Internal Beatdowns–Who takes the fall?

This is the second of three in the series of dumb things I see small businesses say or do. Take a look at We don’t do that.. Or do we? for an overview of easy opportunities small businesses squander through pride & ignorance and stay tuned for another post on this topic.

“My Employees Are Idiots”

This is something that I am thankfully not guilty of, but I can tell you that it really leaves a very bad taste in the clients mouth when they have to participate in the following conversation:

Client: You didn’t meet my expectations. (the cleanest I can make it 🙂
You: Oh my god, I am so sorry, I know who did this and I am going to kill him!

First, unless you operate a fast food franchise, your company should not be comprised of idiots that respond to verbal abuse. Strike #1: if your employees are really treated like this then no wonder they dropped the ball, they may have been busy receiving the third degree and just didn’t care by the time my problem came up.

Second, in professional services there is no such thing as “the customer is always right” – if you think that, get over it. The customer is always right when it comes to a dispute of a retail transaction where you need to meet the clients expectations in order to make the sale. In professional services, that criteria is established by a contract.

Third, following on the topic from the second problem, is to never take clients side. Why? Because it always comes off insincere. If you must apologize, do so. Promise to find out what went wrong instead. Ask the person that caused the problem to follow up with the client and explain the issue. Here is the bottom line here: every single big company out there has a group of apologists – the customer service department. Outside the retail business, their purpose is to calm the client down and to pretend to take the clients side.

Fourth, don’t put out fires. Unless the issue is truly trivial, you should not rush to please them right away by providing the first answer that comes to mind. I know, makes no sense, you need to answer on the first ring and provide immediate answers, right? Consider what happens if the response you give is wrong or fails to satisfy the client? You are now in a hole you cannot dig out of and someone else has to clean up the original problem and your mess too. This only serves to further infuriate the client and have them keep track of who they talk to or which misinformation they are offered. Bottom line: in problem situations, clients seek clarity. They want to know how the problem happened and how and when it will be fixed. This is critical for MSPs and other B2B operations – clients aren’t inquisitive fools, they likely will have to explain the issue to someone else.

Finally, consider some of the basic staples of how you project your company and your employees. Look up when you answer the phone. Smile and be happy to hear from the client even when they have a problem – they are a part of your paycheck even if they are just problem client. Never say no – there is no coming back from a no. Don’t be afraid to put someone on the hold while you get them the right answer – they bothered to call/email/show up, do them the courtesy of helping them and making them seem important.

When all this fails, always remember the Karl rule – you don’t need money so bad that you should take on abuse or deal with assholes. Life is too short. And abusive people only get more abusive, not more tolerant. If people get used to walking all over you to get what they want, you will always lose. Be patient. Be tolerant. Be nice.

The Reality

But never, ever, ever throw your team in the fire. Yes, you may suck at times. We all have our bad moments. But if they are truly bad, the heads roll. If they don’t, it’s just insincerity.

Your company deserves better, your clients know better and professional services are just that – services delivered by professionals.