21 Ways To Infuriate Both Your Customers And Employees
We tend to regard compliance as the process of adhering to state and federal laws. But it’s something much more tangible in practice. For many dealerships, compliance can be described as the art of not maddening people.
Think about it: Laws get passed not to arbitrarily control our behavior, but to prevent real, probable, or perceived injury to an individual or group of people. This isn’t to say the legal system is infallible or static—we all have opinions about whether certain laws effectively prevent harm or compound it, and the facts change with broad developments in society, technology, and the environment—but there should always be reasoning behind justice, well-rendered or not. An action becomes illegal if it infuriates enough powerful people.
Here on this blog, we’ve written plenty of articles about how to avoid getting on the wrong side of regulators—the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Federal Trade Commission, and others. It’s important to remember, however, that these agencies are not completely autonomous. They represent and act on behalf of powerful people: namely, your employees and customers.
So why not cut out of the middleman? Do right by your customers and employees now, and you’ll have an easier time avoiding regulatory conflicts later. Otherwise, if you enjoy pissing off powerful people, here are 21 surefire ways to do it:
Did you notice any patterns in the list above? Indeed, actions that piss off your employees and customers tend to have a few things in common:
- They overlook potential risks. Regardless of underlying intention, actions that harm your customers and employees are generally short-sighted. They focus only on the bare minimum of what needs to happen right now.
- They shut out inconvenient information. If a customer or employee tells you that something matters, it matters. Compliant and successful dealerships take complaints seriously and address them promptly and completely.
- They shift responsibility and displace blame. Members of your team need support and encouragement not only because it makes them better at their jobs, but because they represent your company. You’re liable for what they do and don’t do; what they know and don’t know.
- They’re stuck in the past. Simplistic customer outreach efforts, siloed departmental functions, manual processes, mountains of paperwork—all of it adds up to a lot of frustration and disengagement. As the world outside your dealership speeds along, don’t assume that what’s always worked will continue to work. “Good enough” is anything but.
The first step in infuriating fewer people is making their lives easier. Automated workforce compliance can help your dealership better understand and meet the needs of its employees and customers, lead to fewer complaints, and free up more time to focus on what matters. Learn about Compligo for dealerships.
