Employees Dont Forget Youre a Walking Representation

Employees Dont Forget Youre a Walking Representation Last week I went to an eye appointment at one of those franchise optical retailers. At that time of morning, it was only me (the customer) and about five employees. The optometrist left me alone to try on a pair of contact lenses, and while she did, an unfortunate event took placeone that put a damper on my overall customer experience. The eye doctor walked into the stores front room and spoke loudly to anotherbei employee.Come with me, the eye doctor demanded.Why? the employee questioned.Just come with me I need to show you something now.The two women walked past me to the back, and then the screaming began.Look at this office Seriously, how dirty can you be? She acts like this is just her office but we share it This is so ridiculous.Who do you share this with?Dr. Jane Doe she is a complete trash can. I mean seriously, is it that hard to clean up after yourself?The eye doctor then begins cursing as she expressed her frustrations about another doctors untidy habits with their shared office. And the employee (another woman) simply laughed and trash talked the other doctor as well.The two women continued chatting as they walked back into the stores front room, with the conversation shifting to birthing options (evidently the doctor was pregnant), how you can predict the sex of a baby and timetables for when they desired to have kids. After about 15 minutes, the eye doctor walked back to where I was sitting, put on a big smile, a soft, sweet voice and asked, So, how do those work for you?And all I could think was, in the doctors own words, seriously?This professional doctor who only minutes before was shouting profanities and insulting another doctor who wasnt there to defend herself, was now smiling in my face as if nothing had ever happened.Again, seriously?I wish I were making this up, but unfortunately, its a true (and sa d) story. That doctors unprofessional behavior can certainly cost the optical retailer customers and a loss of business. And the fact is poor communication practices and customer service cost many businesses dearly.In fact, according to a Clicksoftware.com infographic, poor customer experiences result in an estimated $83 billion loss for U.S. enterprises each year because of defections and abandoned purchases. The infographic also explains how poor customer service can lead to poor customer experiences and negatively affect a company. Some include89 percent of consumers who experience poor customer service with a companys brand will leave for that businesss competition64 percent of brands receive Ok Poor and Very Poor ratings from their customersApproximately 70 percent of customer service complaints on Twitter go unansweredBased off my experience with that optical retailer last week, I would fruchtwein certainly agree with the second statistic above and leave a very poor rating for that business. And Im sure most customers in that situation would do the same.The ProblemsThe doctor insulted another doctor and her co-worker.She used profanity in a professional setting.The two women talked so loudly that the entire store (which was pretty empty and therefore easier for sound to travel) heard their private conversation.The Possible EffectsThe businesss brand and reputation is negatively impacted because the doctors unprofessionalism is a representation of the entire company.People can assume that this business doesnt pride itself on respectable, professional and courteous employees.Customers will be turned off from conducting further business there because not only did the doctor act unprofessionally in the presence of a customer, she dismissed her actions as if they never happened.Poor business communication practices can lead to a negative customer experience, which will certainly hurt ones brand. I think its extremely important that employees really embrace th e fact that they represent their employer and are oftentimes the difference between a positive and negative customer experienceand a successful or failing business.