MBA2736 Is Great Customer Service Dead? How To Stand Out And Be The Leader in Your Market

Recently, Omar had a frustrating experience with a basketball gym he genuinely liked, a place where he was a loyal member. What unfolded was the perfect example of how businesses lose trust and money when they fail to serve their customers the right way. In today’s episode, Omar shares a real story that shows you why customer service has become the biggest differentiator in business today and how easy it is for companies to get it wrong. He takes you inside a frustrating situation with a business, revealing how poor service can cost you trust, loyalty, and even money. You will learn what effective service truly looks like and gain practical strategies for delivering experiences that make you feel valued, even when the outcome is not what you hoped for. How you handle people, conflict, and discomfort defines your long‑term success. Press play at the top and hear Omar explain how customer service can make you unforgettable in your market. Recommended episode to explore:MBA2731 Why People Turn Against You When You Start To SucceedWatch the episodes on YouTube: https://lm.fm/GgRPPHiSUBSCRIBEYouTube | Apple Podcast | Spotify | Podcast Feed Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

• 0:00Speaker 00

  These days, you can get an answer from the internet, an influencer, or AI in seconds. But when it comes to legal matters for your business or your family, a quick answer is not the same as the right answer. With 25 years of experience, LegalZoom knows how to start you off right. When you need a legal hand, visit LegalZoom. Go to LegalZoom.com to get started. LegalZoom provides access to independent attorneys and its law firm, LZ Legal Services. LegalZoom is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice. Small business owners, listen up. You started your business, but you can't do it alone. And that means you have to hire people to help. That's where Justworks comes in. Justworks is the payroll, benefits, and global hiring platform to unburden your brain from all the complicated small business stuff.

• 0:45Speaker 00

  They handle the things you can't afford to get wrong, so you don't have to worry. So you can focus on the parts of running a business that you enjoy, knowing everything else is running smoothly. You don't have to worry when it just works. Is amazing customer service dead? Because sometimes I really feel like it is. Today, I'm going to share with you a real experience I had recently with a business I actually like, a basketball gym that I'm a member of. And what happened was the perfect example of why customer service has become the biggest differentiator in business today, and why so many companies are getting it completely wrong. I'm going to share with you the whole crazy situation I had with my gym and how they totally fumbled the bag and lost hundreds and hundreds of dollars

• 1:28Speaker 00

  because they didn't know how to do customer service right. I'm going to show you how you can do it right so that you can outcompete your competition and really stand out from the crowd. I'm not speaking theory here. I'm speaking out of actual practice. I built a software company called Webinar Ninja from 2014, and we got acquired in 2024 for life-changing money. And the biggest reason why we were successful was because of our customer service. We were maniacal about how well we served our customers in terms of speed, quality, efficiency, and also just making sure our customers feel like they're winning. I'm telling you right now, this is actually really easy to mess up.

• 2:11Speaker 00

  This is why I wanted to create an episode just about this.

• 2:20Speaker 00

  Welcome back to the $100 MBA Show. I'm your host, Omar Zenhome, where I deliver practical business lessons three times a week, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, to help you start, grow, and scale your business.

• 2:34Speaker 00

  I got a quick favor to ask. If this show has helped you in any way, leave me a quick review. You could do so wherever you listen to podcasts. This helps me and my team reach even more people who need the same no-fluff, practical business advice that you're getting from the show. It only takes a few seconds, but it makes a huge difference. Thanks for being a part of our journey to help others on their journey.

• 2:58Speaker 00

  So, I signed up for my gym. It's a basketball-centric gym called Housed Hoops. I signed up last year, and I paid in full upfront for my whole year of membership. But before I signed up, I asked one specific question to the salesperson that was going back and forth with me on SMS. I asked them, "Hey, I travel a lot for work. Can I put my membership on hold from time to time without any penalties? Because I travel and I won't be able to make use of the full year." I was told, "Yes, you can definitely do that." And I actually confirmed it in person when I paid for my membership when I went to the gym. I double-checked because it's literally the deciding factor of me paying upfront for the year. Now, fast forward a few weeks ago, I'm traveling.

