October 29, 2017

By: 
Rachel Strella

When the Customer Isn't Always Right

customer

Service is one of our company core values, as is commitment to excellence. It’s been our experience that the two go hand-in-hand to optimally serve our customers. Contrarily, the two values clash when customers are unreasonable or unwilling to do their part. For example, a customer that expects immediate answers to inquiries, but fails to employ our recommendations.

Recently, such was the case with a customer – and consequently, we no longer work together.

Truthfully, the relationship was turbulent for some time. We delivered on our promise to respond quickly to and deliver solutions that exceeded their expectations. However, it’s challenging to commit to excellence for customers who are reluctant to truly understand social media. Because anyone can boost a post, doesn’t mean anyone should… particularly when hundreds of dollars are spent on content misaligned with the brand, the copy is full of typos and poor grammar, and the accompanying graphic is visually unappealing or cut off.  Sadly, this occurred frequently. We had several conversations with the owners in hopes they would understand that their actions were damaging their reputation, but our feedback fell on deaf ears.

When customer service becomes pleasing the customer, at all costs – even when it’s to their detriment – there must be a reality check.  For us, it’s when we realize we will fail to live up to our commitment to excellence. Our only regret is that waited so long to take a firm stand, as we had hoped things would improve. Ultimately, this hope only defined insanity.

What changed? Why did we decide to remain steadfast in our approach now, when we’ve already allowed this behavior to happen repeatedly?

In all honesty, it was because we simply had enough. If this experience taught us anything, it’s that we will not wait until we’ve lost our minds before we decide it’s time for an expectations check. Customer service is not saying yes to everything; it’s not looking the other way at things a CEO would prefer to handle when the mood strikes. Customer service is doing the right thing for the customer, all the time. And that’s why commitment to excellence must be partnered with customer service.

In our statement of core values, we list bullet points that share what that value means to our company. The final bullet of the value commitment to excellence reads, “We are accountable to ourselves and to our customers; likewise, we hold the customer accountable; to generate successful outcomes, it takes a partnership.”

Indeed, it does.

Subscribe To Our Blog
Subscribe To Our Blog
Categories

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

We offer full-service social media management including: content development, posting to designated social media channels, dedicated advertising campaigns, social media audience building, monitoring and engagement on social media sites, and monthly progress reports.

Commitment to Excellence
Communication
Service
Relationships

Blogging
Business Advice
Entrepreneurship
Social Media Strategy
Social for Business
Social Media Manager
Twitter
Facebook
Marketing Strategy
LinkedIn
Banks/Credit Unions
Health/Wellness
Compliance/Legal
Construction
Real Estate
Coaches/Consultants
Home Improvement
Broadcasting/Media
Transportation
IoT/Tech

Strella Social Media
1412 N. 6th Street
Harrisburg, PA 17102

Social media is all about relationships. Join our community and keep the conversation going! We love to get to know people on a deeper level! Connect with us on the medium of your choice and tell us what you love about social media.