Poor customer service is almost always a result of poor strategy and the belief in the paradigm that the customer service center is a cost center. Since Common Wisdom says cost centers must have costs driven down, you did just that. Now the part of your business that has a direct impact on customers is understaffed, underfunded, and under water. The pay is too low to hire good agents and the budget too small to allow for training and technology to streamline the work processes.

This results in poorly trained agents who are dealing with a system that holds them back from providing the customer with what he wants. That customer may already be mad when he calls the service center. Imagine how he will feel after he hangs up! I think you can take that customer off your list; he's had enough and he's gone.

Research shows that up to 30% of customers or more have a bad customer service experience. Of the customers who have had a bad experience, only about 2% will actually complain. The other 98% remain silent. However, all 100% are likely to leave. You may never know of a problem until it is way too late and a third of your customers is gone.

Another result of this cost-busting customer service approach is negative word of mouth (WOM) about your business. And a study has shown that negative WOM is disseminated twice as much as positive WOM. The internet makes the reach even greater and faster. On top of that, hidden costs show up in the service center as call volume increases due to the failure to resolve problems on the first call. In addition, marketing and sales become more costly because it is expensive to convince an unhappy customer (or someone who has heard bad things about your business) to buy from you.

Congratulations. Now the customer service center really is a cost center. But all is not lost, Padawan. You can turn things around. 

And tomorrow, I will tell you how. You won't even need The Force.

This time of the year is always so festive. We all get to be kids again, unashamedly dressing up like various characters and creatures, humorous and fearsome alike. Then, we get to join the millions of excited costumed children, teenagers, and college students who go door to door screaming, "Trick-or-Treat!" which usually comes out "trickertreat."

We all focus on the treat part, thinking of it as more of a demand instead of focusing on the literal translation of the phrase. The door-knockers want something sweet, something good to eat. Customers who use self-service forums and communities are the same way.

They come to the forum expecting to find good answers and polite responses to their posts; yet so often, they get the "trick" instead of the "treat." They end up suffering mistreatment at the hands of other users which inevitably chases away that customer not only from the forum, but from the company as well.

How can this be prevented?

Moderation.

The term moderation in the forum world does not mean to refrain from doing something to excess. Instead, it is the enforcement of good behavior in a forum, because, unfortunately, no matter the age of individuals, some still need a babysitter. Therefore, the moderator of a forum is basically a forum babysitter ensuring that all the users behave themselves.

A good moderator is fair across the board, keeping the peace between the users, and is unafraid to make the difficult decisions such as whether or not to delete a comment or if a user needs to be banned from the forum. To maintain a cordial and cooperative atmosphere in their self-service forum, a wise company will hire such a guard...er, moderator for their forum gates to keep the proper, high level of customer service for their patrons. Which we all know is the key to gaining and retaining customers.

Good moderators are also good facilitators. They are able to encourage conversation in a positive manner, answer questions, and pose new topics for discussion which helps the company stay one step ahead of the customer to ensure that every question is answered before it is even asked. Having the answer to an unasked question is very convenient for customers. Then when they do have that question the answer is already in front of them. They do not waste any time or effort searching high and low for a solution or on hold listening to screeches and scratches that are supposed to be music.

In the end, the whole of the matter is that if you want a good, effective, and efficient self-service forum for your business, you need a moderator.

If you don't have one, get one. Before it's too late.........

I do not actually mean you can have no sense of humor in your forums. But...when a forum or community is created, it is necessary to create and publish guidelines to be followed by the users.

I recommend a new book by Patrick O'Keefe entitled "Managing Online Forums: Everything You Need to Know to Create and Run Successful Community Discussion Boards" (AMACOM copyright 2008). This has everything you could possibly need to create and run a forum. With so many Customer Service and Support solutions (like PhaseWare's Self Service Center) and CRM solutions containing the option to create forums for your users to discuss products, ask questions, and otherwise hobnob with their fellow users, there could be any number of you who are now wondering what is entailed. This book will tell you.

Here are five topics he mentions that, in my opinion, must be addressed in any forum guidelines. I will give them to you now but I highly recommend finding this book and reading all of the other tips and guidelines from someone who has been managing forums for quite a while.

1. Respect: This is at the top of my list and is emphasized by Mr. O'Keefe. Respect for the community members, respect for you and your staff, and respect for your forum.

 

2. Privacy Policy: You see it on every site, and there are reasons for that. One of which is that it makes your clients feel safer.

3. Vulgar Language or Offensive Material: Presumably you are going to ban such things; just make certain you have it stated and to enforce it at all times.

4. Illegal Activities: See #3.

5. Personal Information: There should be zero, nada, zip, zilch posted with anyone's personal information made public.

These should get you started. As I said, Mr. O'Keefe has an entire book full of great advice for those who would now like to create a forum but don't know where to start. See also the book's website or reach Mr. O'Keefe at patrick@ifroggy.com.