Speaker 1: Welcome to How to Money. I'm Joel and I'm Matt,
Speaker 1: and today we're discussing getting great customer service. That's right, Joel.
Speaker 1: We're talking about customer service today. And oftentimes folks think
Speaker 1: about customer service when it comes to getting something fixed,
Speaker 1: like when something has gone wrong. But yeah, we're gonna
Speaker 1: touch a little bit on what it means to get
Speaker 1: customer service even before things have gone wrong, even before
Speaker 1: something's broken or you've been offended. Yeah, but then what
Speaker 1: if you enter a worst case scenario customer service wise,
Speaker 1: We're going to kind of go into how you handle
Speaker 1: that as well. And customer service. Matt just kind of
Speaker 1: fascinates me. You're a total nerd. I am like I
Speaker 1: could geek out on customer service stories or just how
Speaker 1: companies that handle customer service particularly well, like a company
Speaker 1: like Zappos just known for customer or service. I think
Speaker 1: that's so cool. So I'm really interested to dive into
Speaker 1: this today. And Joel, on our recent episode that we
Speaker 1: did on Before You Buy a House, we had talked
Speaker 1: about doing the wave test when you when you drive
Speaker 1: around looking at properties to uh, it was something you
Speaker 1: came up with, right that. Yeah, I've never heard of
Speaker 1: it before, and this was a Matt original. Yeah, can
Speaker 1: I have always done that. We always just wave at
Speaker 1: people and kind of gauge how friendly folks are. But
Speaker 1: some folks wrote in from the Pacific Northwest, or our
Speaker 1: friend Katie up there in Portland, and then a couple
Speaker 1: of other folks as well up in the Northeast, like
Speaker 1: I think it was in New York and in Jersey.
Speaker 1: We're saying, man, if you were to wave at somebody
Speaker 1: that you didn't know, you would just get stairs at best,
Speaker 1: you know. So maybe that's our Southern biased shining through.
Speaker 1: I don't know, but even still, I think that folks
Speaker 1: should try to be a little more friendly. And if
Speaker 1: that's not something that you're used to seeing, give it
Speaker 1: a shot because you might be in a neighborhood that
Speaker 1: is extra friendly. And who doesn't want to live in
Speaker 1: a friendly neighborhood where everyone's happy to see you? I
Speaker 1: know I do, totally, Matt. I mean I want to
Speaker 1: live in a friendly neighborhood. I feel like we live
Speaker 1: in a friendly neighborhood. Some of our neighbors have reference
Speaker 1: to where we live as kind of like Mayberry, Like
Speaker 1: that's kind of true. And that's kind of what that's
Speaker 1: what I love about living here. There are always neighbors
Speaker 1: walking down the sidewalks, interacting with one another. People just
Speaker 1: kind of know each other and look out for each other,
Speaker 1: hanging out the front yards. Now that's getting warmer. But
Speaker 1: what it takes is being intentional. You have to foster
Speaker 1: that as an individual, and even though it might go
Speaker 1: against the grain a little bit, maybe worth where you live.
Speaker 1: You can be that weirdo, like you can be that
Speaker 1: friendly versa. You have to be the wave in this world?
Speaker 1: Do you want the waves to wave back? Right? But
Speaker 1: I think there is a good point that maybe that
Speaker 1: is also kind of a distinctly Southern thing. We're a
Speaker 1: little overtly friendly down here. And actually we had a listener,
Speaker 1: Darren who wrote in and he said, maybe instead of
Speaker 1: the wave test, consider asking a mail carrier. And I
Speaker 1: thought that was just the perfect suggestion. I didn't see that.
Speaker 1: What did you say, asking a mail carrier what they
Speaker 1: think of the area? Yeah? Exactly, Like so asking about, hey,
Speaker 1: what happens on this street? They're like literally boots on
Speaker 1: the ground right, eyes on the street, and so they're
Speaker 1: a perfect person to ask suggestions about what the neighborhood
Speaker 1: actually looks like day to day, and that specific street,
Speaker 1: that specific house, what sort of activity are you seeing?
Speaker 1: And so I think, Yeah, Darren's point is well taken.
Speaker 1: If you are looking to buy a home, hanging out
Speaker 1: and waiting for the mail to come by is not
Speaker 1: a terrible idea. You might get some great suggestions and
Speaker 1: some really great thoughts from a mail carrier before you
Speaker 1: go all in and buy a home. Yeah, I like it,
Speaker 1: And Jeel, I'm gonna go ahead and introduce this beer.
Speaker 1: I just sniffed the bottle yet again because this is
Speaker 1: one of the most delicious, fruity smelling beers I have
Speaker 1: ever sniffed in my entire life. We have a beer,
Speaker 1: our second beer now from our listener Jared out in Texas,
Speaker 1: and this is an at real rubiside from Jester King,
Speaker 1: which they make some amazing beers out in Texas. I've
Speaker 1: never had at the Jester King, so I am very
Speaker 1: excited about this one. Yeah. I think I've only had
Speaker 1: one beer from Jester King before in my life, and
Speaker 1: their reputation totally percedes them. They've got this amazing kind
Speaker 1: of farmhouse style brewery down there in Austin. Uh, And
Speaker 1: it's definitely one of those that I wanna visit for
Speaker 1: sure in my life, and atro Rubiside in particular. This
Speaker 1: beer is probably on like my top five beers I
Speaker 1: want to drink before I die list. So I'm so
Speaker 1: excited to drink this beer today. I told him you
Speaker 1: were pumped. He gave a thumbs up or something. Yeah.
Speaker 1: So thank you, Jared, seriously so much for donating this beer.
Speaker 1: I can't tell you how happy it makes me. Yeah, Austin,
Speaker 1: they didn't They just have a south By Southwest or something.
Speaker 1: I don't know. I've never been, but want to check
Speaker 1: it out. Yeah. Here, it's a great town. By the way,
Speaker 1: I just had my first sip. Can't wait to tell
Speaker 1: everyone what we think about this beer at the end
Speaker 1: of the show. Quick hot take though, tastes like raspberry jam,
Speaker 1: you know, beautiful way Okay, Joe, Let's let's get nerdy.
Speaker 1: Let's talk about some customer service. Let's do it. Okay.
Speaker 1: So part of the reason that we felt like we
Speaker 1: needed to tackle this topic on the show was so
Speaker 1: many people take what companies give them they failed to
Speaker 1: advocate for themselves. This can often result in you paying
Speaker 1: more than you need to unnecessary fees. And let's just
Speaker 1: state this up front. Not every company is going to
Speaker 1: deliver great customer service, and doing business with well reviewed
Speaker 1: companies is gonna nip a lot of customer service issues
Speaker 1: in the bud. But at times also you're gonna have
Speaker 1: to do business with companies based on other factors. Potentially
Speaker 1: they're the only one close by where you can get
Speaker 1: the item you need. There are all sorts of reasons
Speaker 1: you might have to do business with a company that
Speaker 1: isn't well known for customer service. And because so many
Speaker 1: times in our lives we have to do business with
Speaker 1: companies that might not necessarily be well known for customer service,
Speaker 1: it's really helpful to know how to advocate for yourself
Speaker 1: and how to get good customer service in light of that.
