Anyone whose business is successful provides great customer
service. If we don’t, we will fail eventually. Customers just do not have the
time or energy to put up with anything less than decent customer service. What
is the level of customer service that a customer will allow us to sink to
before they take their business elsewhere?
Businesses may brag about their great customer service. They
don’t ever say that they only give adequate customer service, and they will
also never say that their customer service lacks anything positive. The big
question is do businesses live up to their bragging about their customer
service, or do they fail to address the problems with their service which
disappoint their customers?
There are businesses with great customer service, and there
are the ones with little if any customer service. Then there are businesses
that fall somewhere in between the great and the ones who do not even know the
definition of customer service at all. Why does any customer put up with
anything less than receiving great customer service? Why does anyone support
businesses whose employees do not even do their jobs?
Recently I had the occasion to complain to an international
company about the service that I was receiving. I called their customer service
representatives and stated my problem, which had been ongoing for some time.
Previous attempts to resolve the problem were met with promises which were not
kept, and I believed that I was being ignored. I had to demand to speak to a
supervisor about my problem when the representative refused to deviate from the
same marketing script which I had endured on several previous calls.
When I finally was able to discuss my problem with a
supervisor, I threatened to take my business elsewhere if my problem was not
resolved to my satisfaction. Since I have been a customer of this business for
over 10 years, I believed that I was due to receive something other than a
brush-off.
The supervisor listened to my problem, agreed that I should
have not been ignored previously, made sure that I knew that he was sympathetic
to my feelings, scheduled a service call at my home, at no charge to me, and
responded favorably to my question if there was basis for reducing my monthly
billing. After the service call, my problem was now resolved, in a professional
manner, and I thanked and praised the service representative directly and to
his supervisor.
While my problem was finally resolved, and my monthly
billing now is less than it was previously, I still believe that the company
needs to look at making changes to their customer service policy. They need to
teach their representatives to listen to their customers’ problems, exhibit
some sympathy to their customers, and offer solutions instead of a script of denials.
A long term client should be rewarded, not insulted.
Through Gratitude Marketing we have the opportunity to
build our customer base greater than we ever dreamed. We also have the
opportunity to move customers to become clients and enjoy their referrals which
will increase our success and prosperity. It is just good karma, but they
should not have to fight to receive customer service of any level. Please leave
me your comments, or email me at Jim@JimTeasley.com,
or call me at 360-314-8691.
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