Speaker 1: Hello, how do money listeners? Matt here? So that means
Speaker 1: we've got another Bestie episode for you. It would be
Speaker 1: funny if I wasn't here and it was just you. Well,
Speaker 1: podcasters do that sometimes if like somebody's maybe at home
Speaker 1: with like a brand new baby or something like that,
Speaker 1: and they're gonna release maybe a live episode. I've I've
Speaker 1: heard folks do that before. Yeah, well we've never done
Speaker 1: not how we do it, but we've never done that.
Speaker 1: We're always together, maybe maybe too much. Some would say
Speaker 1: I would even say that maybe between work and place stop. Please,
Speaker 1: I think there's a level, there's a threshold at which
Speaker 1: I get tired of people. But you never have hit
Speaker 1: your threshold. Okay, I thought you were gonna say I
Speaker 1: occasionally get there, but that would have upset me. So well,
Speaker 1: you never get there. But I have to take time
Speaker 1: for myself a little bit, so I'm a little more introverted.
Speaker 1: I'm literally add percent extroverts. So more time with people
Speaker 1: never throws me off and always continues to fill your tank.
Speaker 1: And we all have different personalities exactly. All right, Well,
Speaker 1: let's talk about today's episode. Oh, this is gonna be
Speaker 1: the how to Get Great customer service episode and Joel,
Speaker 1: I've got a little customer service story to share with you.
Speaker 1: So you may have seen me reach out on Twitter
Speaker 1: to Whirlpool about our dishwasher that stopped working one month
Speaker 1: after the manufacturer warranty expired. Hey, you tagged me to
Speaker 1: your tweet. Man, I don't know what's going on. I
Speaker 1: wanted you to jump on the band wire. I wanted
Speaker 1: them to to see the activity and see the buzz,
Speaker 1: see the conversation. I wanted to strike up a conversation
Speaker 1: in case they didn't respond to me. But they did.
Speaker 1: And one of the things we talked about in this episode,
Speaker 1: Twitter is a great way to reach brands now if
Speaker 1: you've had an issue. Yeah, So, like in our case,
Speaker 1: the dishwasher stopped working, I reached out via Twitter because
Speaker 1: I saw that they had a Whirlpool Care account, sent
Speaker 1: them a message. I think maybe it was only a
Speaker 1: couple of hours later. They got back to me and
Speaker 1: said to hit us up in our d M s,
Speaker 1: you know, send along your name number, you know, model
Speaker 1: and serial number of your dishwasher. Slide to the Whirlpool
Speaker 1: Care d M exactly. Yeah, you had over there for
Speaker 1: that dish clean and talk, you know. So I sent
Speaker 1: them that information and I called them and I was
Speaker 1: on the phone with them for less than ten minutes.
Speaker 1: In that time, I was able to basically accomplished what
Speaker 1: I wanted, which is they're not going to replace the dishwasher,
Speaker 1: but they said that they would send somebody out, a
Speaker 1: certified Whirlpool person, you know, to work on it, and
Speaker 1: that all labor and parts are gonna be covered for free.
Speaker 1: And they did call it it was gonna be a
Speaker 1: one time good will kind of measure. So basically they're saying,
Speaker 1: we don't try this again, but it's a thing that exists.
Speaker 1: And so I wanted to share that with our listeners
Speaker 1: because it took twenty seconds to send out that tweet
Speaker 1: and then not even ten minutes on the phone. And
Speaker 1: we've got that scheduled for next Wednesday. Man, I'm looking
Speaker 1: forward to having a dishwasher that washes dishes and it's
Speaker 1: not just like right now we're just using it as
Speaker 1: a drying rack, which is pretty effective. That by the way,
Speaker 1: it looks good. All the door has to be open
Speaker 1: the entire time. Tripping hazard too, Yeah, well, I mean yeah, Twitter,
Speaker 1: social media, there are all sorts of ways that you
Speaker 1: can get a hold of companies that you do business
Speaker 1: with and it's a little more public and it helps
Speaker 1: keep them accountable. They are all sorts of ways that
Speaker 1: you can go about advocating for yourself and getting better
Speaker 1: customer service in your everyday life. That's what this episode covered, Matt.
Speaker 1: It's something I find really interesting and it's something we
Speaker 1: don't think about very often, and they're just these little
Speaker 1: subtle ways and in the way we go about our
Speaker 1: everyday lives that we can enjoy a greater level of
Speaker 1: customer service and it pays off in the end, right,
Speaker 1: it has huge effects. Yeah, Well, in our case, that's
Speaker 1: it's gonna save us at least four bucks. And you
Speaker 1: touched on something which is that we have to advocate
Speaker 1: for ourselves, and I agree we have to do that
Speaker 1: because so many businesses and corporations are so big and
Speaker 1: kind of corporate heavy that they're not necessarily looking to
Speaker 1: delight their customers and making sure that they're caring for
Speaker 1: them every step of the way, but they are trying
Speaker 1: to make customers that aren't happy happy, and they are
Speaker 1: trying to protect their reputation. Maybe that's a slightly more
Speaker 1: pessimistic view of customer service. But regardless, like you said,
Speaker 1: it's totally necessary for us to advocate for ourselves. Yeah, Matt,
Speaker 1: the subject that we covered on this episode is how
Speaker 1: to get great customer service. So here's that episode right now.
