14 Warning Signs Your Customer Service May Be Slipping

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There are usually warning signs of a looming customer experience problem
There are usually warning signs of a looming customer experience problem
Sometimes it’s obvious to everyone in your organization that you’ve got a customer service problem, but not always. And unhappy customers don’t always tell you; they may just silently slink off to a competitor.

Customer Experience Early Warning System

There are many metrics you can use to diagnose problems, but here are a few that are relatively simple to get and are clear warnings that something’s going wrong. That something is likely to hurt customer experience, even if you haven’t noticed it yet.

Some Obvious; Others Not

Let’s start with the obvious, and then work our way down to others that may be hidden indicators of problems that will soon spill over into customer experience, if they haven’t already.

Customer Service

  • The number of complaints and/or contact centre calls/emails/live chats have increased.
  • Returns and/or requests for refunds are increasing.

Sales

  • Sales have flat-lined or decreased.
  • The length of the sales cycle is increasing.

Marketing & Social Media

  • The number of complaints mentioning your company on social media have increased.
  • Nobody’s taking care of your social media accounts.

Operations

  • Product defects are increasing.
  • Production is often delayed by equipment needing repairs or by missing parts.

Finance

  • You are behind on sending out invoices.
  • Nobody’s tracking & following-up on unpaid bills.

Human Resources

  • It’s getting harder and harder to recruit & keep good workers. (Especially when the economy is no longer booming.)
  • Absenteeism and/or sick leave have increased.

Leadership

  • There’s a lot of disagreement in the executive suite.
  • There’s NO disagreement in the executive suite.

Bonus Omen for CEOs

You feel a little sick to your stomach when you think about work. If your gut is grumbling, listen to it. Your customers might be hungry for change.

This is a version of an article that you can find on the Frank Reactions website: http://frankonlinemarketing.com/cxomens/

Tema Frank
Tema Frank, Chief Instigator at Frank Reactions, is a pioneer in assessing multi-channel customer experience. She was testing omni-channel customer service with her 1st company, Web Mystery Shoppers, before "omnichannel" was a thing! Hers was one of the world's 1st companies to do real-world testing of online and offline customer service & usability. A best-selling author & highly rated international speaker, she hosts the Frank Reactions podcast, and is the author of the new book PeopleShock: The Path to Profits When Customers Rule. Get the 1st chapter free at http://peopleshock.com .

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