Laughing and Customers

Ok. True confession: I've laughed  about customers. I've instigated it. I've shared stories of their misery. I've reveled in those stories with my colleagues. I've worked in Customer Service groups where it seems we had a customer of the week story. And we all laughed.

I've laughed with them. We both had a laugh at some [stuff] happens stories. Being prompt, honest, following up, accountable and asking this question, What do I need to do to make it right for you, made that possible.

They've laughed at me and my misery. [stuff] happened on my shift. I was on the phone cleaning it up with them. And I had to laugh, too. The laughing helps. And keep scrambling to fix it and make sure they left happy. See above.

That's the point. The laughing helps. It's a stress-reliever. It's a defense mechanism.  It's a healer. It's a bonding agent. It keeps us real. It shows us, shows them, we're honest.

On the other hand...even laughing has a tipping point. And in the first example, that's reached, or should be, pretty quick. Calls to your customer service line mean...something's not clear for your customers. And as funny as that might be, the first time, it's not funny for them ever. ( Is it ever funny when we're the customer? ) And it's not funny when that confusion and their bad experience makes for a never-ending series of calls...

And for the companies who don't realize that...well, pretty soon the joke's going to be on their quarterly reports.

37Signals reminds us of The Danger of Laughing at Your Customers.