• 3:42Speaker 00

  I put my membership on hold, and I see a surprise charge on my account. It's not a huge amount. It's $45. But it's enough for me to stop and say, "Wait, what is this? Why am I being charged $45 if I paid everything in advance for the year?" So, I did what any reasonable adult does. I emailed support politely. I said, "Hey, what's going on here? I just got charged for $45. I'm not sure what this charge is for." Anytime I email support of any company that I use, I am highly aware of how hard it is for customer support agents and staff to deal with customers. So, I'm super sensitive, and I really want to make sure that they understand that, "Hey, I'm not trying to be antagonistic. I just want to get some answers so I know how to take the next steps." So, I got asked about the charge.

• 4:27Speaker 00

  And then I got told that this charge is for holding your account, for freezing your account. And if you freeze it more than once a year, then you're going to get charged $5 for every week you hold it. So then I replied to them and say, well, I wasn't aware that there's any charge for holding the account. And I actually asked, is there any limits for holding my account before I signed up? And I was told no. And then I actually reviewed my contract and there's nothing in the contract that says that. And I actually emailed a screenshot of the conversation I had on SMS with the salesperson, asking the specific question to make sure that, hey, I'm in the clear and I can freeze as much as I want with no limits. So it's reasonable for me to be surprised about this. So I asked them, hey, can you please refund my account?

• 5:12Speaker 00

  Because it's not on my contract. I asked this question before I signed up for the year and I was told that I don't have to worry about it. But I'm getting charged anyway. So I just said, can you please refund me the $45? Because this is obviously a mistake. So I received a reply. It was a copy and paste response that basically said, hey, we can change our terms whenever we want. And we had changed our terms back in, I think it was September and gave you 30 days notice. I want to stop here for a moment and say, even if, you know, I signed on the dotted line that says that they can change their terms whenever they want. And they can charge me something that I didn't agree upon. Let's just for a second, just accept that. Okay? Even if that's the case, you have to acknowledge what the customer has sent you. Right?

• 5:56Speaker 00

  You have to acknowledge the fact that, yes, you were promised something in the beginning when you signed up. Yes, you did pay for the year upfront. Yes, I do see the conversation that you sent me from the salesperson that was with us. By the way, I also mentioned that when I actually made the hold in the app, I wasn't notified in that moment that I will be charged. They could even acknowledge that as well. They could have just even just acknowledged the fact that, yes, I can see how you would be surprised by this charge. Okay? They just literally sent me the policy that they can change the policy at any point. So in this moment, I just basically said, I'm going to use this as a moment to hopefully help this person out. This person that is dealing with me as a customer. In the customer service department of this company,

• 6:40Speaker 00

  because I know how it is to be on that side. I answered 400 customer service tickets in one day at one point at Webinar Ninja when I was getting started. So I explained clearly and respectfully, even offering the exact words that they could have used to handle this better. I said, I understand, but you could have simply said, hey, I'm going to see what I can do. I'm going to ask my manager. I'm going to figure out if there's something that we can do as an exception. There is no attempt to actually help the customer out. And on top of that, there is no basic empathy of the fact that this person is actually getting some bad news. Like they're not going to get the refund. So you can at least say, hey, I can see how this could be upsetting, but this is the situation. I wish I could be more of help.

• 7:25Speaker 00

  Be honest, as a business owner, how much of your day is actual work? And how much is it just getting ready to do the work? Answering emails, tweaking presentations, hunting for numbers? That stuff adds up fast, which is why upgrading to the premium tier of Google Workspace with Gemini is a game changer. One subscription gets you Google's AI right into all your apps like Gmail, Docs, Sheets and Meet, so it can handle all the heavy lifting across your day. Need a reply drafted in your exact voice? Gemini handles it in Gmail. Need to turn messy spreadsheet data into visual insights? Done in Sheets. Missing a meeting? It takes notes and gives action items in Meet. It acts like a full-time assistant connected across your entire business.

