Customers are always right – they want to walk into your business and be treated like royalty. And as if that’s not enough, they want to squeeze out as much value as possible from each shilling paid out to you.
They are incredibly impatient. They want you to answer all their hard questions with the expertise of an MBA graduate yet you’re a class 8 drop-out. They want you to give them the best possible deal and still charge them the “best price” for it.
We’re sure you are all too familiar with this long list of needs already. But the question is; "Are you guilty of committing the 5 most annoying sins to your customers?" Let’s find out.
5.The sin of hidden costs
You hide some costs to lure the customers in but then once they accept your offer you start disclosing additional costs and conditions. You tell them “You have to pay for a compulsory maintenance fee once a month.” Or “You have to buy extra bundles from us so that we can give you product ABCD.”
Why it gets them annoyed
They get annoyed because they feel like you’re taking advantage of their vulnerability. They think you’re trying to con them off their hard earned money.
Solution
Always include an asteric sign (*) next to your marketing price. Then provide detailed explanation of the terms and conditions for the deal beforehand. Let the customer make an informed choice.
4.The sin of ignoring questions on social media
You keep updating your social media pages but you don’t bother to respond to questions sent in by your audience. You think time spent on social media is time well wasted!
Why it gets them annoyed
The modern day customer uses social media to interact with brands. Brands that don’t interact with their clients on social media are often seen as mean, uncaring, unfriendly, rude, annoying…you can keep adding more adjectives to this list.
Solution
Invest in social media management. You can either spend 60 minutes every day on social media responding to questions or hire a full-time assistant for the job (if your business can afford it that is).
3.You and your staff continue to talk to each other even when the customer walks in
Enough said. Customers want to be treated like bosses when they walk into your business’ premises and not like unwanted intruders.
Why it gets them annoyed
It’s annoying to see people minding their own business ignoring you as if you are yet another stubborn intruder who has just walked in. Customers want to go to places where they are welcomed and given all the attention they need no matter how small their budgets or needs are.
Solution
You can change this habit and advise your staff to follow suit. Alternatively, you can create a front-office and hire an administrator to improve relationships with the incoming customers.
2.The sin of keeping them waiting in queues
Waiting in queues is not cool at all. Your customers have other things to do so that they can get more money to invest in your business.
Why queuing is annoying
Queuing is annoying because it wastes everyone’s time and it builds anxiety. Your customers have already had enough sitting in traffic jam for hours coming to your office. Please please, don’t create another mini-traffic jam for them in your premises – they hate it!
Solution
It’s high time you automate most of your services. Regular payments can be done using mobile money transfer. Basic queries can be asked (and responded to) on social media. In short, digitizing things is ultimately the way to go.
1.The sin of making them follow policies that don’t make sense
Have you ever walked into a restaurant at 11am desperately looking for a breakfast meal and then what welcomes you is a wall sticker reading “We don’t serve breakfast past 10am”? How annoyed did you get? That’s the same way your customers feel when you create policies that don’t make sense to them. Other dumb policies that annoy the customer:
- We don’t accept advance payments
- Cash only credit cards and mobile money payments are not acceptable here
- You can’t split the bill among your friends we only accept one bulk payment
Why this is annoying
Rigid policies such as the ones we mentioned above are simply annoying (period).
Solution
Scrap out all your dumb policies
Final Word
What other annoying scenarios have you ever come across? What mistakes do you think other business owners keep making every day? Share your good thoughts with us.