Speaker 1: Welcome to How the 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 service. I think that's
Speaker 1: so cool. So I'm really interested to dive into this
Speaker 1: today and Jeel on a recent episode that we did
Speaker 1: on Before You Buy a House, we had talked about
Speaker 1: doing the wave test when you when you drive around
Speaker 1: looking properties to uh. It was something you came up with,
Speaker 1: right that. Yeah, I've never heard of it before, and
Speaker 1: this was a Matt original. Yeah, can I have always
Speaker 1: done that. We always just wave at people and kind
Speaker 1: of gauge how friendly folks are. But some folks wrote
Speaker 1: in from the Pacific Northwest, or our friend Katie up
Speaker 1: there in Portland, and then a couple of other folks
Speaker 1: as well up in the Northeast, like I think it
Speaker 1: was in New York and in Jersey. We're saying, man,
Speaker 1: if you were to wave at somebody that you didn't know,
Speaker 1: you would just get stairs at best, you know. So
Speaker 1: maybe that's our Southern biased shining through. I don't know,
Speaker 1: but even still, I think that folks should try to
Speaker 1: be a little more friendly, and if that's not something
Speaker 1: that you're used to seeing, give it a shot because
Speaker 1: you might be in a neighborhood that is extra friendly.
Speaker 1: And who doesn't want to live in a friendly neighborhood
Speaker 1: where everyone's happy to see you? I know, I do
Speaker 1: totally Matt, I mean, I want to live in a
Speaker 1: friendly neighborhood. I feel like we live in a friendly neighborhood.
Speaker 1: Some of our neighbors have reference to where we live
Speaker 1: as kind of like Mayberry Like, that's kind of true,
Speaker 1: and that's kind of what That's what I love about
Speaker 1: living here. There are always neighbors walking down the sidewalks,
Speaker 1: interacting with one another. People just kind of know each
Speaker 1: other and look out for each other, hanging out in
Speaker 1: the front yards. Now that's getting warm. But what it
Speaker 1: takes is being intentional. You have to foster that as
Speaker 1: an individual. And even though it might go against the
Speaker 1: grain a little bit, maybe worth where you live, you
Speaker 1: can be that weirdo like you can be that friendly person.
Speaker 1: You have to be the wave in this world. Do
Speaker 1: you want the wave to wave back? Right? But I
Speaker 1: think there is a good point that maybe that is
Speaker 1: also kind of a distinctly Southern thing. We're a little
Speaker 1: 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 Jel I'm gonna go ahead and introduces beer. I
Speaker 1: just sniffed the bottle yet again, because this is one
Speaker 1: of the most delicious, fruity smelling beers I have ever
Speaker 1: sniffed in my entire life. We have a beer, our
Speaker 1: second beer now from our listener Jared out in Texas,
Speaker 1: and this is an at real rubisite from Jester King,
Speaker 1: which they make some amazing beers out in Texas. I
Speaker 1: have never had any 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 perceides 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 I want to
Speaker 1: check it out. Yeah here, it's a great town. By
Speaker 1: the way, I just had my first ship. Can't wait
Speaker 1: to tell everyone what we think about the beer at
Speaker 1: the end of the show. Quick hot take though tastes
Speaker 1: like raspberry jam you know, beautiful way Okay, Joe, let's
Speaker 1: let's get nerdy. Let's talk about some customer service. Let's
Speaker 1: do it okay. So part of the reason that we
Speaker 1: felt like we needed to tackle this topic on the
Speaker 1: show was so many people take what companies give them
Speaker 1: they fail to advocate for themselves. This can often result
Speaker 1: in you paying more than you need to unnecessary fees.
Speaker 1: And let's just take this upfront. Not every company is
Speaker 1: going to deliver great customer service, and doing business with
Speaker 1: well reviewed companies is gonna nip a lot of customer
Speaker 1: service issues in the bud. But at times also you're
Speaker 1: gonna have to do business with companies based on other factors.
Speaker 1: Potentially they're the only one close by where you can
Speaker 1: get the item you need. There are all sorts of
Speaker 1: reasons you might have to do business with a company
Speaker 1: that isn't well known for customer service. And because so
Speaker 1: many times in our lives we have to do business
Speaker 1: with companies that might not necessarily be well known for
Speaker 1: customer service, it's really helpful to know how to advocate
Speaker 1: for yourself and how to get good customer service in
Speaker 1: light of that. So this podcast going to cover a
Speaker 1: lot of tips for how to get good customer service
Speaker 1: and specific avenues that you need to take in order
Speaker 1: to make that happen. Yeah, Joe, it's worth mentioning that
Speaker 1: not all businesses need to have really great customer service
Speaker 1: all the time, right, Like I think of Zenny, and
Speaker 1: we talked about them all the time, but I wouldn't
Speaker 1: really expect them to have great customer service because they
Speaker 1: just sell cheap eyeglasses. They're the cheapest out there. You
Speaker 1: can't win it everything, right, Like they're gonna win the
Speaker 1: game when it comes to getting really really affordable glasses. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's kind of like when if you've been in a
Speaker 1: mechanic shop and they've got the sign that says you
Speaker 1: can get it two out of three ways, good, fast
Speaker 1: and cheap, right, And Zenny, it's hitting two of those right.
Speaker 1: It's pretty fast, definitely cheap, and you know they're solid eyeglasses,
Speaker 1: but you're not getting great customer service at the same time, right. Exactly.
Speaker 1: The more expensive a product is, or if there's a
Speaker 1: service that's more personal, certainly that would require a higher
Speaker 1: level of customer service. Like I think about realtors, you're
Speaker 1: spending close to maybe two months of your life if
Speaker 1: not more, with them talking to them on the phone, texting,
Speaker 1: meeting with them in person while you're looking at properties.
