The Sunday Mail
THE wheel of altruism is never nurtured by rudeness.
Rude customers display their behaviour in different ways and it can be snapping on a customer service representative or another customer, ignoring request for help, ignoring a colleague, gossiping behind other customers or if it is an internal customer, it could even be borrowing stuff without asking.
In some instances the organisation’s way of doing business, or even the way they handle disputes, may cause customers to be rude. Issues are, however, never solved by being rude as this may cause more harm that may not be necessary after all. Round table talks when everyone is calm and collected yield better solutions
Today’s customers find it easy to lash out at organisations even without gathering the correct facts. Social media is the most available and most abused platform that customers have, and they have easy access to reach their targeted organisations in real time.
The rise of consumerism activists has also caused a spiral in consumer power and space to air out their grievances. However, some of it lacks civility, especially when the allegations levelled against organisations are not fully substantiated. Some companies or brands have disappeared into oblivion after false allegations were levelled against them.
Nonetheless, organisations must be aware of the economic impact posed to their businesses by this incivility behaviour by some of its customers. Having proper knowledge of the effects of rude customers will help organisations to realign their strategies and save their ships from being sunk by rude customers.
Some of the effects include:
- Higher labour turnover: rude customers have a tendency of causing staff members emotional exhaustion and stress with their toxic behaviour. This may be in the form of verbal abuse or offensive language.
Not-so-strong employees may suffer breakdowns that may cause either increased absenteeism or it may have a downward negative effect on their work performance. If management fails to manage these situations properly, employees may desert the organisation.
Employees’ mind wellness is of great importance and if that is not catered for enough, the same employees tend to look elsewhere and that may mean changing jobs. This is not a good sign for organisations as this may result in lack of continuity as the organisation is forced to be always on the job market hunting for skills while losing the same skills at equally the same rate.
- Reputation damage: rude customers pose reputational risk due to their uncontrolled anger and threatening behaviour that can go to any lengths to damage the reputation of an organisation. When a rude customer is dissatisfied with the organisation, it is quite possible that they may try to soil the name of the organisation so that other potential customers may stay away.
Companies need to protect their reputation since it is the biggest asset that they may have. Good stories about an organisation attracts new customers, increased customer enquiries, skilled workforce, investors and increases the value of the organisation. The who-is-who of the business world are more than willing to be associated with a reputable organisation.
However, all this can be lost if a rude customer goes on a tirade to discredit an organisation’s reputation due to some frivolous mishaps with the company’s representatives.
- Loss of customers: The 21st century customer is more techy-savvy and can get information about an organisation at the click of a button. Rude customers can be found everywhere and with social media being the in-thing, they are most likely to be there too. It is very easy for organisations lose customers after getting negative reviews on social media. Thus, companies must be careful on how they treat their rude customers because some of them are influencers in their respective societies and their actions may have an influence on the other customers within that particular society.
- Brand loyalty: Although brand loyalty has a close proximity to brand reputation, losing a loyal customer is really a big loss to organisations. Rude customers can speak ill of your brand to your most loyal customers which, in turn, may make them think twice before engaging the organisation. Customers who are brand-loyal may be forced to retreat from further business ties with such a company. For instance, when some butcheries were accused of buying sick cattle from villagers in rural areas, some of them lost a substantial number of customers that were initially loyal to the brand.
- Reduced sales: Sales are bound to reduce because rude customers tend to share their bad experience with other customers. This is bad when it is negative word of mouth. When customer numbers begin to dwindle so are the sales and eventually profit. Operating at a loss is a sign of an incompetent management team. Customers are not willing to patronise companies that fail to take care of them and lack customer care considerations.
Rude customers only show that they do not regard the next person as an equal.
Cresencia Marjorie Chiremba is a marketing enthusiast with a strong passion for customer service. For comments and suggestions, she can be reached on [email protected] or on 0712 979 461