Speaker 1: So this podcast, we're going to cover a lot of
Speaker 1: tips for how to get good customer service and specific
Speaker 1: avenues that you need to take in order to make
Speaker 1: that happen. Yeah, Joe, it's worth mentioning that not all
Speaker 1: businesses need to have really great customer service all the time, right,
Speaker 1: Like I think of Zenny and we talk about them
Speaker 1: all the time, but I wouldn't really expect them to
Speaker 1: have great customer service because they just sell cheap eyeglasses.
Speaker 1: They're the cheapest out there. You can't win it everything, right,
Speaker 1: Like they're gonna win the game when it comes to
Speaker 1: getting really really affordable glasses. Yeah, it's kind of like
Speaker 1: when if you've been in a mechanic shop and they've
Speaker 1: got the sign that says you can get it two
Speaker 1: out of three ways, good, fast and cheap, right and Zenny,
Speaker 1: it's hitting two of those right. It's pretty definitely cheap,
Speaker 1: and you know they're solid eyeglasses, but you're not getting
Speaker 1: great customer service at the same time, right, Exactly. The
Speaker 1: more expensive a product is, or if there's a service
Speaker 1: that's more personal, certainly that would require a higher level
Speaker 1: of customer service. Like I think about realtors. You're spending
Speaker 1: close to maybe two months of your life if not more,
Speaker 1: with them, talking to them on the phone, texting, meeting
Speaker 1: with them in person while you're looking at properties, like
Speaker 1: you really get to know them, and so you want
Speaker 1: to make sure instances like that that that you do
Speaker 1: have a high level of customer service. I think of
Speaker 1: wedding photography like that's something that I do weddings in general,
Speaker 1: very high levels of customer service are expected, and so
Speaker 1: I think that's certainly worth noting because there's going to
Speaker 1: be companies out there that don't provide good customer service.
Speaker 1: You just want to make sure that they've got other
Speaker 1: great things going for them in that vein, Matt, let's
Speaker 1: kind of give a loose definition of customer service. It's
Speaker 1: going to depend on the company, right, What getting good
Speaker 1: customer service from that company means. You mentioned Zenny optical
Speaker 1: getting your product quickly and not being broken. It's like
Speaker 1: the only requirement rights, that's really the only requirement from Zenny.
Speaker 1: You're not going to have this amazing personal interaction with
Speaker 1: somebody from Zenny. That's just not how they do it.
Speaker 1: If you go with the company like Warwie Parker to
Speaker 1: get your eyeglasses, you can expect a higher level of
Speaker 1: customer service. You should also just expect to pay more
Speaker 1: at the same time, Right, Yeah, it's a fine balance
Speaker 1: because often times we talk about trying to get the
Speaker 1: best deal and try not to be cheap. You know,
Speaker 1: we're trying to be frugal, but a lot of times
Speaker 1: with that price tag comes a level of customer service.
Speaker 1: That they're trade offs, and so you know that sure
Speaker 1: within this example we're talking about any, buts Any, there's
Speaker 1: not gonna be someone standing there showing you the different
Speaker 1: frames and kind of fitting it to your face. However,
Speaker 1: they're gonna be significantly cheaper than they are with Warby Parker. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so I feel like my reaction from not getting the
Speaker 1: product as desired from Zenny and from Warby Parker, I
Speaker 1: would have two different reactions, honestly, you know, I would
Speaker 1: try to get the situation rectified in both cases. But
Speaker 1: my way of going about it might just be a
Speaker 1: little bit different based on their reputation, based on their
Speaker 1: price point, and based on how they interact with customers today.
Speaker 1: But ultimately, you want someone to treat you with respect
Speaker 1: and kindness. You want help when you have an issue,
Speaker 1: and you want that company to to make it easy
Speaker 1: on you too, so that you don't have to jump
Speaker 1: through a million hoops in order to get your problem solved.
Speaker 1: That's right, you know, And when there is a problem
Speaker 1: a company being able to provide great customer service, that
Speaker 1: comes down to the individual, like the individual that you're
Speaker 1: talking to or that you're meeting with, because honestly, so
Speaker 1: much is up to them as an employee to figure
Speaker 1: out what it is that you need or what it
Speaker 1: is that you're looking for, because in one instance, getting
Speaker 1: great customer service might be getting your money back, getting
Speaker 1: a refund, or if you really love the product, it
Speaker 1: might be getting that replacement because hey, I really like
Speaker 1: the product, I just want to replacement this one was
Speaker 1: ship damaged. In other instances, man, it might be up
Speaker 1: to that person to understand that the customer is just
Speaker 1: looking to vent, like they're just mad about something, and
Speaker 1: there may not be anything hard or tangible that the
Speaker 1: customer service representative might be able to provide. Great customer
Speaker 1: service doesn't always come down to what can be monetarily
Speaker 1: given or what product can be given to a customer.
Speaker 1: Sometimes it can be just listening to the customer. I
Speaker 1: think that's a huge part of it. And in some instances,
Speaker 1: I think it might be the customer looking for answers.
Speaker 1: They might want to learn. They might have some questions
Speaker 1: as to you, like why the product behaves this way,
Speaker 1: or you know, why does this service include this? There
Speaker 1: might be things that weren't explained on the front end,
Speaker 1: which is also customer service, right like the sort of
Speaker 1: the sales proces says, but when there is a problem,
Speaker 1: it might be up to the customer service representative to
Speaker 1: figure out what it is that's wrong and make sure
Speaker 1: that the customer understands and that they are educated on
Speaker 1: the product. Yeah, and so many of us Snowmatt too,
Speaker 1: that the worst part of not getting good customer service
Speaker 1: can be the time that we waste trying to get
Speaker 1: the problem solved, whether it's time spent on hold with
Speaker 1: the cable or internet company with that terrible hold music,
Speaker 1: how does it go something exactly like that. Yeah, you've
Speaker 1: got the Melanie down. Yeah, so there's totally that. I've
Speaker 1: totally heard that before. We've all been there music. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And so it's that's one of the toughest parts of
Speaker 1: a bad customer service is waiting to even talk to somebody,
Speaker 1: and we're going to get into that in this show too. Basically,
Speaker 1: it can be emotionally draining as well as draining on
Speaker 1: your time, potentially draining on your finances at the same time.