Speaker 1: Like you really get to know them, and so you
Speaker 1: want to make sure instances like that that that you
Speaker 1: do have a high level of customer service. I think
Speaker 1: of wedding photography, like that's something that I do. Weddings
Speaker 1: in general, very high levels of customer service are expected,
Speaker 1: and so I think that's certainly worth noting because there's
Speaker 1: gonna 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 in not being broken. It's like
Speaker 1: the only requirement, right, 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 Oftentimes we talk about trying to get the best
Speaker 1: deal and try not to be cheap. You know, we're
Speaker 1: trying to be frugal, But a lot of times with
Speaker 1: that price tag comes a level of customer service that
Speaker 1: they're trade offs, and so you know that sure with
Speaker 1: in 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. Yes,
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 a 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 process. But when there is a problem, it
Speaker 1: might be up to the customer service representative to figure
Speaker 1: out what it is that's wrong and make sure that
Speaker 1: the customer understands and that they are educated on the product. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and so many of us Snowmatt too, that the worst
Speaker 1: part of not getting good customer service can be the
Speaker 1: time that we waste trying to get the problem solved,
Speaker 1: whether it's time spent on hold with the cable or
Speaker 1: internet company with that terrible hold music, how does it
Speaker 1: go something exactly like that, Yeah, you've got the Melanie down. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so there's totally that. I've totally heard that before. We've
Speaker 1: all been there music. Yeah, And so it's that's one
Speaker 1: of the toughest parts of a bad customer service is
Speaker 1: waiting to even talk to somebody, and we're going to
Speaker 1: get into that in this show too. Basically, it can
Speaker 1: be emotionally draining as well as draining on your time.
Speaker 1: Potentially draining on your finances at the same time. So
Speaker 1: 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 that's honestly the biggest reason 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 patience because I'm thinking, what
Speaker 1: are the chances of this getting fixed? And a lot
Speaker 1: of times you know, it may not get fixed, or
Speaker 1: you might get a discount code for the next time
Speaker 1: you placed an order with him. There's the thought that
Speaker 1: with larger companies that that may not work out in
Speaker 1: your favor. But yeah, like you said, when when you
Speaker 1: do take the steps, you advocate for yourself and to
Speaker 1: try to have a problem fixed, like you wanted to work,
Speaker 1: if I want to dedicate any part of my day
Speaker 1: towards getting something replaced or getting a discount because something
Speaker 1: showed up scratched. You want to know that it's gonna work, right, Like,
Speaker 1: you want to know that the steps you take are
Speaker 1: going to be worth your time, worth your energy, that
Speaker 1: it's going to be an efficient use of your time,
Speaker 1: and that in the end, Yeah, you're gonna get results,
Speaker 1: totally true, Matt. Results are what it's all about at
Speaker 1: the end of the day when it comes to getting
Speaker 1: good customer service. And so let's talk about the strategies
Speaker 1: that you can implement into your life in order to
Speaker 1: get better customer service on the regular. Right after the break,
Speaker 1: all right, Joel, And now the first step to get
Speaker 1: great customer services make sure that you're doing business with
Speaker 1: great companies whenever are possible, right, Yeah, all the time,
Speaker 1: you want to read reviews. You want to make sure
Speaker 1: that you're doing research, and even better, hopefully you've heard
Speaker 1: about that company or that retailer from someone else who's
Speaker 1: used them. Both of those. Uh, those are two great
Speaker 1: steps that you can take when you're vetting a company
Speaker 1: or service. Yeah, there's some companies in particular, they just
Speaker 1: have great reputations for stellar customer service locally in your
Speaker 1: 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: Twice as Nice. Maybe I don't know. That's cute. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's cute. Aldi just also treats their employees really well,
Speaker 1: so you're bound to get better customer service at and
Speaker 1: Aldi than you are at one of the other major
Speaker 1: grocery chains. The people are just nicer and more helpful,
Speaker 1: and and that's because their company treats them well. There
Speaker 1: are so many other companies like I can't list them
Speaker 1: all that great reputations for customer service, but just a
Speaker 1: couple of real quick costco ll being those are companies
Speaker 1: that have great return policies that treat customers well. Have
Speaker 1: you ever made a return man at like an electronic
Speaker 1: store and they're asking for all sorts of identification. They
Speaker 1: don't 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, talking about your needs. What is it that
Speaker 1: you're looking for? When you have someone that's really pumped
Speaker 1: to be there. It makes you feel good about the
Speaker 1: company because clearly they do care. And if they hated
Speaker 1: their job, if they hated the company, I think the
Speaker 1: chances are that they would be you know, going above
Speaker 1: 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 later,
Speaker 1: 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 gonna
Speaker 1: get great customer service if you're trying to return some
Speaker 1: tires to Costco after you've been driving on it for
Speaker 1: five years, which you could totally technically do. Just don't
Speaker 1: 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 do 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 happens to be in front of them, and
Speaker 1: if you can just be nice, but do make sure
Speaker 1: you're clearly communicating with them as to what your problem is. Well,
Speaker 1: the like the hood of you getting helps and even
Speaker 1: getting something else thrown on that maybe they wouldn't have
Speaker 1: done anyway. If if you're being considerate of them in
Speaker 1: their time as well, well, chances are you're gonna be
Speaker 1: way more likely to be helped. Yeah, if you walk
Speaker 1: into a situation where you're hoping to get a problem
Speaker 1: resolved and your reaction is human worker, fix my problem,
Speaker 1: as opposed to making a personal connection with a sense
Speaker 1: of understanding that they're not the person, even in all likelihood,
Speaker 1: who caused the problem to begin with. If you ask
Speaker 1: them even just how how their day has been going,
Speaker 1: or even just reference their first name, those little bits
Speaker 1: of kindness, uh, treating someone like a human in the interaction,
Speaker 1: even if you've been disappointed and the company hasn't lived
Speaker 1: up to your expectations, you received an item that was broken,
Speaker 1: the communication back and forth just has been less than stellar.
