What Part of Customer Service Don't You Understand?

To avoid or to admit--that is the question too many people face and unfortunately, to my way of thinking, they most often choose to avoid. What I'm talking about is responding to requests from existing clients and customers. Just this week I have asked three different people to answer my questions--and when they couldn't give me an answer they were comfortable with, they choose to avoid responding to me altogether.

What happens then is the original request takes a back seat to the avoidance. As I try mightily to contain my frustration (being polite and "understanding") I get more resentful of having to work so hard to get some kind of response. By the time I get an answer, even if it is favorable, the relationship is strained and I will think twice about reaching out to them in the future.

Take one of these situations. I am expecting a check in payment for a service I provided to a client on time and on short notice. When I send an email to the controller asking for a date by which I will receive the check, I get no reply. Two days later I leave a voice message, still simply asking for the date by which I will receive the check. No reply. I call again and he answers the phone--and tells me that it will be a week or so until he runs his next batch of checks.

So he had an answer, which I admit I don't like very much, but the delay is made much worse by the effort it took for me to get an answer. He could have replied to my email with the date and that would be that. He didn't reply because he knew I wouldn't be happy--but I end up not only unhappy about the payment date but more unhappy because of his avoidance of me.

Service means doing what needs to be done even if it is unpleasant or uncomfortable. If you have an answer that won't be well-received, don't make it worse by not sending the answer. If you know it will take time to get an answer, let the person know that. The worst thing is to ignore people who have reached out to you.

I don't get how this behavior is not actively criticized by managers and CXOs. Companies large and small go to great lengths to build their brands, recruit new clients and customers, and beat the competition. Being responsive to existing client's requests is such a simple way to retain loyalty and spread brand awareness. Yet too often companies forget the people they already have as they serach for the next new one. If you took care of the people you currently have a relationship with you wouldn't be so deparate to find new people.