Don’t always tell your customers the truth

Posted by Kevin Stirtz on January 20, 2010

0 comments | 1373 reads

In the business of customer service training and improvement, we talk about being honest and open with our customers. This is important. It builds trust and improves communications with our customers.

But sometimes people take honesty too far. Sometimes it does more harm than good. Recently, Paul Simon (one of my readers) shared some glaring examples of this:

“The customer service rep said she’d left early the day before.” (Explaining why she didn’t call him back sooner.)

“She said she hadn’t listened to messages yet. (Noting why she had not returned his call.)

“She [said] it was the low-end model…and that was a known problem.” (Suggesting why the product failed.)

When customers call us with a problem, they want solutions, not excuses. And they do not want to hear the details of what caused the problem. It’s especially bad when such details reveal a lack of professionalism in the company.

Forget excuses and too-revealing explanations. Focus on finding solutions and you’ll keep customers coming back.

Kevin Stirtz

Kevin Stirtz is a web marketing consultant. He uses SEO, social media and local search strategies and tools to help businesses attract and keep more customers. He is a Certified Inbound Marketing Professional and has written two books about marketing and customer loyalty. Kevin lives in the Twin Cities metro area of Minneapolis and St. Paul, MN.

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