The hidden cancer in a business: untrained staff facing customers

In short: when sales slip and fewer customers return, owners often blame the economy. A more common cause sits inside the business: staff who face customers without proper training. Left alone, this "cancer" keeps spreading.

A real experience

A company launched a membership card with newspaper ads. A good idea. When I called to ask how to apply, the customer service staff replied: "Sorry, you're our supplier, so you can't apply."

Whenever she collected payment from me, she was all sweetness; this time, with our fees just paid, her tone was very different. A good initiative was undone by one untrained employee. I am sure the owner would be heartbroken to hear it, and he will probably never know.

Why it matters so much

• Customers won't tell you: most unhappy customers do not complain. They leave quietly and tell others.
• You blame the market: when sales fall you assume the economy is weak and put your effort in the wrong place.
• It happens daily: front-line staff meet so many customers that incidents like this can happen several times a week.

What to do

This is not about firing people. The person who let untrained staff serve customers is the owner. The constructive response:

1. Train before they serve: front-line staff should not face customers alone until they pass basic training.
2. Script the common situations: everyone should know how to respond when a customer says it is too expensive, asks for a discount or complains.
3. Ask customers regularly: find out how they feel instead of waiting for them to tell you.

When staff offend a customer, the customer does not blame the staff member. They blame you.

Adapted from Dave Tan's book How High Should Your Customer Retention Rate Be? (2014, in Chinese), updated for today. About the book

Author: Dr. Dave Tan, DBA — Founder of Vital Design, Doctor of Business Administration (DBA). A business consultant to salons and SMEs since 2003, and author of a book on salon management.