Common Customer Frustrations and How to Avoid Them
Customers are the core of your business. After all, without any customers, there's no business at all.
As a result, keeping your customers happy should always be a top priority. But sometimes, things don't always go as planned.
Customer frustration can come from a variety of sources. Maybe your product isn't living up to their expectations. Maybe they're having trouble using your product or service. Or maybe they're just not happy with the level of customer service they're receiving.
Today, we will go over common types of customer frustrations, where they come from, and how to avoid them.
Not Valuing Customers' Time
One of the most common customer frustrations is feeling like their time is not valued. This can happen in a few different ways. Maybe you keep them on hold for too long when they call customer service. Maybe it takes too long to resolve their issue. Maybe your product or service isn't living up to their expectations and they feel like they wasted their time and money.
Whatever the case may be, not valuing your customers' time is a surefire way to create frustration and ultimately lose their business.
The best way to avoid this is to always be respectful of your customers' time. Don't keep them on hold for longer than necessary. Try to resolve their issues as quickly as possible. And make sure your product or service is high quality so they feel like their time and money were well spent.
Pro-Tip: Increase your response times by integrating a live chat into your website.
Too Much Back and Forth
Another common frustration for customers is having to go back and forth too much to get their issues resolved. This can happen when they have to contact multiple people or departments to get their issue resolved. Or it can happen when they have to provide the same information multiple times.
Either way, it's frustrating for customers and creates a negative customer experience.
The best way to avoid this is to make sure your customer service process is streamlined. Give your customers a single point of contact so they don't have to keep going back and forth. And make sure you have a system in place for tracking customer information so it doesn't get lost in the shuffle.
Lack of Communication
Another frustration customers can have is a lack of communication from your company. This can happen when they don't hear back from customer service in a timely manner. Or it can happen when they're not kept up to date on the status of their issue.
Whatever the case may be, failing to communicate with your customers is a surefire way to create frustration and potentially lose their business.
The best way to avoid this is to make sure you have a process in place for communicating with your customers. Set expectations up front so they know when they can expect to hear back from you. And make sure you follow through on your promises.
Pro-Tip: Use an automated email system to keep your customers updated on the status of their issues.
Providing poor Customer Service
Of course, one of the most common customer frustrations is poor customer service. This can take many different forms, but it generally boils down to not meeting your customers' needs.
Maybe your customer service reps are unprofessional or unhelpful. Maybe they're not properly trained to handle customer issues. Or maybe they're just not available when your customers need them.
Whatever the case may be, poor customer service is a surefire way to create frustration and ultimately lose customers.
The best way to avoid this is to make sure your customer service reps are properly trained and able to handle customer issues. You should also make sure they're available during your customers' normal business hours. And finally, you should regularly measure customer satisfaction to make sure your customer service is up to par.
Pro-Tip: Read our guide on the best Customer Service skills to improve in the 2020's
Customer Frustrations and your Business
Customer frustration is a common problem that all businesses face. But by being aware of the most common customer frustrations, you can take steps to avoid them and create a positive customer experience.
Just remember to always be respectful of your customers' time, provide clear and concise communication, and deliver high-quality customer service.