Speaker 1: When you do get someone on the line, treating them
Speaker 1: with kindness goes a long way in you getting your
Speaker 1: problem resolved. So being a good customer, realizing that people
Speaker 1: have bad days and taking a few deep breaths before
Speaker 1: you make that phone call, even if you've had the
Speaker 1: most painful experience, can be really big in actually getting
Speaker 1: your problem solved versus it lingering and steam coming out
Speaker 1: of your head at the same time. Yeah, in our
Speaker 1: face to a group Bryce, he mentioned not just being kind,
Speaker 1: but kind of going over and above being kind, you know.
Speaker 1: He mentioned chatting up customers back massages that we're talking about.
Speaker 1: For the customer services, you can get all up in
Speaker 1: their space see how they respond. But he talked about
Speaker 1: how customer service can be soul crushing work in particular
Speaker 1: like call centers, that's all they do. If they just
Speaker 1: sit there and they just get chewed out call after call.
Speaker 1: If you take a minute to actually talk to them
Speaker 1: and like you said, like cheating them as a human
Speaker 1: versus seeing them ass with of a tool to like, okay,
Speaker 1: you are between me getting what I wants and you
Speaker 1: know where I am right now, instead looking at them
Speaker 1: as an actual human being. Instead like he talked about
Speaker 1: how he gets that v I P treatment and not
Speaker 1: only does this problem get solved, but he kind of
Speaker 1: comes out ahead even more. I love that great tip. Bryce. Also,
Speaker 1: don't forget to tell the truth, don't make things up.
Speaker 1: I think that can make a customer service experience even
Speaker 1: harder if you have embellished a problem or you haven't
Speaker 1: been completely forthcoming and 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: y Eduel. And specific to lucy Phone, I love on
Speaker 1: their site that they have how much time that they've
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 database and 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 all the fact is that these companies,
Speaker 1: they don't want negative questions or negative press sitting out there,
Speaker 1: whether it be on their Facebook page or whether it
Speaker 1: be an act that hasn't been responded to. They wanted
Speaker 1: to look good. And so when you have a negative
Speaker 1: experience or you have a complaint that's sitting out there
Speaker 1: floating like, people see that and that's something that they
Speaker 1: want to nip in the butt as quickly as possible.
Speaker 1: You're typically making that phone call in front of three
Speaker 1: or four your friends, but when you are posting on
Speaker 1: social media, you are. They're aware of that, and so
Speaker 1: they're trying to make best use of their resources. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I believe someone in our Facebook group mentioned Facebook Messenger.
Speaker 1: That's quickly becoming another place where companies reply to customer
Speaker 1: service complaints. I personally have used Twitter a lot. I
Speaker 1: feel like it is super helpful, even just the d
Speaker 1: M version of Twitter, for example, at Comcast cares and
Speaker 1: at A T T Cares. If you're having issues with
Speaker 1: bigger companies like that, they often have actually specific handles,
Speaker 1: or even if they don't have a separate handle, that's
Speaker 1: where they have kind of their best customer service team.
Speaker 1: It's usually kind of a savvier bunch that can make
Speaker 1: things happen more quickly. Often, the people that work in
Speaker 1: customer service on the social media side, they're more empowered
Speaker 1: to make decisions to to benefit you when you have
Speaker 1: a problem, So turning to social media is a great
Speaker 1: way to go. I just wanted to give an example, Matt.
Speaker 1: I've talked about on the show before a company, Rapidfi,
Speaker 1: that I used to wrap my car and it was great.
Speaker 1: I made some money by putting a car wrap on
Speaker 1: my car and driving it around. I a lot of
Speaker 1: people made fun of me for it, but you know what,
Speaker 1: it was Okay. I made some money on the side,
Speaker 1: and I'm totally fine with that. But when that campaign
Speaker 1: ended and I took my car in in order to
Speaker 1: get the deco removed, there was just a minor issues
Speaker 1: the person taking it off broke my rear wiper blade,
Speaker 1: and I was emailing back and forth with someone and
Speaker 1: then they just kind of ghosted me. They stopped responding. Man,
Speaker 1: not cool. Yeah, and I just I responded like three
Speaker 1: or four more times and was having trouble getting anyone
Speaker 1: to acknowledge me. So finally I took to Twitter and
Speaker 1: I said, Hey, Rapify, what's going on. I've been emailing
Speaker 1: with the same person and and they just stopped replying.
Speaker 1: Can you help me get my problem solved? Man? That
Speaker 1: problem was fixed that day. It was super helpful. So
Speaker 1: I wasn't looking to shame them initially. And I think
Speaker 1: sometimes customers go to social media too quickly to make
Speaker 1: a company feel terrible about what they've done. They'd like
Speaker 1: to get their problem resolved, but more than anything, they
Speaker 1: want to make that company feel some pain, and they
Speaker 1: think social media is the way to do that. I
Speaker 1: think if you approach it in that manner on social media,
Speaker 1: you're unlikely to get served in the way that you want.
