Imagine you’re shopping at an electronics store for a television. You go into the store having no idea what you want to buy or what’s important to consider. You enter the store and head towards the television, spotting an employee standing by one of the television displays as you start to get close.
From here, one of two things happen:
- Employee A sees you and immediately smiles, approaching you and asking if you need any help today, his voice positive and enthusiastic. He listens to your questions, answers them and asks questions to help you narrow down your selection, and then helps by offering you several options and features to consider.
- Employee B stays stoic and doesn’t approach you, letting you approach him. When you do he acts like you’ve interrupted something he’s done and is very short and dismissive. He doesn’t talk with you about options, and all your questions are answered with short responses and eye rolls. He uses passive aggressive body language and can’t seem to get rid of you fast enough.
High Risks of Unpleasant Customer Experiences
There’s no question that if we were to ask “who would you rather do business with” you would answer “Employee A, of course.” And there’s little doubt that if you did receive a customer service experience from Employee B you probably won’t be doing business at that store today - or maybe ever again.
Learn How to Hire for Customer Satisfaction
Positive customer service interactions - whether it be through a contact center support call, a retail experience, or something else entirely - goes a long way. According to Dimensional Research, 52% of customers continued to use more products or services from a company after having a positive customer experience, and 51% recommended the company to others. Likewise, a bad customer service experience resulted in 59% of customers ceasing business with that company, and 55% going to a competitor.
This means that if you have an employee like Employee B you will be getting a low ROI and running the risk of losing business - half the time losing it to a competitor.
Naturally, your next question might be "how often does an unpleasant customer experience happen?" According to the Dimensional Research study, unpleasant customer service interactions was the second most-cited reason customers felt they had a bad experience, with 67% of those surveyed saying as such.
Make Your Customers Love Their Experience by Hiring the Right Candidates
The solution starts with addressing what you look for in your job candidates. Hiring candidates who can deliver the right level of customer service is crucial to ensuring excellent customer experiences. After all, we all seek to have experiences with an employee like Employee A, so why would you hire an employee like Employee B to interact with your own customers? The question to ask is if your hiring process allows you to distinguish future Employee A from future Employee B. As ambassadors of your company's brand, the responsibility falls to your hiring team to make sure that customers get the experience they look for that keeps them coming back for more business while spreading positive feedback.
If you're ready to start separating the Employee A's from Employee B's, or if you want to add to your current methods of doing so, download our whitepaper below on developing a quality of hire report card that will ensure your customers have pleasant service experiences and remain your loyal to your company. Or, if you'd like to learn more, contact us today.