Speaker 1: So when we do take steps to have a problem fixed,
Speaker 1: it's helpful if we can find the easiest route to
Speaker 1: take that's going to eliminate some of that emotional and
Speaker 1: time drainage and just kind of the annoyance that comes
Speaker 1: with trying to get good customer service. Yeah, I think
Speaker 1: that's honestly the biggest reason and why I don't advocate
Speaker 1: for myself. Like when there's times when I know that
Speaker 1: something's wrong but I don't do anything about it, it's
Speaker 1: because I just don't have the time for it, or
Speaker 1: I just don't have the patients because I'm thinking, what
Speaker 1: are the chances of this getting fixed? And a lot
Speaker 1: of times you know it's it may not get fixed,
Speaker 1: or you might get a discount code for the next
Speaker 1: time you placed an order with them. There's the thought
Speaker 1: that with larger companies that that may not work out
Speaker 1: in your favor. But yeah, like you said, when when
Speaker 1: you do take the steps, you advocate for yourself and
Speaker 1: to try to have a problem fixed, like you wanted
Speaker 1: to work. If I want to dedicate any part of
Speaker 1: my day towards getting something replaced or getting a discount
Speaker 1: because something showed up scratched, you want to know that
Speaker 1: it's gonna work right, Like you want to know that
Speaker 1: the steps you take are going to be worth your time,
Speaker 1: worth your energy, that it's going to be an efficient
Speaker 1: use of your time and that in the end, yeah,
Speaker 1: you're gonna get results, totally true, Matt. Results are what
Speaker 1: it's all about at the end of the day when
Speaker 1: it comes to getting good customer service. And so let's
Speaker 1: talk about the strategies that you can implement into your
Speaker 1: life in order to get better customer service on the
Speaker 1: regular right after the break, All right, Joel, and now
Speaker 1: the first step to get great customer services make sure
Speaker 1: that you're doing business with great companies whenever possible, right, Yeah,
Speaker 1: all the time. You want to read reviews, you want
Speaker 1: to make sure that you're doing research, and even better,
Speaker 1: hopefully you've heard about that company or that retailer from
Speaker 1: someone else who's used them. Both of those. Uh, those
Speaker 1: are two great steps that you can take when you're
Speaker 1: vetting a company or service. Yeah, there's some companies in particular,
Speaker 1: they just have great reputations for stellar customer service locally
Speaker 1: in your area and then nationally as well. So for instance, Matt,
Speaker 1: we've talked about Aldi before as being a great grocery store,
Speaker 1: not just because they have some of the lowest prices,
Speaker 1: but guess what, Aldi has the sweet double Guarantee, which
Speaker 1: means if you buy an Aldi product and you don't
Speaker 1: like it, you can return it and not only do
Speaker 1: you get your money back, but you also get a
Speaker 1: replacement item. So that's like great customer service right there. Well,
Speaker 1: on top of that, I think they just retitled it
Speaker 1: or they renamed it. I think it's called twice as nice.
Speaker 1: That's nice. Maybe I don't know. That's cute. Yeah, that's cute.
Speaker 1: Aldi just also treats their employees really well. So you're
Speaker 1: bound to get better customer service at and Aldi than
Speaker 1: you are at one of the other major grocery chains.
Speaker 1: That people are just nicer and more helpful, and and
Speaker 1: that's because their company treats them well. There are so
Speaker 1: many other companies, like I can't list them all that
Speaker 1: have great reputations for customer service, but just a couple
Speaker 1: of real quick costco ll being those are companies that
Speaker 1: have great return policies that treat customers well. Have you
Speaker 1: ever made a return man at like an electronic store
Speaker 1: and they're asking for all sorts of identification. They don't
Speaker 1: trust you. It's just a huge pain to do that.
Speaker 1: It makes you not want to go shop there. It
Speaker 1: makes it makes you feel like that company thinks that
Speaker 1: you're a criminal, and that sucks. That's bad customer service.
Speaker 1: So anytime you can do a little bit of research
Speaker 1: about a company before you do business with them and
Speaker 1: kind of know their customer service patterns, obviously not applicable
Speaker 1: in every scenario, but any time that you can, it's
Speaker 1: really helpful. That's part of why I shop at Aldi,
Speaker 1: why shop at Costco. Their reputation for customer service just
Speaker 1: precedes them. Jel And you mentioned like companies treating their
Speaker 1: employees well. Good customer service I think is indicative of
Speaker 1: how an employee feels about the company. Because if you
Speaker 1: have an employee who's excited to help you, or they're
Speaker 1: talking about the product right even like the customer service
Speaker 1: even before the sale, because they just want to help
Speaker 1: you out, Like that's customer service as well, not just
Speaker 1: fixing the problem, but on the front end, just chatting
Speaker 1: you up, like talking about your needs, what is it
Speaker 1: that you're looking for. When you have someone that's really
Speaker 1: pumped to be there, it makes you feel good about
Speaker 1: the company because clearly they do care. And if they
Speaker 1: hated their job, if they hated the company, I think
Speaker 1: the chances are that they would be you know, going
Speaker 1: above and beyond for you, the customer would be slim. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I think anytime a company offers their employees a sense
Speaker 1: of autonomy and a sense of buy into the company,
Speaker 1: I think that person, that individual, that employee is going
Speaker 1: to serve the customer better. So I think when you
Speaker 1: get bad customer service at a place, just know too
Speaker 1: that the that employee is probably disgruntled. They're probably not
Speaker 1: being treated very well by their employer. Because companies that
Speaker 1: do treat their employees well, Matt, you're right, You're exactly right,
Speaker 1: those employees are then going to treat their customers well.
Speaker 1: That's that's how it works. That, Yeah, it trickles down
Speaker 1: right completely. And so the next tip that we're gonna
Speaker 1: cover is just to make sure that you are being
Speaker 1: a good customer. And this means not asking for an
Speaker 1: unreasonable things Like I think about Costco, how they have
Speaker 1: the pretty much unlimited return policy on a lot of items,
Speaker 1: on a lot of items, right, But and so technically,
Speaker 1: like you can buy something from Costco and ten years
Speaker 1: later I didn't like these chips that about ten years ago,
Speaker 1: sorry Costco, but you can return them and according to
Speaker 1: company policy, they have to accept it, they have to
Speaker 1: take it back. But that's just not cool. Certainly, a
Speaker 1: big part of customer service is how they treat you
Speaker 1: in that interaction. And I think the fact is they
Speaker 1: may not treat you as well if they feel like
Speaker 1: that you're taking advantage of the system, if you're doing
Speaker 1: something that they feel is sort of uncouth and just
Speaker 1: not cool. Well, you know what, Like, you're not going
Speaker 1: to get great customer service if you're trying to return
Speaker 1: some tires to Costco after you've been driving on it
Speaker 1: for five years, which you could totally technically do. Just
Speaker 1: don't be that guy, don't be that girl. And I think, actually, Matt,
Speaker 1: that those bad apples, those bad customers. In recent years,
Speaker 1: we've seen companies that have great return policies start to
Speaker 1: make their return policies just a little less consumer friendly.
