before, I’d never really cemented a great relationship with it and didn’t care enough to tell someone. Maybe it’s because I know I can take my money elsewhere.
Whatever the reason, I think I put down a little mental note: “Don’t come here again.”
We’ve all done it. It’s human. It’s the same reason cave men stopped eating this berry or that animal — the last time they did it, it made them sick.
I think the moral of my own story is this: Don’t worry about the customers who complain about the service they receive. Worry about the ones who say nothing and don’t return.
NEW WAY TO COMMENT AT COUNTERMAN.COM
We’re enhancing the way people comment on Counterman.com.
Since spinning off Counterman.com from the joint Counterman/aftermarketNews website a few years ago, Counterman.com has experienced significant growth. There’s a vibrant community of people commenting on a range of stories and columns that appear on the site. But like anything technology or Web-related, things change and evolve.
We’d tried to make it as easy as possible.
No one really likes registering for each and every website they’d like to comment on. So we chose DISQUS (pronounced “discuss”), a popular system for commenting online. You’ll find the DISQUS system on a host of other sites. The system allows visitors to log in to comment on a story through a number of methods — through your Facebook account, Twitter account or Yahoo account. Or you can always use your current DISQUS account or create a new one. You only need an email address to do it. After creating an account or logging in, just find the story you’d like to discuss and speak your mind. There are several features to DISQUS that allow you to add an avatar, subscribe to comment threads, “like” other people’s comments and respond to other comments easily.
In addition, your full comment history is linked to your profile.
We hope you like the new comment system. In fact, you can log in and comment on this Editor’s Ink right now!