• 8:09Speaker 00

  Make work less work. Try Google Workspace with Gemini at g o o dot G L E slash Workspace with Gemini. Today's episode is sponsored by Whatnot. You've probably heard about live selling and it's taking off on Whatnot. Sellers on Whatnot don't need a storefront or paid social media ads to reach customers. This is what I love about it because with live video, you interact and engage with your customers. You just need your phone and buyers can ask questions. They can make purchases in real time. On Whatnot, you can see people selling from living rooms and warehouses, selling sneakers, electronics, vintage, even a guy on a boat selling lobsters he just caught. Thousands of items are sold every minute because customers get to know sellers and see

• 8:52Speaker 00

  the products live. For many sellers, it's gone from side hustle to full-time job since they're selling 10 times here than on other marketplaces. I've personally shopped on whatnot and found the whole experience actually pretty fun. I got the bid on a product that I was looking at, which was a little tripod for my phone. And when I won the bid, the seller gave me a shout out and gave me a little demo of how the tripod works. In a couple of days, the tripod was at my front door. It couldn't be easier. Search whatnot, W-H-A-T-N-O-T in the App Store, download and start selling right away.

• 9:28Speaker 00

  So what do you think happened after I sent that email? Well, same tone, same script, and I actually got told, this is what I tell everyone. And that's the point. When you're in customer service, you're in human services. Okay, you're dealing with a human being. You can't just copy and paste the same responses and give it to everybody. You need to acknowledge what people say. You need to have some empathy. You also need to show that you care in some way about this person who's paid you money. One of the things I used to tell my team constantly is that, hey, our customers are our biggest stakeholders. We didn't have any investors. We're self-funded and be able to grow our business that way. So I told them, our stakeholders are our customers. Without our customers, we all have no jobs. Okay, there is no money

• 10:11Speaker 00

  to be made and there's no money to be given out. So we need to make sure that no matter what the situation is, that they have the best experience possible when they communicate with us. Even when we're delivering bad news, throwing the terms and conditions at somebody is not going to be a good experience for them. A better experience, even if you're not able to help them, is showing that you made some effort. That, hey, I spoke to my manager. I'm gonna see what I can do. Actually, I took a look at what I was able to do and unfortunately, I'm not able to refund you. I hope that you can still be a loyal customer and enjoy our gyms and sign up for another year. I'm gonna pass on your feedback and make sure that there's a little bit more clarity when it comes to holding your account. And maybe we have a

• 10:55Speaker 00

  pop-up message in the app when people are holding your account, let them know they're gonna be charged. So as you can see, it's easy to mess this up. I had a very unpleasant situation or unpleasant experience and therefore that $45 charge and how it was handled when I went back and forth with them is going to cost them hundreds and hundreds of dollars, if not thousands, because I will not renew for the next year. I'll find another basketball gym, there's plenty of them. And they lost a loyal customer. And to be honest, not getting what I wanted and paying $45 was well worth it for me to be able to have this piece of content, this great story, this great case study of how not to do customer service that's going to help thousands and thousands of people who are listening and watching all over our platforms. Here's the takeaway, guys.

• 11:38Speaker 00

  Customer service isn't about enforcing rules, it's not about protecting policies, it's not about being technically correct. That's not customer service. Your job as a business is to make sure your customers are delighted. That's your job. Now, even when you're delivering bad news or a situation where you really can't do anything else, there's a better way to deliver that news so they feel like you still care or that you have some concern. Too many business owners are trying to prove a point. I'm not interested in being right, I'm interested in winning as a business owner. You've heard this all over the internet before. It's true. And when it comes to customer service, it's a double true. When you're dealing with customers, you have to understand who the customer is, how long

• 12:20Speaker 00

  they've been a customer, what expectations they have as a customer, and whether the spirit of the relationship matters more than the letter of the policy. And this is why when we were running our customer service team at Webinar, an software company, we had a rule. No scripted answers. You're not allowed to copy and paste an answer. You need to customize all your replies to all our customers depending on the situation. You can still stick to your policy and show empathy. Those things are not mutually exclusive. Here's the part that most people miss. This isn't the fault of the person I was going back and forth on email. This is a leadership failure. This is a problem with leaders not training their teams properly and not empowering their

• 13:03Speaker 00

  team members to think on their own, to de-escalate situations, to empathize with their customers. Customers and make sure that they feel heard. You cannot compete in the marketplace if this is how you do customer service. It's far too competitive. And today with all the AI bots and all the scripted answers and all these things that are out there, you can really stand out by being a human, by having humans deal with other humans and show empathy and show care and show enthusiasm for the fact that they're even a customer. By the way, what I'm talking about today ties directly into something that I'm covering in an upcoming episode that I'm excited about. And it's about why it's so hard to stand out these days.