Speaker 1: And that's because of the people that to return their
Speaker 1: tires after driving on them, or someone who wears the
Speaker 1: shirt for twenty years and returns it to l L
Speaker 1: being because of they're awesome in return policy, and so
Speaker 1: that just kind of ruins it for everyone, and it
Speaker 1: makes companies less likely to offer great customer service. So
Speaker 1: be a good customer. Right be someone who doesn't take
Speaker 1: advantage of the rules, but who uses something like a
Speaker 1: nice return policy from a company in the way that
Speaker 1: it's intended. Don't ask for unreasonable things. That's just crappy.
Speaker 1: We tossed this topic out in our Facebook group as well,
Speaker 1: Right Customer Service, and the overwhelming response that everyone kind
Speaker 1: of pitched in and said that this is what you
Speaker 1: need to do, is to make sure that you're being nice.
Speaker 1: Make sure that you're being a decent human being, because
Speaker 1: humbug like nobody wants to help out a jerk, become
Speaker 1: the type of person that someone actually does want to help.
Speaker 1: The language I saw being used that multiple folks used
Speaker 1: was that when you have a customer who is being
Speaker 1: nice and friendly, that they want to delight and surprise
Speaker 1: and go above and beyond for that customer, because you
Speaker 1: know what, like a lot of times folks do come
Speaker 1: in and they're just not happy, they're complaining and they're
Speaker 1: honestly taking it out unfairly on the customer service representative
Speaker 1: or whoever it happens to be in front of them,
Speaker 1: and if you can just be nice, but do make
Speaker 1: sure you're clearly communicating with them as see what your
Speaker 1: problem is, well, the likelihood of you getting helps and
Speaker 1: even getting something else thrown on that maybe they wouldn't
Speaker 1: have done anyway. If if you're being considerate of them
Speaker 1: in their time as well, well, chances are you're going
Speaker 1: to be way more likely to be helped. Yeah, if
Speaker 1: you walk into a situation where you're hoping to get
Speaker 1: a problem resolved and your reaction is human worker, fix
Speaker 1: my problem, as opposed to making a personal connection with
Speaker 1: a sense of understanding that they're not the person, even
Speaker 1: in all likelihood, who caused the problem to begin with.
Speaker 1: If you ask them even just how how their day
Speaker 1: has been going, or even just reference their first name,
Speaker 1: those little bits of kindness, uh, treating someone like a
Speaker 1: human in the interaction, even if you've been disappointed and
Speaker 1: the company hasn't lived up to your expectations, you received
Speaker 1: an item that was broken, the communication back and forth
Speaker 1: just has been less than stellar. When you do get
Speaker 1: someone on the line, treating them with kindness goes a
Speaker 1: long way in you getting your problem resolved. So being
Speaker 1: a good customer, realizing that people have bad days and
Speaker 1: taking a few deep breaths before you make that phone call,
Speaker 1: even if you've had the most painful experience can be
Speaker 1: really big in actually getting your problem solved versus it
Speaker 1: lingering and steam coming out of your head at the
Speaker 1: same time. Yeah. In our Facebook group, Bryce, he mentioned
Speaker 1: not just being kind, but kind of going over and
Speaker 1: above being kind. You know. He mentioned chatting up customers
Speaker 1: back massages that we're talking about for the customer services,
Speaker 1: you can get all up in their space see how
Speaker 1: they respond. But he talked about how customer service can
Speaker 1: be soul crushing work in particular, like call centers, that's
Speaker 1: all they do. They just sit there and they just
Speaker 1: get chewed out call after call if you take a
Speaker 1: minute to actually talk to them and like you said,
Speaker 1: like treating them as a human versus seeing them mess
Speaker 1: with of a tool to like, okay, you are between
Speaker 1: me getting what I wants and you know where I
Speaker 1: am right now, instead looking at them as an actual
Speaker 1: human being. Instead, like he talked about how he gets
Speaker 1: that v I P treatment and not only does this
Speaker 1: problem get solved, but he kind of comes out ahead
Speaker 1: even more. I love that great tip. Bryce. Also, don't
Speaker 1: forget to tell the truth, don't make things up. I
Speaker 1: think that can make a customer service experience even harder
Speaker 1: if you have embellished a problem or you haven't been
Speaker 1: completely for coming in what happened. So be a good customer.
Speaker 1: But let's say it's hard to find a human at
Speaker 1: a company. It's maybe a bigger company, and you just
Speaker 1: are having trouble even getting someone on the phone. Well,
Speaker 1: I think it's important to mention sites like get human
Speaker 1: dot com, Dial a Human, and lucy Phone they can
Speaker 1: help you find an actual person. And lucy Phone is
Speaker 1: actually a really cool service, Matt, because what they'll do
Speaker 1: is you put in your phone number and they will
Speaker 1: essentially wait on hold for you and then call your
Speaker 1: phone when the customer service representative picks up, so you
Speaker 1: don't have to hear that really terrible music that you
Speaker 1: and I just try to do a rendition of a
Speaker 1: little bit earlier. You're not waiting on hold. Your phone
Speaker 1: rings when the customer service rep is ready for you,
Speaker 1: ye juel. In specific to lucy Phone, I love on
Speaker 1: their site that they have how much time that they
Speaker 1: saved their users over eighty four years of their life.
Speaker 1: That's incredible. I love that, and it's worth noting to
Speaker 1: that different sites like get human or dial a Human
Speaker 1: they may not have like special secret numbers or anything
Speaker 1: like that. Some of them might depending on the company
Speaker 1: that you're trying to look up, but it's just a
Speaker 1: great data as a great sort of aggregate site where
Speaker 1: you can look up any phone number for any company,
Speaker 1: even if you can't find it on that specific company's website.
Speaker 1: But often they have those prompts listed out, yeah, exactly,
Speaker 1: which is so nice because you don't have to wait
Speaker 1: through hearing every single it might take five or six
Speaker 1: button pushes or maybe even more to get to that
Speaker 1: customer service rep that you're looking to find, like a
Speaker 1: minute each as well, so you're looking at you know,
Speaker 1: five six minutes and just a bunch of annoyance. So
Speaker 1: get human. If you can find the prompts before you
Speaker 1: even get there, or even just a number that helps
Speaker 1: you reach someone more quickly, that's that's awesome. I love that.
Speaker 1: The next thing we're gonna talk about is one of
Speaker 1: our favorite sort of avenues for getting great customer service,
Speaker 1: and that's using social media to reach out to companies
Speaker 1: when you have a problem. And Twitter is quickly becoming
Speaker 1: the best way to get in touch with companies, but
Speaker 1: you can also reach out to Facebook either way. Both
Speaker 1: of those can help you get in touch with the
Speaker 1: sort of the most savvy and helpful folks that work
Speaker 1: for that company. And the fact is is that these
Speaker 1: companies they don't want negative questions or negative press sitting
Speaker 1: out there, whether it be on their Facebook page or
Speaker 1: whether it be an act that has have been responded to.