Speaker 1: But if you approach it from a way of just
Speaker 1: asking for help, that's a much better way to go
Speaker 1: about it. But yes, social media is one of the
Speaker 1: best avenues for actually getting some movement on the problem
Speaker 1: that you're facing. Yeah. Another quick example back in the day,
Speaker 1: when you and I used to host our own podcast, well,
Speaker 1: like the company that would store the file like the
Speaker 1: digital files and distribute you know, our audio files. That company,
Speaker 1: we're having an issue with them. We had reached out
Speaker 1: earlier that day and hadn't heard back in an hour
Speaker 1: or two, and so I was like, hey, letna hit
Speaker 1: him up on Twitter, sent out a nice tweet, and
Speaker 1: within nine minutes they responded and we had our issue
Speaker 1: being worked on, which was amazing. That's the kind of
Speaker 1: response that I wanted to see because in our case,
Speaker 1: there is a more major issue. I think our podcast
Speaker 1: was down or something, but it was something that needs
Speaker 1: to be resolved very quickly, and hopping on Twitter like
Speaker 1: that and you know, with a nice tweet like that
Speaker 1: was a very effective way to see quick results. And actually,
Speaker 1: I just thought of one more example. Atlanta three on
Speaker 1: one is an awesome Twitter account that Atlanta, the City
Speaker 1: of Atlanta has. It's like at a t L three
Speaker 1: one one, and they constantly feel people's requests if they
Speaker 1: see like a water main break or the sidewalks rusted,
Speaker 1: and they respond to folks typically like within the hour.
Speaker 1: And by the way, I just saw in there that
Speaker 1: Bolk pickup is going to be changing when it comes
Speaker 1: to our trash. So heads up, they're putting useful information
Speaker 1: out there. So I thought that was a unique way
Speaker 1: that not only is a company, but an actual city
Speaker 1: is using social media to keep people happy. Great customer
Speaker 1: service from your local government, I love it, Matt. Another
Speaker 1: important thing to consider when you're striving to get great
Speaker 1: customer service is to document your conversations. If you're on
Speaker 1: the phone with an employee from a company and your
Speaker 1: promise something, it's really important to ask for that in writing.
Speaker 1: A lot of people, in particular with the big Internet
Speaker 1: and cable companies, have issues being told something by a
Speaker 1: customer service representative, but with no written proof, you're just
Speaker 1: gonna run into a brick wall all day and when
Speaker 1: it comes to actually getting that thing, So asking for
Speaker 1: something in writing when you're on the phone is super helpful,
Speaker 1: or at least ask for that person's name and employee number.
Speaker 1: That can be helpful as well. If you're doing an
Speaker 1: online chat with someone, which I love online chats, personally
Speaker 1: print 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 is totally stuck out to me because
Speaker 1: I have a terrible habit of not remembering people's names.
Speaker 1: So yeah, when I saw that, I thought, oh man,
Speaker 1: that's totally something I could do, because again, it comes
Speaker 1: down to being human, and when you're calling somebody by
Speaker 1: their actual name, they're going to be more responsive to
Speaker 1: you because you know what that's what their friends call
Speaker 1: them as well. Probably that's probably what their friends called them.
Speaker 1: That's a great tip. I hadn't really thought about that,
Speaker 1: but writing down the name and then using it throughout
Speaker 1: the converse station just helps reinforce that that person is
Speaker 1: a person and not just a tool to get what
Speaker 1: you want to accomplished. Right. Another thing that you should
Speaker 1: consider is escalating if need be. We've talked on a
Speaker 1: prior episode about the customer retention department being the only
Speaker 1: place that's actually going to consider lowering your internet or
Speaker 1: cable bill. Looking for the right department or asking to
Speaker 1: speak to a manager in case you run into a roadblock,
Speaker 1: that's gonna be really helpful for you, whether it means
Speaker 1: actually using the word escalate, asking in particular to speak
Speaker 1: to a manager, or asking if you're even in the
Speaker 1: right department. That's a way for you to get your
Speaker 1: customer service issue addressed if you keep butting your head
Speaker 1: against the system. Cheduin. This last tip that we're going
Speaker 1: to cover before the break isn't something that I've actually done.
Speaker 1: You wrote this down, so I'm gonna see if you
Speaker 1: have personal experience with it. But you mentioned to try
Speaker 1: contacting like the vice president you know, or maybe like
Speaker 1: the founder of a smaller company, by like looking them
Speaker 1: up on the website, figuring out their name and then
Speaker 1: looking them up on LinkedIn and then maybe like shooting
Speaker 1: him a message through LinkedIn or something like that. Have
Speaker 1: you done this yourself? So I have, uh, only a
Speaker 1: couple of times. It's one what you've done more than
Speaker 1: what maybe, So it's not something it's not something you
Speaker 1: want to abuse. But if you do find yourself like
Speaker 1: running into an issue continually with the same company, typically
Speaker 1: the person that started it, if it's a smaller company
Speaker 1: or a vice president of a larger company, those are
Speaker 1: the kind of things they want to know about. They're
Speaker 1: not always up to speed on exactly what's happening in
Speaker 1: the customer service call center or or with the employees
Speaker 1: that are responding via chat and so reaching out to
Speaker 1: someone kind of who's a little bit higher up in
Speaker 1: the company that can be a play that you make.
Speaker 1: That's kind of a last resort that you don't use often. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I guess that's kind of how you go about one
Speaker 1: all the big guns exactly. Yeah, So when one time,
Speaker 1: Matt this is a story for another day, but my
Speaker 1: niece on leaf was stolen, and I thought that the
Speaker 1: thief has stolen my charging chord and not return that
Speaker 1: when when I got the car back. Those charging chords
Speaker 1: like six dollars. They're super expensive, and so I reached
Speaker 1: out to Nissan to try to ask if they had
Speaker 1: any sort of program, any sort of way of giving
Speaker 1: me a used charging chord, anything like that, and I
Speaker 1: was getting bubb kissed like nobody was responding at all.
