Jay Baer on Hugging Your Haters and the Real Value of Stellar Customer Service – Episode 53

“For years, customer service has been a necessary evil.” That’s what Jay Baer says, but he’s convinced that even though it’s never been true, it’s especially not true in the digital age. Customer service is the lifeblood of truly impacting businesses. During this conversation Anthony asks the kind of questions that unpack the gold of Jay’s new book, “Hug Your Haters” and shows you why keeping customers through outstanding customer service is tons more important that getting new customers. After listening to this episode you won’t think of customer service the same way again.

For generations, customer service has been seen a necessary evil ~ Jay BaerClick To Tweet

Why Haters are not necessarily going to hate forever.

You’ve heard the pithy little meme – “Hater’s gonna’ hate.” But is it always true? Jay Baer believes that most people who you might classify as a “hater” on social media these days are simply voicing their opinion about the reality of their experience with your company, and resigning yourself to a statement like that could also resign you to failure in business. In this episode Jay explains how companies NEED to respond to haters no matter what, and how they can do so in a way that is a win for the business in every case. It sounds like a lot to promises but Jay delivers, on this episode of In The Arena.

Why you should fix your customer service before you get more customers.

If it sounds backwards to you that you should fix your customer service before getting more customers, that’s because you fall squarely into what current statistics reveal: that most businesses spend far more on marketing and sales than they do on customer service. Jay Baer believes that’s a colossal mistake because it’s much easier and wiser to keep the customers you’ve already reeled in, then it is to go out and get new customers. And by keeping them happy AS your customers, they are going to have a huge impact on whether or not you get those new customers you want so badly. It’s more to unpack that one paragraph can do, so be sure you listen to Jay’s explanation on this episode.

If it’s out there on the internet, and you don’t respond, it’s true by default ~ Jay BaerClick To Tweet

Which channel should you use for customer service?

There are so many ways for you to communicate with your customers and for them to communicate with you – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. – which one should you use to address customer service issues? Jay Baer believes that the answer is obvious: Use the ones your customers prefer to use, which will not be the same for every customer. This idea comes from Jay’s explanation of “on stage” and “off stage” complaints and how each of them has to be handled in different ways in order to magnify the value your business places on the customer. If you don’t understand, you will – and you’ll agree entirely – if you listen to this episode of In The Arena.

What happens when you respond to customer complaints?

Do you really know? Jay Baer says that more happens than just averting a disaster or fixing a problem. The research he did while writing his new book, “Hug Your Haters” revealed that in EVERY CASE responding to customer complaints resulted in a huge uptick in customer satisfaction (which you would expect) and ALSO a huge increase in customer advocacy (which you may not have expected). So when you respond to your customer’s complaints promptly, with care, and with an eye to solve their problem to their satisfaction, you not only make a friend, you make an ally. Find out more of what Jay has discovered about stellar customer service, on this episode.

If you answer a complaint, it increases customer advocacy. Every. Time. ~ Jay BaerClick To Tweet

Outline of this great episode

Anthony’s introduction to Jay Baer and the conversation in this episode.
Why Jay stopped doing his “Jay Today” show (and how Anthony felt about it).
Jay’s definition of “a hater” (from his book “Hug Your Haters”).
How Jay proved in his book that customer service is not happening well overall.
The gap between what the company believes their customer experience is like, and what it really is.
Why companies ignore customer complaints.
Why you should fix your customer service before you get more customers.
Where is the proper customer service channel (to your customers)?
What are “off-stage” haters and “on stage” haters – and why they matter.
The risk for business that don’t respond to “on stage” haters.
Business improvements for those who respond to their customer complaints.
The “high care” and “low care” approaches to business.
What is the downstream impact of your customer service choices?
What Jay is reading right now.
The most important book Jay has ever read.
The person who’s had the biggest influence on Jay.
The most important lesson Jay has ever learned.
If Jay wasn’t doing what he does, what would he be doing?
What Jay wants to be remembered for.