Speaker 1: They want it to look good. And so when you
Speaker 1: have a negative experience or you have a complaint that's
Speaker 1: sitting out there floating like, people see that and that's
Speaker 1: something that they want to nip in the butt as
Speaker 1: quickly as possible. You're not typically making that phone call
Speaker 1: in front of three or four of your friends, but
Speaker 1: when you are posting on social media, you are, and
Speaker 1: they're aware of that, and so they're trying to make
Speaker 1: best use of their resources. Yeah, I believe someone in
Speaker 1: our Facebook group mentioned Facebook Messenger. That's quickly becoming another
Speaker 1: place where companies reply to customer service complaints. I personally
Speaker 1: have used Twitter a lot. I feel like it is
Speaker 1: super helpful, even just the d M version of Twitter,
Speaker 1: for example, at Comcast cares and at A T T Cares.
Speaker 1: If you're having issues with bigger companies like that, they
Speaker 1: often have actually specific handles, or even if they don't
Speaker 1: have a separate handle, that's where they have kind of
Speaker 1: their best customer service team. It's usually kind of a
Speaker 1: savvier bunch that can make things happen more quickly. Often,
Speaker 1: the people that work in customer service on the social
Speaker 1: media side, they're more empowered to make decisions to to
Speaker 1: benefit you when you have a problem, So turning to
Speaker 1: social media is a great way to go. I just
Speaker 1: wanted to give an example, Matt. I've talked about on
Speaker 1: the show before, a company Rapify that I used to
Speaker 1: wrap my car and it was great. I made some
Speaker 1: money by putting a car wrap on my car and
Speaker 1: driving it around. A lot of people made fun of
Speaker 1: me for it, but you know what, it was Okay.
Speaker 1: I made some money on the side, and I'm totally
Speaker 1: fine with that. But when that campaign ended and I
Speaker 1: took my car in in order to get the deco removed,
Speaker 1: there was just a minor issues. The person taking it
Speaker 1: off broke my rear wiper blade, and I was emailing
Speaker 1: back and forth with someone and then they just kind
Speaker 1: of ghosted me. They stopped responding. Man, not cool. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and I just I responded like three or four more
Speaker 1: times and was having trouble getting anyone to acknowledge me.
Speaker 1: So finally I took to Twitter and I said, hey, Rapify,
Speaker 1: what's going on. I've been emailing with the same person
Speaker 1: and and they just stopped replying. Can you help me
Speaker 1: get my problem solved? Man, that problem was fixed that day.
Speaker 1: It was super helpful. So I wasn't looking to shame
Speaker 1: them initially. And I think sometimes customers go to social
Speaker 1: media too quickly to make a company feel terrible about
Speaker 1: what they've done. They'd like to get their problem resolved.
Speaker 1: More than anything. They want to make that company feel
Speaker 1: some pain, and they think social media is a way
Speaker 1: to do that. I think if you approach it in
Speaker 1: that manner on social media, you're unlikely to get served
Speaker 1: in the way that you want. But if you approach
Speaker 1: it from a way of just asking for help, that's
Speaker 1: a much better way to go about it. But yes,
Speaker 1: social media is one of the best avenues for actually
Speaker 1: getting some movement on the problem that you're facing. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Another quick example, back in the day, when you and
Speaker 1: I used to host our own podcast, well, like the
Speaker 1: company that would store the file like the digital files
Speaker 1: and distribute you know, our audio files that company, we're
Speaker 1: having an issue with them. We had reached out earlier
Speaker 1: that day and hadn't heard back in an hour or two,
Speaker 1: and so I was like, hey, let it hit him
Speaker 1: up on Twitter, sent out a nice tweet, and within
Speaker 1: nine minutes they responded and we had our issue being
Speaker 1: worked on, which was amazing. That's the kind of response
Speaker 1: that I wanted to see because in our case there
Speaker 1: is a more major issue. I think our podcast was
Speaker 1: down or something, but it was something that needs to
Speaker 1: be resolved very quickly, and hopping on Twitter like that,
Speaker 1: you know, with a nice tweet like that, was a
Speaker 1: very effective way to see quick results. And actually I
Speaker 1: just thought of one more example. Atlanta three on one
Speaker 1: is an awesome Twitter account that Atlanta, the City of
Speaker 1: Atlanta has. It's like at a t L three one one,
Speaker 1: and they constantly feel people's requests if they see like
Speaker 1: a water main break or the sidewalks busted, and they
Speaker 1: respond to folks typically like within the hour. And by
Speaker 1: the way, I just saw in there that bolk pickup
Speaker 1: is going to be changing when it comes to our trash.
Speaker 1: So heads up, they're putting useful information out there. So
Speaker 1: I thought that was a unique way that not only
Speaker 1: is a company, but an actual city is using social
Speaker 1: media to keep people happy. Great customer service from your
Speaker 1: local government. I love it, Matt. Another important thing to
Speaker 1: consider when you're striving to get great customer service is
Speaker 1: to document your conversations. If you're on the phone with
Speaker 1: an employee from a company and your promise something, it's
Speaker 1: really important to ask for that in writing. A lot
Speaker 1: of people, in particular with the big Internet and cable companies,
Speaker 1: have issues being told something by a customer service representative,
Speaker 1: but with no written proof, you're just gonna run into
Speaker 1: a brick wall all day and when it comes to
Speaker 1: actually getting that thing. So asking for something in writing
Speaker 1: when you're on the phone is super helpful. Or at
Speaker 1: least ask for that person's name and employee number. That
Speaker 1: can be helpful as well. If you're doing an online
Speaker 1: chat with someone, which I love online chats, personally print
Speaker 1: that online chat out when you're done. If you're emailing,
Speaker 1: keep your email record so that you can point back
Speaker 1: to it when you're talking to potentially a different customer
Speaker 1: service representative, or even just refreshing someone's mind. Keeping a
Speaker 1: record is super helpful If you don't have a print
Speaker 1: at home, and you don't want to print that out
Speaker 1: or you can't. Even taking a screenshot is incredibly helpful,
Speaker 1: and a Mac that's super simple. I know, it's shift
Speaker 1: command three and that takes the screenshot of the entire
Speaker 1: screen right there. So that way you've got that proof
Speaker 1: and then you can hold the company to what they
Speaker 1: said that they would actually do. On the note of
Speaker 1: asking for their name, a listener in our group, Joe,
Speaker 1: he actually mentioned to ask what their name is when
Speaker 1: you're talking to them, just from having a conversation, and
Speaker 1: to write their name down so you can actually use it.
