By Nancy Friedman, President, Telephone Doctor Customer Service Training; Keynote Customer Service Speaker

Customers will walk and take their business elsewhere if they’re not treated properly on the phone or in person.

But how does a business owner find out what the customer really likes or dislikes?

Over the years, your customers have told Telephone Doctor what they won’t tell you. Here are TEN things they told us that bothers them. We wanted to share with you. All can be avoided.

These are NOT all from one customer or one location. Many and varied, over time.

1. Nobody greeted me when I walked into your store. No one said, “Hello,” no one asked if they could help me, and no one said goodbye when I walked out. Well, at least I wasn’t any trouble.
2. Your sales staff looked tired. Yea, they did. Otherwise why wouldn’t they greet me with a big smile and some enthusiasm? It didn’t look like they even wanted me in the place.
3. I bought a lot. I couldn’t believe no one said, “Thank you.” No one told me to “enjoy my purchase.” I did get a perfunctory, lukewarm, “Have a nice day.” Although it was said to the floor…it didn’t mean anything to me.
4. When I phoned for some information, my call was treated as an annoyance. I sensed very little desire to be of any real help. Know what I did then? I called a few more places until I found one who sounded as though they wanted me to come visit them.
5. Whoever did answer your phone never identified themselves. I happen to like to know who I’m talking with and when I don’t, it hurts any trust I might give your company.
6. During the phone call, your staff’s voice sounded aggressive and challenging. I didn’t feel very welcomed.
7. By the way, your employees were talking and laughing amongst themselves and ignored me until I was ready to pay for my merchandise.
8. I didn’t see any management around. Remember the old saying “when the boss is away, the mice will play.” Guess what? They do!
9. When I told your staff about my problem, which was important to me, no one sympathized with me. It was ‘business as usual’ for them.
10.  No one was smiling. Remember, sometimes it’s the things you ‘don’t do’ that make me want to go elsewhere.Signed,

    Your customer