• 13:46Speaker 00

  If you're running a business, creating content or building a brand, you don't want to miss that episode because standing out today has nothing to do with shouting louder and everything to do with how you treat people. So make sure you subscribe so you don't miss that episode once it comes out. I want to be clear, you can't think about what the customer has paid you and make a decision based on that. A lot of people are like, well, this customer paid me for a $29 product and they're complaining and they're asking for a refund and all that kind of stuff. You've got to think more long-term as a business owner. You've got to think about lifetime value. Maybe they're going to get a refund on that $29 product, but later on

• 14:26Speaker 00

  they'll be happy with a different product that you give them that's $500 or $1,000 or $2,000 a month in coaching. The point here is that you can't think short-term, even if they never buy anything again, but because they have a great experience in that refund experience, they tell their friends and families, hey, it wasn't right for me, but hey, you might be interested in it. The point of today's episode is to really highlight that there is an opportunity for you. Everyone else is hiding behind policies and automation and bots and AI and they treat customers like tickets, support tickets. No, they're a real person behind those emails. And you can win by doing something shockingly rare, care.

• 15:07Speaker 00

  Teach your team to read the whole message that they get, to respond like a human. No scripted answers and no canned responses. Acknowledge the emotions or what's happening in the email. It's fine to just repeat and say, "Hey, I see that you're upset because of 1, 2, 3, 4. I can see why that could be frustrating." And honestly, do it. Don't just pander to them, right? Explain whatever decision you make with respect. You don't have to say yes to everything. You just have to show that you actually care, that you give a damn. Before I go, I want to leave you with this. Customer service is not a department. It's actually your brand. It's branding. What I tell my team members is that whenever we interact with customers,

• 15:49Speaker 00

  whether on a customer support ticket, whether in person, whether on a call, this is when they form their opinion of us. This is what cultivates their idea of what our business is and what our brand is all about, and the perception they have of us. So that is critical. Whoever's doing customer support is really doing marketing. And I'm talking about customer service before they buy, after they buy, years after they bought, whatever it might be. That's when they decide whether they're going to trust you, continue to trust you, whether they're going to renew whatever membership they have with you or continue to buy other products from you, whether they're going to recommend you to other people, whether they're going to forgive mistakes that you make. Listen, I'm not flawless.

• 16:33Speaker 00

  I've made mistakes in business before, and I've had to apologize to my customers. And I've had customers that have been with me for decades because I was able to handle the situation in a way that made them feel like, "Hey, it was an honest mistake, and this person cares enough that they're going to continue to take care of me in the long run." And it's a world full of sameness right now. It's one of the fastest ways I've found to become a market leader is through customer support. If this episode hit home in any way, I highly recommend you check out a previous episode titled, "Why People Turn Against You When You Start to Succeed." It connects deeply with this conversation because how you handle people, conflict, and discomfort in general

• 17:16Speaker 00

  is how you will grow and how it will define your long-term success.

• 17:23Speaker 00

  If you found today's episode helpful and you want more practical business lessons to help you start, grow, and scale your business, the best thing you could do is subscribe to this podcast. Hit subscribe or follow on your favorite podcast app, the one that you're using right now, whether it's Apple or Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. By hitting subscribe, you get our next episode automatically, and it's the best way to support the show. It's absolutely free, and it's a way for you to commit to growing your business. And now that you've subscribed, I'll check you in the next episode.

• 17:59Speaker 01

  Time for a quick break to talk about McDonald's. It's the tangiest time of the year. For a limited time, head to McDonald's and get a McRib sandwich. Make it a meal by adding a medium fries and a soft drink like an ice cold Diet Dr. Pepper. So grab a McRib sandwich and embrace the tang. Save time by ordering ahead on the app. Participate at McDonald's for a limited time. Dr. Pepper is a registered trademark of Dr. Pepper, 7-Up Inc.