Speaker 1: And that one's totally stuck out to me because I
Speaker 1: have a terrible habit of not remembering people's names. So yeah,
Speaker 1: when I saw that, I thought, oh man, that's totally
Speaker 1: something I could do, because again, it comes down to
Speaker 1: being human, and when you're calling somebody by their actual name,
Speaker 1: they're gonna be more responsive to you because, you know what,
Speaker 1: that's what their friends call them as well, or probably
Speaker 1: that's probably what their friends called them. That's a great tip.
Speaker 1: I hadn't really thought about that, but writing down the
Speaker 1: name and then using it throughout the conversation just helps
Speaker 1: reinforce that that person is a person and not just
Speaker 1: a tool to get what you want to accomplished. Right.
Speaker 1: Another thing that you should consider is escalating if need be.
Speaker 1: We've talked on a prior episode about the customer retention
Speaker 1: department being the only place that's actually going to consider
Speaker 1: lowering your internet or cable bill. Looking for the right
Speaker 1: department or asking to speak to a manager in case
Speaker 1: you run into a roadblock, that's gonna be really helpful
Speaker 1: for you, whether it means actually using the word escalate,
Speaker 1: asking in particular to speak to a manager, or asking
Speaker 1: if you're even in the right department. That's a way
Speaker 1: for you to get your customer service issue addressed if
Speaker 1: you keep butting your head against the system. CHEDO in
Speaker 1: This last tip that we're going to cover before the
Speaker 1: break isn't something that I've actually done. You wrote this down,
Speaker 1: so I'm gonna see if you have personal experience with it.
Speaker 1: But you mentioned to try contacting like the vice president
Speaker 1: you know, or maybe like the founder of a smaller
Speaker 1: company by like looking them up on the website, figuring
Speaker 1: out their name, and then looking them up on LinkedIn
Speaker 1: and then maybe like shooting him a message through LinkedIn
Speaker 1: or something like that. Have you done this yourself? So
Speaker 1: I have U only a couple of times. It's one
Speaker 1: what you've done more than what maybe, So it's not
Speaker 1: something it's not something you want to abuse. But if
Speaker 1: you do find yourself like running into an issue continually
Speaker 1: with the same company, typically the person that started it,
Speaker 1: if it's a smaller company or a vice president of
Speaker 1: a larger company, those are the kind of things they
Speaker 1: want to know about. They're not always up to speed
Speaker 1: on exactly what's happening in the customer service call center
Speaker 1: or or with the employees that are responding via chat,
Speaker 1: and so reaching out to someone kind of who's a
Speaker 1: little bit higher up in the company, that can be
Speaker 1: a play that you make. That's kind of a last
Speaker 1: resort that you don't use often. Yeah, I guess that's
Speaker 1: kind of how you go about plant all the big
Speaker 1: guns exactly. Yeah. So when one time, Matt, this is
Speaker 1: a story for another day, but my niece on Leaf
Speaker 1: was stolen and I thought that the thief has stolen
Speaker 1: my charging cord and not return that when when I
Speaker 1: got the car back. Those charging chords, like six dollars
Speaker 1: are super expensive, and so I reached out to Nissan
Speaker 1: to try to ask if they had any sort of program,
Speaker 1: any sort of way of giving me a huge charging chord,
Speaker 1: anything like that, and I was getting bubb kissed like
Speaker 1: nobody was responding at all. So I figured it was
Speaker 1: worth emailing someone who I thought it was a decision maker,
Speaker 1: and I finally heard back on LinkedIn from a vice
Speaker 1: president that worked for Nissan that who was super helpful.
Speaker 1: It's not something I want to do every day because
Speaker 1: I don't want to bother people that have more important
Speaker 1: things going on. You could also look up their address
Speaker 1: and show up at the front door in the morning
Speaker 1: and knock. Right. That's a really good tip, Matt, that's
Speaker 1: a really good tip. All right, Maybe you don't do
Speaker 1: that because that could get you arrested or something like that,
Speaker 1: but but a LinkedIn message or an email to to
Speaker 1: someone in charge can be really helpful. If you email
Speaker 1: Jeff Bezos from Amazon, you might not get any traction, right,
Speaker 1: but if you email one of his under links, one
Speaker 1: of his vice presidents, you might actually get some movement.
Speaker 1: You might see something happen if you have a customer
Speaker 1: service issue. So that's why I mentioned the vice president thing.
Speaker 1: So I love that you did that. Man, it never
Speaker 1: hurts to ask. And so after the break, we're gonna
Speaker 1: cover what to do in a worst case scenario of
Speaker 1: terror a customer service stick around for that's as well
Speaker 1: as some other tips and considerations. Right after the break,
Speaker 1: all right, mat than just a minute, we're going to
Speaker 1: get to those worst case scenarios. Where do you turn
Speaker 1: if you're unable to get any sort of customer service movement?
Speaker 1: So we'll get to that in just a second, But first,
Speaker 1: it is going to be different when you're trying to
Speaker 1: get customer service movement from a small, local company versus
Speaker 1: a national company, right, And that can be good or
Speaker 1: bad depending. There are often fewer mechanisms in order to
Speaker 1: get good customer service when you're dealing with a local company.
Speaker 1: I had an issue the other day where I asked
Speaker 1: to speak to a manager and the person I was
Speaker 1: speaking to was the manager. And that's kind of what
Speaker 1: happens sometimes. Jokes, right, that's kind of what happens sometimes
Speaker 1: in a smaller, more local company. There's just not much
Speaker 1: recourse if you can't connect with that single individual. But
Speaker 1: there's also the chance for more humanity when you're talking
Speaker 1: to a local company a national company, there's a there's
Speaker 1: a higher chance that you're going to need to find
Speaker 1: the right phone number or you social media. That just
Speaker 1: depends oftentimes right on the size and the structure of
Speaker 1: the company you're dealing with. And Jel, you mentioned social media.
Speaker 1: Let's again go back to that, right, Let's envision that
Speaker 1: you've exhausted all the different options that we've kind of
Speaker 1: covered up until this point. Honestly think going back to
Speaker 1: social media and kind of doing a form of online
Speaker 1: picketing is the next step to take. Yeah, if you're
Speaker 1: getting completely stone walled, that might be your only option, right. Yeah, Seriously,
Speaker 1: like complaining on social media because it's out there and
Speaker 1: because everyone sees it, and that if they don't address it,
Speaker 1: they look bad. But those social media complaints can honestly
Speaker 1: be the nudge that a company needs. I'm thinking of
Speaker 1: United Airlines after they treated several of their passengers very
Speaker 1: poorly and busted them up. There's a whole movement where
Speaker 1: folks were taking over the United Journey hashtag. That was
Speaker 1: the hashtag that United Airlines had come up with for
Speaker 1: an advertising campaign, and it's totally backfired because shortly after
Speaker 1: that was when they dragged that doctor off the off
Speaker 1: the flight, you know, and they totally remember that bleeding
Speaker 1: from his face. It's terrible, it's not good at all.