Speaker 1: So I figured it was worth emailing someone who I
Speaker 1: thought it was a decision maker, and I finally heard
Speaker 1: back on LinkedIn from a vice president that worked for
Speaker 1: Nissan that who was super helpful. It's not something I
Speaker 1: want to do every day because I don't want to
Speaker 1: bother people that have more important things going on. You
Speaker 1: can also look up their address and show up at
Speaker 1: the front door in the morning and knock. Right. That's
Speaker 1: a really good tip, Matt, that's a really good tip.
Speaker 1: All right, Maybe you don't do that because that could
Speaker 1: get you arrested or something like that, but but a
Speaker 1: LinkedIn message or an email to to someone in charge
Speaker 1: can be really helpful. If you email Jeff Bezos from Amazon,
Speaker 1: you might not get any traction right, But if you
Speaker 1: email one of his under links, one of his vice presidents,
Speaker 1: you might actually get some movement. You might see something
Speaker 1: happen if you have a customer service issue. So that's
Speaker 1: why I mentioned the vice president thing, Jill. I love
Speaker 1: that you did that, man, It never hurts to ask.
Speaker 1: And so after the break, we're gonna cover what to
Speaker 1: do in a worst case scenario of terrible customer service.
Speaker 1: Stick around for that's as well as some other tips
Speaker 1: and considerations right after the break, All right, Matt, than
Speaker 1: just a minute, we're going to get to those worst
Speaker 1: case scenarios. Where do you turn if you're unable to
Speaker 1: get any sort of customer service movement? So we'll get
Speaker 1: to that in just a second. But first, it is
Speaker 1: going to be different when you're trying to get customer
Speaker 1: service movement from a small local company versus a national company, right,
Speaker 1: And that can be good or bad depending. There are
Speaker 1: often fewer mechanisms in order to get good customer service
Speaker 1: when you're dealing with a local company. I had an
Speaker 1: issue the other day where I asked to speak to
Speaker 1: a manager and the person I was speaking to was
Speaker 1: the manager. And that's kind of what happens sometimes, Right,
Speaker 1: that's kind of what happens sometimes in a smaller, more
Speaker 1: local company, there's just not much recourse if you can't
Speaker 1: connect with that single individual. But there's also the chance
Speaker 1: for more humanity. When you're talking to a local company
Speaker 1: a national company, there's a there's a higher chance that
Speaker 1: you're going to need to find the right phone number
Speaker 1: or use social media. That just depends oftentimes right on
Speaker 1: the size and the structure of the company you're dealing with.
Speaker 1: And Jel, you mentioned social media. Let's again go back
Speaker 1: to that, right, Let's envision that you've exhausted all the
Speaker 1: different options that we've kind of covered up until this point.
Speaker 1: Honestly think going back to social media and kind of
Speaker 1: doing a form of online picketing is the next step
Speaker 1: to take. Yeah, if you're getting completely stone walled, that
Speaker 1: might be your only option, right, Yeah, Seriously, like complaining
Speaker 1: on social media because it's out there and because everyone
Speaker 1: sees it, and that if they don't address it, they
Speaker 1: look bad. But those social media complaints can honestly be
Speaker 1: the nudge that a company needs. I'm thinking of United
Speaker 1: Airlines after they treated several of their passengers very poorly
Speaker 1: and busted them up. There's a whole movement where folks
Speaker 1: were taking over the United Journey hashtag. That was a
Speaker 1: hashtag that United Airlines had come up with for an
Speaker 1: advertising campaign, and it's totally backfired because shortly after that
Speaker 1: was when they dragged that doctor off the off the flight,
Speaker 1: you know, and they totally remember that bleeding from his face.
Speaker 1: It's terrible, it's not good at all. But folks were
Speaker 1: claiming that and kind of repurposing it basically talking about
Speaker 1: just how terrible United Airlines was and even coming up
Speaker 1: with new hashtags, like there was one that was hashtag
Speaker 1: new United Airlines Mottoes, where folks were essentially writing in
Speaker 1: with their own sort of slogans based on the current
Speaker 1: news and just all terrible things that United Airlines was doing.
Speaker 1: You know. Hopefully they learned their lesson and will be
Speaker 1: able to kind of move past that and never have
Speaker 1: an incident like that in their history. But that was
Speaker 1: a way for the people to speak collectively and say, hey,
Speaker 1: this is terrible, like, we do not stand behind this.
Speaker 1: We did not like how you're treating your customers or
Speaker 1: just people in general. It's just a terrible way to
Speaker 1: behave as a company. I guess, while we're bashing United,
Speaker 1: let's do another one. There was a guy back in
Speaker 1: the day who had his guitar broken by United Airlines
Speaker 1: and he came up with catchy YouTube video where he
Speaker 1: wrote a song about it on a guitar that wasn't
Speaker 1: broken by United Airlines, I guess, and that would that
Speaker 1: just went viral. And so they're just these ways in
Speaker 1: the worst case scenario where you can use social media
Speaker 1: kind of to your benefit. We mentioned earlier about reaching
Speaker 1: out for help, and now this is a case in
Speaker 1: which you're kind of picking and letting people know that
Speaker 1: you've had a bad experience. In my opinion, that's more
Speaker 1: of a last resort, but it is a step that
Speaker 1: can be helpful if you are experiencing just complete inattention
Speaker 1: to your issue. Yeah, at that point, you're not trying
Speaker 1: to get your problem fixed anymore. Essentially, what you're doing
Speaker 1: is you're warning other customers. You're saying, hey, watch out
Speaker 1: for these guys because they suck, Matt. And that's online picketing,
Speaker 1: but there's an in person version of picketing as well,
Speaker 1: right where you can actually stand in front of a
Speaker 1: local business on a weekend, right and hurt their sales
Speaker 1: and hurt their reputation by doing some picketing in front
Speaker 1: of a business. And I feel like again that is
Speaker 1: a last resort sort of option for you. But if
Speaker 1: you have let's say body card dealership, and they pulled
Speaker 1: a fast one on you, and this happens all over
Speaker 1: the country, they say, actually, you don't qualify for that
Speaker 1: loan at six percent, even though you signed all these papers.
