Today’s show is a quick look at why we should avoid of deploying string-along service techniques.
The success of most business transactions is that they lead to repeat purchases, or referrals. So then why do we jeopardize these future events when we service our current customers? Half-truths, and fictitious stories litter the service landscape, as we attempt to avoid an order cancellation. Is this the right way to provide customer-pleasing service? Do these schemes serve the long-term survival of our companies? Today we examine these questions and more! Grab some coffee and enjoy!
Alright , Mr . Simple Biz Sky , lets guide to show.
Speaker 2:
Well, thank you everyone for tuning into the Simple Biz 360 podcast. My name's Jeff Mason, I'm your host For the next five minutes, we're on episode two 30, we can be found on YouTube, IGTV Rumble TV and 28 audio platforms. And our URL Home is Simple Biz three sixty.com . Matter of fact, you can get all of our 229 , uh, prior podcasts on that site as well. There's a little tab for it . So we're excited today to talk about the dangers of string along service. So I mean, hey listen, we've all been a victim of this and maybe more times than we care to admit, but it's basically the type of service that the , the company providing that service knows the answer. You know, they know the bad news and what the bad news is and how it impacts you. However, they're either unwilling to share the truth with you, they're untrained to share the truth with you. They're ill-equipped. They don't really have , um, you know, any background knowledge that they're supposed to reveal the truth. They're kind of on their own, they're winging it, or ownership has advised them to outright lie. Now, if you zoom backwards about 10 episodes, it was very interesting. We finished the episode, the lights went off here and the producer Matt came , uh, out into the uh , studio and said, oh man, you'd never believe what happened to my buddy just recently. Well, he works in a distribution center operation and a couple weeks before Christmas, they got everybody into the conference room and they said, look, we are not making any of the holiday deliveries. So, you know, we just wanna let you people know that up front , but we do not want you to lose these orders. So string these customers along, you know, these, these , this prod will come in later, string them along and oh , the penalty for those of you who aren't successful in this string along , uh, scheme, you will meet your termination. So you guys better hold on to these. So basically, you know, told this whole group of people to march back to their cubicles and lie to customers, to string them along. So this happens quite frequently. And , and what are the dangers of it? Well, you know, first of all, let's just be honest, customers in most cases are smarter than we give them credit for. Absolutely. If you've watched all these episodes, you know, we've talked about this from time to time, they know what's up. They have one eyebrow up going into the deal and they know that if they're getting strung along through the transaction, that there might be an actual real story behind the little veneer that they're getting. You know, so they're smarter than you think. Number two, they've got this spidey sense, they've got this sense that something's off, they can tell it and they're not gonna show their poker face. They're gonna show their poker face to you. They're not gonna let you see that they're onto you. But now they're gonna start poking and , and putting holes in your story and trying to see where you fall apart and try to see where you fall on your own sword. Because they want to know beyond a shadow of a doubt, are they playing with the truth here or are they being strung along? So the third thing is, once you lose these folks, you lose 'em , folks, the trust is gone. So once these customers realize , uh, oh , I've been lied to, you know, just we've been talking about this since day one on the show. The , the famous tarps study in the mid eighties says that 91% of these people that have a problem with your company that don't say anything to you about the problem 'cause they've detected the string along theory, right? They are , uh, they're gonna hightail it, they're gonna have moose , they're gonna go and never come back. So your opportunity for repeat and referral business is wiped off the map. And, and this is just one of the byproducts of using this string along service. So we would highly recommend you not to do it. Find another way. We all want rinse and repeat customers. We want that repeat , uh, order. We want that referral, right? So we're gonna leave you with speaking of Rinse and Repeat, great song One Minute Long from the 1975 Joe Walsh. So what album? The All Night Laundromat Blues. We will see you in 168 hours .