Speaker 1: But folks were claiming that and kind of repurposing it
Speaker 1: basically talking about just how terrible United Airlines was and
Speaker 1: even coming up with new hashtags, like there was one
Speaker 1: that was hashtag new United Airlines mottoes where folks were
Speaker 1: essentially writing in with their own sort of slogans based
Speaker 1: on the current news and just all the terrible things
Speaker 1: that United Airlines was doing. You know. Hopefully they learned
Speaker 1: their lesson and will be able to kind of move
Speaker 1: past that and then never have an incident like that
Speaker 1: in their history. But that was a way for the
Speaker 1: people to speak collectively and say, hey, this is terrible, Like,
Speaker 1: we do not stand behind this, We did not like
Speaker 1: how you're treating your customers or just people in general.
Speaker 1: It's just a terrible way to behave as a company.
Speaker 1: I guess while we're bashing United, let's do another one.
Speaker 1: There was a guy back in the day who had
Speaker 1: his guitar broken by United Airlines and he came up
Speaker 1: with catchy YouTube video where he wrote a song about
Speaker 1: it on a guitar that wasn't broken by United Airlines,
Speaker 1: I guess, and that was that just went viral. And
Speaker 1: so they're just these ways in the worst case scenario
Speaker 1: where you can use social media kind of to your benefit.
Speaker 1: We mentioned earlier about reaching out for help, and now
Speaker 1: this is a case in which you're kind of picking
Speaker 1: and letting people know that you've had a bad experience.
Speaker 1: In my opinion, that's more of a last resort, but
Speaker 1: it is a step that can be helpful if you
Speaker 1: are experiencing just complete inattention to your issue. Yeah, at
Speaker 1: that point, you're not trying to get your problem fixed anymore. Essentially,
Speaker 1: what you're doing is you're warning other customers. You're saying, hey,
Speaker 1: watch out for these guys because they suck Matt. And
Speaker 1: that's online picketing, But there's an in person version of
Speaker 1: picketing as well, right where you can actually stand in
Speaker 1: front of a local business on a weekend, right and
Speaker 1: hurt their sales and hurt their reputation by doing some
Speaker 1: picketing in front of a business. And I feel like,
Speaker 1: again that is a last resort sort of option for you.
Speaker 1: But if you have let's say, body card dealership and
Speaker 1: they pulled a fast one on you. And this happens
Speaker 1: all over the country. They say, actually, you don't qualify
Speaker 1: for that loan at six percent, even though you've signed
Speaker 1: all these papers. Now you have to come in and
Speaker 1: resign this paper where you have a fourteen percent interest rate.
Speaker 1: Let's say you've had something terrible happened to you, you
Speaker 1: should consider at least picketing in front of that business
Speaker 1: with a sign telling the truth about what happened. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you have a legal right to do that. Exactly, you
Speaker 1: can't be on their property. You need to be on
Speaker 1: a sidewalk or at least you know your local municipalities
Speaker 1: rules when it comes to picketing. But no, you're right
Speaker 1: to the same time, and if you need to stand
Speaker 1: up for yourself and you need to pick it in
Speaker 1: front of a local business letting people know what happened
Speaker 1: to you. I think in the case of something severe
Speaker 1: and egregious that a company has done to you, it's
Speaker 1: a worthwhile consideration. Yeah, this is also something I've never done.
Speaker 1: Have you ever picketed before? No? Never pick it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm glad I've never gotten to the point to where
Speaker 1: I felt like I needed to do that, I know, yeah,
Speaker 1: but I've seen people doing it before. Have you. I
Speaker 1: don't think I've even seen one do that before? Really, Yeah,
Speaker 1: with a sign, and that happens oftentimes, right Matt In
Speaker 1: Like union negotiations with an employer too, have you seen
Speaker 1: have you seen people? Yeah? Yeah, I remember seeing folks
Speaker 1: back in the day in front of public's. Yeah, came
Speaker 1: on you for not negotiating fairly with the union. That
Speaker 1: that kind of stuff happens. And so I think for
Speaker 1: employees trying to get good customer service from their company,
Speaker 1: right they they chose to pick it. I've seen people
Speaker 1: standing in front of individual businesses with a sign and
Speaker 1: the key is too. Like I said, no, your municipalities rules,
Speaker 1: abide by them and at the same time tell the truth.
Speaker 1: So whatever you put on your sign, no slander, no misinformation.
Speaker 1: You want to make sure you're being above board and
Speaker 1: telling people exactly what happened and saying it's discinctly so
Speaker 1: that people driving by can actually read it. And again
Speaker 1: and keep in mind that this is less about you
Speaker 1: getting good customer service at this point and helping your
Speaker 1: fellow consumer or your friends to know that they are
Speaker 1: not going to get good customer service themselves. And you
Speaker 1: know what, maybe though, if a business, if you're hitting
Speaker 1: them where it hurts in the pocketbook, driving new customers
Speaker 1: away from their doors, that can actually sometimes be the
Speaker 1: impetus for them to act angels. So beyond picketing, you
Speaker 1: know what you've gotten to where things are just gone
Speaker 1: really south and you think maybe even the company has
Speaker 1: done something illegal. Now is the time that you can
Speaker 1: turn to different government agencies. Groups like the cfp B,
Speaker 1: which is the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or the o
Speaker 1: c C which is the Office of the Comptroller of
Speaker 1: the Currency. Those are both going to be financial related.
Speaker 1: So if you're having issues with a credit card company
Speaker 1: or a bank, you know, anything financial related like that,
Speaker 1: those are some of the agencies that you can go to.
Speaker 1: But then just like the Federal Trade commission or insurance
Speaker 1: departments for health commissioners, there are a number of different
Speaker 1: federal agencies that you can turn to, and that's their job,
Speaker 1: like their job is to regulate these different companies and
Speaker 1: these industries and they want to hear from you. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we'll put links to a few of these on the
Speaker 1: show notes, and in particular, the Consumer Financial Production Bureau
Speaker 1: which was created a few years ago. It's not quite
Speaker 1: as effective as it was under the former boss of
Speaker 1: the CFPV he was awesome. But still there's a great
Speaker 1: place to submit a complaint, and I've heard good reports
Speaker 1: of people that do file a complaint on the CFPB
Speaker 1: or on O c C against the bank occ dot
Speaker 1: gov that the banks actually take action pretty quickly. So
Speaker 1: it's not a place where your complaint goes into the
Speaker 1: ether and is unheard. It actually works, not only so
Speaker 1: that the federal government knows what's going on with these businesses,
Speaker 1: but so that action will be taken at the same
Speaker 1: time on your specific case. YEA. So filing a complaint
Speaker 1: with the proper government entity. For instance, if you're having
Speaker 1: a problem with your insurance company, you report them to
Speaker 1: your state's insurance department. And always reporting a company to
Speaker 1: the Better Business Bureau can be effective as well. Yeah, Jill,
Speaker 1: you know good customer service it speaks volumes about that company,
Speaker 1: and you know the different companies that address a problem
Speaker 1: well with a thorough response can actually help create a
Speaker 1: more loyal customer and honestly, for customers, sometimes you just
Speaker 1: have to know who and how to ask and hopefully
Speaker 1: we've given some helpful tips to get the result that
Speaker 1: you're looking for. Yeah, Matt Crystal on our Facebook group
Speaker 1: mentioned getting great customer service from Wayfair after she had
Speaker 1: encountered a problem. And companies that respond well to people
Speaker 1: even in the middle, in the middle of an issue,
Speaker 1: fix it with a smile on their face. They're much
Speaker 1: more likely to have a customer for life even than
Speaker 1: just a customer that had a great experience from the
Speaker 1: get go. So it's important for companies and customers to
Speaker 1: know the problem resolution is a way for a deeper
Speaker 1: relationship to be built. And then lastly, it's important to
Speaker 1: not to not forget to say thank you, leave that
Speaker 1: great review, take that survey as well if you know
Speaker 1: so you can get some feedback. You know, just like
Speaker 1: you would tip a good waiter, you want to let
Speaker 1: that customer service person know that they've done a good job.