Speaker 1: Now you have to come in and resign this paper
Speaker 1: where you have a fourteen percent interest rate. Let's say
Speaker 1: you've had something terrible happened to you, you should consider
Speaker 1: at least picketing in front of that business with a
Speaker 1: sign telling the truth about what happened. Yeah, you have
Speaker 1: a legal right to do that. Exactly, you can't be
Speaker 1: on their property. You need to be on a sidewalk
Speaker 1: or at least you know your local municipalities rules when
Speaker 1: it comes to picketing. But no, your rights at the
Speaker 1: same time, and if you need to stand up for
Speaker 1: yourself and you need to pick it in front of
Speaker 1: a local business letting people know what happened to you,
Speaker 1: I think in the case of something severe and egregious
Speaker 1: that a company has done to you, it's a worthwhile consideration. Yeah,
Speaker 1: this is also something I've never done. Have you ever
Speaker 1: picketed before? No, never picked? Yeah, I'm glad I've never
Speaker 1: gotten to the point to where I felt like I
Speaker 1: needed to do that, I know. Yeah, but I've seen
Speaker 1: people doing it before, have you. I don't think I've
Speaker 1: even seen one do that before. Really, Yeah, with a sign,
Speaker 1: and that happens oftentimes, right Matt In Like union negotiations
Speaker 1: with an employer too, have you seen have you seen people? Yeah? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I remember seeing folks back in the day in front
Speaker 1: of public's. Yeah, came on you for not negotiating fairly
Speaker 1: with the union. That that kind of stuff happens, And
Speaker 1: so I think for employees trying to get good customer
Speaker 1: service from their company, right, they they chose to pick it.
Speaker 1: I've seen people standing in front of individual businesses with
Speaker 1: a sign and the key is too, Like I said, no,
Speaker 1: your municipalities rules, abide by them and at the same
Speaker 1: time tell the truth. So whatever you put on your sign,
Speaker 1: no slander, no misinformation. You want to make sure you're
Speaker 1: being above board and telling people exactly what happened and
Speaker 1: saying it's discinctly so that people driving by can actually
Speaker 1: read it and again and keep in mind that this
Speaker 1: is less about you getting good customer service at this
Speaker 1: point and helping your fellow consumer or your friends to
Speaker 1: know that they are not going to get good customer
Speaker 1: service themselves. And you know what, maybe though, if a business,
Speaker 1: if you're hitting them where it hurts in the pocketbook,
Speaker 1: driving new customers away from their doors, that can actually
Speaker 1: sometimes be the impetus for them to act angels. So
Speaker 1: beyond picketing, you know, once you've gotten to where things
Speaker 1: are just gone really south and you think maybe even
Speaker 1: the company has done something illegal, now is the time
Speaker 1: that you can turn to different government agencies. Groups like
Speaker 1: the cfp B, which is the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau,
Speaker 1: or the o c C which is the Office of
Speaker 1: the Comptroller of the Currency. Those are both going to
Speaker 1: be financial related. So if you're having issues with a
Speaker 1: credit card company or a bank, you know, anything financial
Speaker 1: related like that, those are some of the agencies that
Speaker 1: you can go to. But then just like the Federal
Speaker 1: Trade commission or insurance departments or health commissioners, there are
Speaker 1: a number of different federal agencies that you can turn to,
Speaker 1: and that's their job. Like their job is to regulate
Speaker 1: these different companies and these industries, and they want to
Speaker 1: hear from you. Yeah, we'll put links to a few
Speaker 1: of these on the show notes, and in particular the
Speaker 1: Consumer Financial Production Bureau, which was rated a few years ago.
Speaker 1: It's not quite as effective as it was under the
Speaker 1: former boss of the CFPV he was awesome, but still
Speaker 1: there's a great place to submit a complaint, and I've
Speaker 1: heard good reports of people that do file a complaint
Speaker 1: on the CFPB or on O c C against the
Speaker 1: bank occ dot gov that the banks actually take action
Speaker 1: pretty quickly, so it's not a place where your complaint
Speaker 1: goes into the ether and is unheard. It actually works,
Speaker 1: not only so that the federal government knows what's going
Speaker 1: on with these businesses, but so that action will be
Speaker 1: taken at the same time on your specific case. Yea.
Speaker 1: So filing a complaint with the proper government entity. For instance,
Speaker 1: if you're having a problem with your insurance company, you
Speaker 1: report them to your state's insurance department, and always reporting
Speaker 1: a company to the Better Business Bureau can be effective
Speaker 1: as well. Yeah, Jill, you know good customer service. It
Speaker 1: speaks volumes about that company, and you know the different.
