The solvable problem of terrible customer service

I rode the monorail at Walt Disney World about a decade ago — and it was one of the toughest and funniest jobs I’ve ever had. It was also a master class on how to provide exceptional customer service.

The top priority for everyone at Walt Disney World was taking the customer experience to the next level. For me, that sometimes meant identifying a kid who looked particularly tired and letting them ride in front of the monorail so they could feel like a pilot. At other times, especially during long waits, I sang songs or played games with our guests to keep the mood light.

No matter what happened, every Disney employee approached customer interactions with empathy and applied their problem-solving skills to make the park truly feel like “the happiest place on earth.”

I brought this mentality with me when I started ClickUp, which is why we have made providing the best possible customer experience our core value.

This means that while we have policies and processes like all companies, we allow any customer-facing employee to break the rules as they see fit. In our opinion, poor customer service is usually not the agent’s fault, but the result of rigid policies that do not allow for consideration or flexibility.

Why Rigid Customer Service Policies Fail

Companies often implement policies that limit the type of support they can provide, and even if a customer makes a reasonable request (e.g., a refund for a late order), company policies limit what the support agent can do answer. This is particularly problematic in industries where a few organizations have a lot of power. How many times have you had a problem with an airline and struggled to resolve it? I suspect quite a lot.

This can be a compound problem. The more rules a company imposes on customer service agents, the less motivated those agents are, resulting in poorer support outcomes, including basic non-issue interactions. Research shows that 89% of companies that provide “well above average” customer service experience higher revenue growth than their competitors. Another study showed that increasing customer retention rates by just 5% can result in up to a 95% increase in profits.

How to build a confident customer support team

Having a knowledgeable, friendly customer service team has never been more important. Many customers still seek assistance from a live agent, and the person they speak to can make or break their experience.

Keeping customer service reps happy is important – and nothing boosts morale like transparency and a sense of control. Clarify priorities for your support staff—then let them do their job.

Aside from raising the bar for success, providing this type of agency for your employees can also encourage retention. Research shows that workers who know exactly what is expected of them are almost four times as likely to say they plan to stay at a company for at least two years and about seven times as likely to say they rarely think about joining a company to look for a new job. They’re also more likely to be authentic, effective advocates for your brand.

Why it is important to prioritize impact

Eliminating strict policies can lead to higher spend if your customer service reps are allowed to offer discounts and refunds. This is important, but not as important as it might seem.

After all, emigration is expensive. One study showed that 67% of customer churn could be avoided if a customer’s problems were resolved immediately. Other research says that customers who have had a good experience with a support agent are more than five times more likely to shop with that company again, more than seven times more likely to forgive future mistakes, and about nine times more likely to try that company’s new offerings.

Companies should try to raise the bar. The long-term benefits of making a customer happy can far outweigh a small loss here or there.

How technology can let us down

A lot has changed since I was at Disney. If you go to theme parks today, you’ll find that mobile apps have taken over. They’re for just about anything – tickets, ride reservations, food purchases and more. That just doesn’t make sense, especially when you consider who the customers are: a very diverse group, many of whom aren’t tech-savvy. And it’s really unfair to the staff who have no control over how well the mobile app is performing and can’t help when things go haywire.

On a recent trip to an amusement park, I noticed that many visitors were frustrated with the mobile app experience – and staff were struggling too. I wondered if business leaders knew how problematic this situation had become. Why didn’t they focus more on creating intuitive user experiences? There has to be a balance.

It should be a priority for leaders to understand how their customers and employees are feeling at all times and make adjustments as needed. It’s too expensive not to do it.

The key to a great customer experience? Hire people you trust and let them lead.

Zeb Evans is the founder and CEO of ClickUp.

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