Quiet Quitting Is Not Just for Employees — Customers Are Doing It Too

Sam Klaidman April 27, 2023

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Employees Quiet Quitting

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, we were worried about the Silver Tsunami. Our oldest and most experienced employees were either retiring or taking a part-time job with less stress and a better work-life balance.

Then came work-from-home and employees quiet quitting. If an employee's workday is eight hours plus a one-hour lunch, they were logged on their computers for precisely nine hours. The employee’s mentality changed from work until I drop to what the British call work to rules.

The worst part for me occurred in October 2022, when Callie Crossley reported on National Public Radio, “Gallup backs up the trend, reporting a decline in engagement and employee satisfaction, particularly among millennials and Gen Zers. Gallup’s biggest takeaway: at least 50% of the U.S. workforce is quiet quitting.”

Then came the apps designed to replicate computer mouse movement so that workers would appear to be busy at their computers:

The Microsoft App Store sells Move Mouse — “a simple utility that can be used to simulate user activity.”
The Google App Store sells MouseJiggler — a straightforward “application which, by moving your mouse cursor periodically, prevents your computer screen from locking.”
The Apple App Store sells Mouse Mover — an application whose sole function is to "fake mouse input" to your computer.

The mouse mover apps sound terrible, but they may be how employees cover their short breaks while still accomplishing a full day's work without raising questions from their boss.

Customer Quiet Quitting

Customers are not obligated to spend more money with you after their initial purchase unless they purchase something under a special purchase agreement. However, you know that they will eventually need support, replacement parts, software upgrades, training, consumables, and on-site service work.

You should be concerned if your company has not heard from a new end user or their purchasing department when you normally would expect to receive a call. Your first reaction will probably be, “Why are they not using the machine we installed two months ago?” When you check with accounting, though, you will probably find out they paid promptly.

Since the customer accepted the product and was satisfied, your next step will be to ask the salesperson who sold the product if they have heard from the customer. They will probably answer, “I called them two weeks after the field engineer left, and the machine was humming along.”

What could have happened in the months after the salesperson checked in? If the customer is not yet due to reorder consumables or wear parts, then no news is good news. But if a high percentage of customers call support with questions during the first three months and you have not heard anything from the customer since the salesperson checked in with them, something important may be going on at the account.

Before you call or send an email or instant message, you should consider why they may not have called so you can plan your next action.

3 Reasons Why Customers Are Not Communicating

There are a number of reasons why customers may not be communicating with you when you expect them to. Here are three:

The best news would be that when you call the production manager, she says: “Everything is going great. We were lucky to hire a machine operator with experience with this model product. He has been making any necessary changes and knows to contact you when he needs a replacement part or more consumables.”
The bad news could be when you hear: “We are in the middle of an unexpected financial situation. We have shut down over half of our production department and laid-off half of our production team. Your equipment has not run for three months, and if the situation does not improve in the next month, we will contact you about returning it.”
The worst news is: “We filed for Chapter 11 and are making an arrangement with an industrial auctioneer to sell everything on the floor within 30 days.” In this case, you want to know who buys your equipment so you can offer to reinstall and commission the machine. Then you can restart their service relationship with you.

No matter what happens, you did the right thing by monitoring calls from your new customers and following up when they did not follow the usual communication patterns.

I hope you always get option one, but be prepared for options two and three.