What are you not hearing?

Just because you don't hear a lot of things being said about your company doesn't mean they are not being said.

• Many people don't know how to listen
• Many senior managers prefer not to know
• Many senior managers are shielded from what's being said by underlings covering their respective patooskies

"If I don't hear anything, things must not be all that bad."

Customers make judgments the moment you answer the phone. Customers make judgments the moment they step up to your counter. It may or may not be a conscious judgment, but the impressions are immediate and they are lasting.

If the impression is overwhelmingly positive, they may mention it to their family and friends. If the impression is negative they may just be motivated to tell everyone. Most often, the impression is not overwhelming one way or the other, but don't think that it let's you off the hook. The customer will talk.

In casual conversation people will discuss a customer service experience and your customer will consider his or her experiences. Then those impressions will form into opinions. Those opinions will become word-of-mouth marketing. Positive or negative, people will talk.

Are you managing your customer's experience?

Creative Commons photo courtesy of Flickr and Shuttercat7