10 ways to turn angry consumers into brand advocates

3. Hidden recurring fees are not a clever way to make additional revenue
There is no faster way to lose customers than to mess with their money. Jason Baer of Convince and Convert tells a story of signing up for a "free" vase program from an online florist only to discover that he had opted into a reoccurring fee from a third party for the service. Technically it was free from the florist, but technicalities mean nothing when you have an upset customer on your hands. This is shortsighted thinking that has a company focused on driving immediate conversions and not keeping a customer for the long-term. Keep all charges up front and make it very clear what your customers are signing up for. Rule of thumb: If part of your promotional planning includes how to deal with the complaints you'll receive, it's probably time to reassess the program and make some adjustments.

4 Don't treat customers like hot potatoes
Don't you love it when you call a customer service line and each representative you speak with asks for your account number? By the time you get transferred for the fourth time, and person No. 4 nicely asks for your account number, you are about to hit the roof! Whoever answers the call should see it through until the issue is resolved. Stop sending your customers up the food chain so they can repeat their problem or question over and over again. If that is impossible, make sure that customers are warmly transferred so they don't have to repeat themselves. Consider implementing a bonus program for customer service employees in which they're paid for positive reviews and closing customer complaints successfully. That is an easy way to get your employees motivated to make sure they take good care of your customers, and in turn have happier customers -- a win-win.

5. Review your various messaging systems
This is something that I'm guilty of -- it's important to listen to your phone tree. It's one of those things that just gets lost as you're not using it every day -- but your potential clients and customers are. Make sure that your culture shows through messaging. Consider removing automated messages if you can and inserting a live human into the mix. It's a simple yet effective way to enhance the customer experience. Most customers are used to automated responses, and most are happy to get a live person who is willing to help.

6. Create relationships
Think about how great it would be to have a relationship with someone at your favorite airline. Someone you could call and chat with when problems arise with your flight schedule. One can dream, right? My wife has been using Borsheims (a Berkshire Hathaway company), out of Omaha, Neb., of all places, for more than 20 years and has been dealing with the same representative all 20 of those years. This representative not only knows my wife's taste and purchase history, but they also have a great relationship. That relationship is why my wife has only purchased jewelry from that representative for the last two decades (and most likely will for the rest of her life). Relationships ensure repeat business. Zappos is another great example of a company that fosters a relationship between the customer service reps and the clients. People don't establish relationships with a product or a price; they have relationships with people. Without that crucial relationship, your chance of increasing repeat business is tenuous at best.

7. Show who you are
Let customers know who you are as a company. This allows customers to get a sense for what your company is about. This is especially important for companies that don't have any brick-and-motor stores and are only found online. When you are only online, it's easy to blend into the hundreds of other sites out there. Connect with your customers by giving some insight into the inner workings of the company. Blogs are great for doing this. They can take time to set up and manage, but once you get a process down, you'll find it easier to maintain, and customers feel more connected when they can read about the goings-on of a company. Any way you can build a more personal connection with customers is a good use of time and resources.

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