1 - Run away from your responsibilities!

"I'm sorry, there's nothing I can do, it's your fault for not picking up your phone."

That's what your customer care answered to Julien who was waiting for his weekly box of meals. The delivery was scheduled for between 4 and 6pm but finally arrived at 2.30pm while he was in a video meeting with his boss. As he was unable to take the call, the deliveryman turned back with his order without even trying to ring the doorbell and only returned 3 days later with damaged fresh products...

- Tip: A company that does not accept responsibility when things go wrong is one of the most terrible experiences to have as a customer! When a brand gives customers this kind of response, they feel that their problems are not being taken seriously and that they have wasted time and money on something that is not right for them.
A good way to avoid this is to take responsibility for your mistakes, apologise sincerely and move forward with a solution in mind (or at least an action plan).
For example, if someone wants to cancel their subscription but is struggling to do so online, actively listen by asking questions such as "What's wrong?" or "Have you tried this before?". When you care about their experience with your product or service, they will feel that their problem matters to you and they will be more likely to order from you again. This has a direct impact on your customer retention!

2 - Answer them after a week, or better still... don't answer them at all!

It's Friday lunchtime, Camille needs immediate customer support, her fridge just broke! She calls your service department in a panic to get help, but the call volume is too high for your available agents. She gets put on hold for several minutes and even gets hung up on after a while. Bad luck, your customer service department is also closed at the weekend! In the end, she will only get an answer after a week of attempted calls and will have lost all her foodstuffs...

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- Key figure: According to a Toister Performance Solutions study of 3,200 consumers, 31.2% of customers surveyed want a response in one hour or less. Responding in one hour would meet the expectations of 88% of consumers surveyed...

- Tip: The response time of the channels you provide should be reasonable. You should be able to provide assistance to your customers at least within 24 hours of their request.
If your customer support is under-staffed, why not outsource some of your requests? There are many solutions available today that offer quality outsourced customer support that is quick and easy to set up to help you manage your business. In addition, you can offer a customer service with extended hours in the evening and at weekends, which will undoubtedly make your customers happy, and they will give you X2!

3 - Offer them impersonal and generic answers, they love it!

A loyal customer of your brand, Ludovic has a rather special request for your agent that goes beyond the pre-written script.

It's panic on board! Your agent loses his footing, doesn't know what to do, doesn't dare admit that he doesn't know, under penalty of losing his job, and absolutely refuses to go off script and use his logic and faculties to answer his request. His answers are totally inadequate or very generic, Ludovic hangs up without answering his query and full of compassion for your panicked agent. He decides to go and see the competition...

- Tip: Personalising the experience is a crucial issue in setting yourself apart from your competitors. For a regular customer, it is inevitably pleasant to be recognised, called by name, or to be reminded of their last purchase and asked if they were satisfied when they contact your customer support.

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1. Consider integrating your customer support software such as Aircall, Crisp, Freshdesk, Zendesk, or Gorgias with your CMS! This will allow you to know who is calling you before they even pick up the phone, to have access to all the history of your customer, and to be able to offer them a truly personalised service that will leave them impressed!

2. As for your agents, obviously, quality recruitment is essential.  Your knowledge base should be able to assist them with the most common queries, but make sure they also know how to think outside the box and have access to the resources they need to hone their knowledge on rarer topics and queries.