Speaker 1: Companies that address a problem well with a thorough response
Speaker 1: can actually help create a more loyal customer and honestly,
Speaker 1: for customers, sometimes you just have to know who and
Speaker 1: how to ask and hopefully we've given some helpful tips
Speaker 1: to get the result that you're looking for. Yeah, Matt
Speaker 1: Crystal on our Facebook group mentioned getting great customer service
Speaker 1: from Wayfair after she'd encountered a problem, and companies that
Speaker 1: respond well to people even in the middle in the
Speaker 1: middle of an issue, fix it with a smile on
Speaker 1: their face, They're much more likely to have a customer
Speaker 1: for life even than just a customer that had a
Speaker 1: great experience from the get go. So it's important for
Speaker 1: companies and customers to know the problem resolution is a
Speaker 1: way for a deeper relationship to be built. And then lastly,
Speaker 1: it's important to not to not forget to say thank you,
Speaker 1: leave that great review, take that survey as well if
Speaker 1: you know so you can get some feedback. You know,
Speaker 1: just like you would tip a good waiter, you want
Speaker 1: to let that customer service person know that they've done
Speaker 1: a good job. And maybe on social media, that means
Speaker 1: making sure you follow up with that initial tweet and
Speaker 1: thanking them. You know, it's not like you're just putting
Speaker 1: that message out there and letting it sit like they're
Speaker 1: going to respond and yeah, follow it up with, man,
Speaker 1: thanks so much for resolving my issue, or you know,
Speaker 1: you guys the best. They're trying to make sure that
Speaker 1: you're a happy customer and make sure that you're representing
Speaker 1: that well to your followers and your friends, no doubt, buddy.
Speaker 1: All right, let's get back to the beer that we
Speaker 1: had on the show today. Matt listener Jared sent in
Speaker 1: a trial Rubicite from Jester King, and like I said,
Speaker 1: this was like a bucket list beer for me, and
Speaker 1: it didn't disappoint. This was incredible. I mentioned that it
Speaker 1: tasted kind of like raspberry jam. It totally did. There
Speaker 1: were so many raspberries in this. It had a perfect
Speaker 1: dry sourness to it and just very fruit forward. This
Speaker 1: is a beer that I'll remember for a long time.
Speaker 1: It was it was It was really that I'm with you,
Speaker 1: man like it. It had tons of raspberry flavor. But
Speaker 1: typically you think, okay, if it's gonna have tons of fruit,
Speaker 1: you expected to be sweet, like sweet and sticky and
Speaker 1: just kind of just over the top like you're sniffing
Speaker 1: a glade plug in or something like that. It's like,
Speaker 1: let's just as gross. It's what you do on from
Speaker 1: time to time. Maybe you never sniff glade plug ins
Speaker 1: as a kid, don't think so, Okay, well that was
Speaker 1: just me. But with this you could tell that there
Speaker 1: was tons of fruit in it. But yeah, well, like
Speaker 1: you said, there was a dryness to it and a
Speaker 1: balance that I mean, I would almost say it's unmapped matched. Yeah,
Speaker 1: this is an incredibly balanced beer. I wouldn't say that
Speaker 1: this beer is incredibly unique in any sort of way,
Speaker 1: Like it didn't have like some kind of crazy twist
Speaker 1: on it, or it didn't have like this odd flavor
Speaker 1: that you just totally weren't expecting. It's just an amazing
Speaker 1: barrel aged raspberry sour and they're doing it better than
Speaker 1: anyone else out there, you know, Like it's just a
Speaker 1: standard awesome beer. Like there's no gimmicks, there's no games. Yeah,
Speaker 1: just that style that they were going for, done up
Speaker 1: perfectly to a t. Right. You can't beat that. So good,
Speaker 1: so good. So looking forward to having more from Jester
Speaker 1: King one of these days. Yeah, So sinceris thanks to
Speaker 1: Jared for donating last episodes amazing beer and also this
Speaker 1: complete gem from Jester King Joel before we go to
Speaker 1: long Let's go ahead and do our final thoughts and
Speaker 1: wrap this episode up once 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 fireways 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 blazon
Speaker 1: with this incredibly minor customer service issue. If you you
Speaker 1: want to go, you want to go in the appropriate
Speaker 1: route that probably starts with just finding a human to
Speaker 1: talk to. And Matt, we mentioned some sites that make
Speaker 1: it easier for someone to actually reach a human at
Speaker 1: the company that they're looking to get customer service from.
Speaker 1: But if you need to go even further, you might
Speaker 1: need to talk to someone in the customer retention department
Speaker 1: or asked to speak to a manager, and ultimately it
Speaker 1: might get to the point where you're doing some online
Speaker 1: picketing or you actually have to submit a complaint with
Speaker 1: a government entity. That's not the first place to turn,
Speaker 1: but it is nice to know that they're there if
Speaker 1: the problem continues to persist. All right, Joel, that is
Speaker 1: going to be in for this episode. Just like you mentioned,
Speaker 1: we're gonna have those links up in our show notes
Speaker 1: up on our website at how to money dot com.
Speaker 1: And if you like this podcast, we would encourage you
Speaker 1: to submit a review, and don't forget to hit the
Speaker 1: subscribe button while you're there. And if Matt and I
Speaker 1: haven't done as great of a job as you would like,
Speaker 1: send us an email. You can go to how to
Speaker 1: money dot com slash do better. We read everything that
Speaker 1: comes in there until real quick, I think it's worth
Speaker 1: mentioning to. We need to thank all of our listeners
Speaker 1: out there who have left awesome reviews for us over
Speaker 1: at Apple Podcasts. Those help get the word out. We
Speaker 1: are incredibly thankful for those, so thank you to everyone,
Speaker 1: many many thanks. We appreciate it. Joel. Until next time,
Speaker 1: best friends Out, Best Friends Out,