Speaker 1: And maybe on social media, that means making sure you
Speaker 1: follow up with that initial tweet and thanking them. You know,
Speaker 1: it's not like you're just putting that message out there
Speaker 1: and letting it sit like they're gonna respond and yeah,
Speaker 1: follow it up with man, thanks so much for resolving
Speaker 1: my issue, or you know you guys are the best.
Speaker 1: They're trying to make sure that you're a happy customer
Speaker 1: and make sure that you're representing that well to your
Speaker 1: followers and your friends, no doubt, buddy. All right, let's
Speaker 1: get back to the beer that we had on the
Speaker 1: show today. Matt listener Jared sent in a trial Rubicite
Speaker 1: from Jester King, and like I said, this was like
Speaker 1: a bucket list beer for me, and it didn't disappoint.
Speaker 1: This was incredible. I mentioned that it tasted kind of
Speaker 1: like raspberry jam. It totally did. There were so many
Speaker 1: raspberries in this. It had a perfect dry sourness to
Speaker 1: it and just very fruit forward. This is a beer
Speaker 1: that I'll remember for a long time. It was it was.
Speaker 1: It was really that I'm with you man like it.
Speaker 1: It had tons of raspberry flavor. But typically you think, okay,
Speaker 1: if it's gonna have tons of fruit, you expected to
Speaker 1: be sweet, like sweet and sticky and just kind of
Speaker 1: just over the top, like you're sniffing a glade plug
Speaker 1: in or something like that. It's like, let's just as gross.
Speaker 1: It's what you do on from time to time. Maybe
Speaker 1: you never sniff glade plug ins as a kid, don't
Speaker 1: think so Okay, well that was just me. But with
Speaker 1: this you could tell that there was tons of fruit
Speaker 1: in it. But yeah, well, like you said, there is
Speaker 1: a dryness to it and a balance that I mean,
Speaker 1: I would almost say it is unmatched. Yeah, this is
Speaker 1: an incredibly balanced beer. I wouldn't say that this beer
Speaker 1: is incredibly unique in any sort of way, like it
Speaker 1: didn't have like some kind of crazy twist on it,
Speaker 1: or it didn't have like this odd flavor that you
Speaker 1: just totally weren't expecting. It's just an amazing barrel aged
Speaker 1: raspberry sour and they're doing it better than anyone else
Speaker 1: out there, you know, like it's just a standard awesome beer.
Speaker 1: Like there's no gimmicks, there's no games. Yeah, just that
Speaker 1: style that they were going for, done up perfectly to
Speaker 1: a t. Right, you can't beat that. So good, so good,
Speaker 1: So looking forward to having more from Jester King one
Speaker 1: of these days. Yeah, so sincerest thanks to Jared for
Speaker 1: donating last episodes amazing beer and also this complete gem
Speaker 1: from Jester King Joel. Before we go to long, let's
Speaker 1: go ahead and do our final thoughts and wrap this
Speaker 1: episode up on don't you kick it Off? All right, buddy.
Speaker 1: We're talking about getting great customer service today, and one
Speaker 1: of the most sure fireaways to ensure that you're going
Speaker 1: to get decent customer service, not in all cases, but
Speaker 1: often is by being kind. And this was reflected in
Speaker 1: the responses we got in our Facebook group. No one
Speaker 1: wants to help a jerk be the type of person
Speaker 1: that a customer service representative actually wants to help. Not
Speaker 1: only do you want to be kind, but you also
Speaker 1: want to be persistent. Certainly start off with those phone
Speaker 1: calls or those emails, but then beyond that, if your
Speaker 1: issues are not getting resolved, to make sure that you're
Speaker 1: documenting your conversations. You want to be able to build
Speaker 1: off of those discussions that you've had in order to
Speaker 1: work towards resolving those issues. And then don't forget to
Speaker 1: escalate appropriately. You don't want to come in guns blazing
Speaker 1: with this incredibly minor customer service issue. If you you
Speaker 1: want to go, you want to go in the appropriate route.
Speaker 1: That probably starts with just finding a human to talk to,
Speaker 1: and Matt, we mentioned some sites that make it easier
Speaker 1: for someone to actually reach a human at the company
Speaker 1: that they're looking to get customer service from. But if
Speaker 1: you need to go even further, you might need to
Speaker 1: talk to someone in the customer retention department or asked
Speaker 1: to speak to a manager, and ultimately it might get
Speaker 1: to the point you're doing some online picketing or you
Speaker 1: actually have to submit a complaint with the government entity.
Speaker 1: That's not the first place to turn, but it is
Speaker 1: nice to know that they're there if the problem continues
Speaker 1: to persist. All right, Joel, that is going to be
Speaker 1: it for this episode. Just like you mentioned, we're gonna
Speaker 1: have those links up in our show notes up on
Speaker 1: our website at how to money dot com. And if
Speaker 1: you like this podcast, we would encourage you to submit
Speaker 1: a review, and don't forget to hit the subscribe button
Speaker 1: while you're there. And if Matt and I haven't done
Speaker 1: as great of a job as you would like, send
Speaker 1: us an email. You can go to how to money
Speaker 1: dot com slash do better. We read everything that comes
Speaker 1: in there until real quick. I think it's worth mentioning to.
Speaker 1: We need to thank all of our listeners out there
Speaker 1: who have left awesome reviews for us over at Apple Podcasts.
Speaker 1: Those help get the word out. We are incredibly thankful
Speaker 1: for those, so thank you to everyone, many many thanks.
Speaker 1: We appreciate it, Joel. Until next time, best friends out,
Speaker 1: Best friends Out,