Have you ever came across that one individual that thinks that everything that they want in life should be handed to them and that they should do both nothing in the beginning to earn whatever it is that they want, or in return after being rewarded with what they are asking?
I’m sure that you have, and so have I. I work in the retention department for one of the top cellular providers in the United States, and I am here to provide you with some tips on how to get better customer service, by being a better customer.
First and foremost, loyalty really does matter. Don’t start the conversation with the customer service representative with a threat to cancel service if you can not get what you are asking for. The majority of representatives, myself included, will shut down when being threatened, and will be less willing to work with you to keep your business. Start with a phrase such as, “I really love the service that you provide me, but my needs have changed recently and I’m afraid that if I don’t get the new phone/discount/etc that I need, I will have to shop around and see what someone else may be able to offer me,” or “I have been with you guys for a long time now and I know that loyalty matters and checking to see what you guys could do to help me out with what I need to get done.”
Next, keep up to date on payments and take responsibility for your bill. One of the first things that we look at in retention when a customer has a request for a new phone, airtime credit, bonus minutes, discount, etc., is their payment history. Now I know that some things in life will come up unexpectedly and a payment will be late or missed, and that is completely fine as long as it is not a trend on the account. Generally speaking, a good customer will suspend due to nonpayment a maximum oft two times in a calendar year. If something comes up and you know that it will make it difficult to make your payment on time, do not hesitate to give customer service a call and ask for an arrangement or an extension. These are fairly easy to come by, and we do not want your service turned off any more than you do.
Along with the payment history, we will also look at adjustment history. Now if the adjust that was made to the account was a legitimate billing error, we do on no way hold this against. you. What throws up a red flag when you are looking at an account and the customer calls every couple of months when they have excess charges on the account due to using the service differently, state that they do not know how the charges are there or that they did not use the service that they were billed for, and request an adjustment for the charges. There does become a point where having an account is no longer profitable to a carrier and they will choose to let the customer go.
Third, be open to a suggestion from the representative that you are speaking with. Sometimes what you are requesting of that person just is not possible and to be one-hundred percent honest with you, escalating to a supervisor will not get you a different answer. A lot of times, personally, I will not be able to do exactly what the customer is asking me to, but I will present it in a different manner that gets them to basically the same end result, however, the customer does not accept the offer that his been given to them, because they are only open to the way that they have thought through long before making the call to customer service.
Finally, a little bit of respect and common courtesy goes a long way. We are human as well and want to feel respected just as much as you do. Do not talk down the the representative for any reason, unless, of course, the representative talks down to you first and then I suggest that you request to speak with a supervisor because this is unacceptable. Without you, the customer, customer service representatives, such as myself, would not have a job. We are there to help you and I assure you, at least with the carrier that I am with, we will try to do whatever it takes to make sure that our customer has an excellent experience.
Remember, when both the customer and the customer service representative are on the same page, working together as a team, the outcome will always be better for both the company and the customer.