Martin Koss – thinking out loud…
I don't mean to be so opinionated and argumentative, it's just me…
My Supplier Does Not Want To Talk To Me
Isn’t it sad that more and more suppliers only want us to listen to reminders of how wonderful their website is when we call them by phone – possibly because we can’t get any joy on their website?
Just the other day I was struggling with a supplier’s website – I was unable to login (which is the only way I could buy the item I wanted) so I called their ‘sales’ and advice line. Instantly I got a message saying that their call centre was experiencing a ‘seasonal’ high call volume and it may be easier and faster to find the answer I’m looking for via – you guessed it – the website.
I hung on a while – ‘cos I’m a persistent so n so… Eventually given the option to press 3 for technical support… And there I was told to call back at another time as they are experiencing a higher than normal call volume.
Funny really – because within the past few weeks I’ve heard the same BS several times when calling a variety of suppliers – it seems none of them want to provide telephone support or telephone based customer services, and why? Well, I think the answer is simple: it saves money by ‘forcing’ their paying customers to wade and wait.
Wade through their website. Request help via their online support forms and then wait – hours or days for an answer.
All I want to do is buy a product!
Do you treat your customers like this? Does your competitor? One of you will get and keep the customer – which one is up to you and the processes you have in place.
By the way; I’m not a fast typist and yet I have typed this text (including fixing many typos) since I pressed ‘3’ and am still listening to crackly elevator music in my left ear.
Less and less companies want to engage one-to-one with customers. Do you do that, or do you gladly answer your ‘phone and be a helpful supplier?
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3 Responses to My Supplier Does Not Want To Talk To Me
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Very true, Martin!! I'm a happy camper to be there for my clients and they rave about it! The days of treating people like numbers and getting away with it have come to a close, not that I've ever been that person. And the huge companies that imagine they can downsize service like that while growing sales up are daydreaming. How long will their stockholders drink the kool aid? One can only wonder.
Hi there, Lori. Thank you for your 2-pence worth. 'Downsizing' the most important part of a business – customer services – is such a costly mistake. The 'big boys' think they can get away with it because they dominate their market but smaller businesses, ie; a small software company, can so easily lose a lot of business if their customers have to jump through hoops to resolve their problems. Bring back the 'old' rule book where customers were appreciated and looked after.
This type of, if you can call it, 'customer service' is all too common from the big boys.. Sky, Paypal, British Gas, BT.. so on and so on… the trouble is, if you have SKY TV and you have an issue then you have no choice but to join the 'I've got bugger all else to do all day' queue to speak to someone in Nepal, who when told you can't get any signal get's the kind of reply like 'Have you plugged it in'?.. No.. I didn't think of that, thanks for that great tip! I also think that's how these large companies stay afloat… they probably earn millions of pounds from our collective calls. There is no customer service at all from these big guys, which leads more and more people to turn to us 'little guys'.