Do you frustrate your customers?

Ok so I may do a little venting today.  Can someone explain to me the purpose of the alleged security code we are supposed to type in; the one with weirdly written letters and numbers?   How is that making things secure especially when they offer simpler ones if you can’t read the jumbled ones?

What are some of the other ways we frustrate our customers?  Don’t get me started on the phone messages that say press a number for this or that and none of them are what you need.  Then there is the robotic voice that is supposedly the more personal way to frustrate you only they can’t understand half of what you say. Finally, when you are ready to toss the phone they suggest a live person and the 1st words out of your mouth are often filled with anger; not the best way to get a problem solved.

What is the point of this? Your call is very important to us and your wait time is   1 hour. We complain and grumble yet we put up with it and transfer that same frustration to our customers.  We become passive aggressive in many ways; let them wait; I’ll call back when I’m ready, or I’ll get to it eventually.  What does this solve? What is the benefit of frustrating customers?  Do we want to see how much damage we can do before they leave?

If the phone and security codes don’t make you crazy enough, then you can read about all the amazing deals you can get if you are a new customer.  Wait a minute I’ve been a loyal customer and I get nothing?  I’ll go be a new customer to someone else and get a deal because you obviously don’t value me.

When I started my business I made a point of calling people back ideally within 24 hours, no more than 48hours.  I return e-mails even faster unless I am out of town, but my clients know I’m not as available then because I have already informed them.  I want to keep my clients happy so they not only keep using my services but recommend me to others.  Are banks and telecommunications so big that losing a few irate customers doesn’t mean anything? Are we so fed up that we stay because switching would be worse?

Imagine what could be if valued our customers and treated them with respect!