zandax online course logo
 
 
 
 
zandax 10 year anniversary
 
 
 
 
 
 
Home   >  ZandaX Blogs   >  Business Blog   >  Customer Service Articles   > 
The Top 5 Reasons for Poor Customer Service and How to Avoid Them

The Top 5 Reasons for Poor Customer Service and How to Avoid Them

 
Developing your customer service skills
Wondering why your customer service is not good enough? Here are the top 5 reasons for poor customer service and how to avoid them.
 
Article author: Jordan James
      Written by Jordan James
       (4-minute read)
I already talked about the importance of customers and providing an excellent customer service in my previous article, but it's something that can't be emphasised enough. Retaining your customers – and making sure they feel appreciated and get the support and user experience they expected – is key to continued success and standing out from your competition.

Successful Businessman
If you look at customer feedback in general, you'll notice that most customer complaints are usually related to the service you provide them. But what are some of the most common reasons for poor customer service and how can you avoid them?

1) Not hiring the right people

Generally speaking, the quality of the customer service you provide largely depends on the quality of the people you hire. After all, your customer service team interacts directly with the customers. Companies that don't perform well in customer service usually don't take enough time and effort into their recruitment process and selecting the right employees for the job.

To avoid making this mistake, screen all your potential candidates carefully and make sure they possess the right skills and attitude to handle customers in diverse situations. Although it may take some time initially, it definitely pays off in the long run.

The Provide Support blog has some brilliant tips on what you need to pay attention to and who the ideal candidates would be for customer service positions.

2) Lack of training

Not training your employees is possibly the most common reason for poor customer service. As I mentioned earlier, your customer service representatives interact directly with your customers. If you don't provide them sufficient amount of training, they're going to make mistakes and that will affect your overall customer experience.

To avoid this, make sure to dedicate enough time and resources to keeping your employees' skills sharp. They need to possess all the necessary information about your company's products, goals, and targets, as well as have the necessary skills to help your customers in every possible situations.

3) Lack of belief in the product or the company

Another problem that may lead to poor customer service is when, for whatever reason, your employees simply aren't able to connect with the company or believe in the product they are trying to sell. This can be due to a number of different reasons, but usually the blame lies either with the product or the company structure.

Unfortunately, many companies respond to situations like this by ignoring the problem and continuing as they are, which only makes things worse. Instead, you should be completely honest and try to understand the root cause of the problem. Talk to your employees about why they no longer believe in the product, and if they have any suggestions, you should implement them.

4) Lack of respect for the customer

Needless to say, customers should always be treated with respect, without exceptions. The problem is that, after a long day of work, customer service advisors can sometimes slip and become distracted. If they're not paying attention to the client, however, they might perceive this as disrespect, so it's crucial that you keep this to a minimum.

Angry Customer
One way to avoid this is to allow your employees to have occasional breaks. Not only will this allow them to focus and recharge their batteries, but it will make them more productive and motivated in the long run.

5) Lack of empathy

After working in the same job for a long period of time, most people can become indifferent to their customers – which is completely natural. However, if a new employee lacks empathy from the beginning, that can lead to more serious problems down the line.

In these cases, you can either send these new employees on a customer service training course, or remove them from their position. As for employees who have been working for the company for a long time, you can greatly improve their performance by providing the right incentives, and allowing them to take regular breaks to refresh and refocus.

See our Customer Service courses!


If you'd like to learn more about customer service, why not take a look at how we can help?

Boost your customer service skills with our online courses.
RRP from $65 – limited time offer just $23.99



Do you know any other reasons for poor customer service and how best to avoid them? Let us know in the comments!

More Articles on Customer Service

The Top 10 Customer Service Skills That Every Employee Needs
The Top 10 Customer Service Skills That Every Employee Needs
Jordan James
Author: Jordan James
About the article
Summary
Here, we talk about the top 10 customer service skills that every employee needs and why they are crucial for an effective customer service team.
[ close ]
5 Ways to Go Above and Beyond in Customer Service
5 Ways to Go Above and Beyond in Customer Service
Jordan James
Author: Jordan James
About the article
Summary
Do you want to stand out from your competition and earn your customers' loyalty? Here are 5 ways to go above and beyond in customer service.
[ close ]
7 Creative Ideas on How to Motivate Your Customer Service Team
7 Creative Ideas on How to Motivate Your Customer Service Team
Jordan James
Author: Jordan James
About the article
Summary
Read Activia's blog article with 7 creative ideas on how to motivate your customer service team and prevent employee burnout.
[ close ]
6 Useful Tips on How to Retain Your Existing Customers
6 Useful Tips on How to Retain Your Existing Customers
Jordan James
Author: Jordan James
About the article
Summary
Find out how you can retain your existing customers (and why it's more important than finding new ones) in Activia's latest blog article.
[ close ]
6 Ways to Measure Customer Service Performance
6 Ways to Measure Customer Service Performance
Jordan James
Author: Jordan James
About the article
Summary
Performing regular quality checks is part of maintaining a good customer service system. Read about 6 ways to measure customer service performance in Activia's latest blog article.
[ close ]
7 Ways to Show Respect to Your Customers
7 Ways to Show Respect to Your Customers
Jordan James
Author: Jordan James
About the article
Summary
Activia talks about the 7 best ways to show respect to your customers and how to maintain a good relationship with them.
[ close ]
6 Tips on How to Apologise to Customers
6 Tips on How to Apologise to Customers
Jordan James
Author: Jordan James
About the article
Summary
Read Activia's top 6 tips on how to apologise to customers effectively, without offending or losing your clients.
[ close ]
4 Ways to Improve Your Company's Customer Service
4 Ways to Improve Your Company's Customer Service
Jordan James
Author: Jordan James
About the article
Summary
Want to provide excellent customer service to your clients? Here are 4 ways to improve your company's customer service.
[ close ]
4 Tips on How to Be Proactive in Customer Service
4 Tips on How to Be Proactive in Customer Service
Jordan James
Author: Jordan James
About the article
Summary
Read Activia's tips on how to be proactive (rather than reactive) in customer service and why it's crucial in today's business world.
[ close ]
Why wait for problems before doing Customer Service Training?
Why wait for problems before doing Customer Service Training?
John B
Author: John B
About the article
Summary
Activia's Customer Service training enables a company to see high returns. Investing in training that stops complaints arising will help to save money
[ close ]
 

Write for us on the ZandaX blog

We're always looking for guest contributors to increase the variety and diversity of what we present.

Click to see how you can write for us:

 

The ZandaX Business Skills blog categories

Click a panel to visit the main category pages for the blog
Career Success
Career Success
Marketing
Marketing
Presentation Skills & Public Speaking
Presentation Skills & Public Speaking
Customer Service
Customer Service
[ This category ]
Microsoft Software
Microsoft Software

ZandaX Blog Contents

Want to see them all? Click to view a full list of articles in our blogs.

 
zandax online courses logo
"ZandaX courses are such great value, and with the help and support they give, there's no better option in the market"
ZandaX LinkedIn logo
ZandaX YouTube logo
ZandaX FaceBook logo
Course Categories
 
All content © ZandaX 2024