It is one of the most elusive behaviors in today’s world. It is a lost art in today’s fast-paced society. It is an attitude that has shied away from our modern society. It is a missed opportunity, a hidden gem, a secret hideaway. It is: CUSTOMER SERVICE.
Whether a company is selling a product or service, it seems impossible to find a human who can help you. If you need support, you get to call and talk to someone overseas that you can hardly understand. If you need information, you get the rigamarole on who you need to talk to. If you want to return an item, you must have your receipt. And if you call a company and leave a message, you are lucky to get a call back.
What happened to some good, old-fashioned customer service? What happened to the adage to ‘treat others as you would want to be treated’? Why are people just so darn rude these days? And why don’t they care about their customers enough to return a phone call or go out of their way to help?
Put It Into Perspective
A pipe busts in your house and now you have water EVERYWHERE. You call a plumber and leave a message. 72 hours later he finally returns your call. At this point, your house is a swimming pool.
You want to return an unopened bag of candy. You bought it on impulse and realized the diet you’re on doesn’t say you can eat candy in order to lose weight. You walk into the store with your receipt to return it. The associate behind the counter gives a shoulder-moving sigh and says, “well, I can’t resell this so I’ll have to put a damage label on it.” You feel the guilt trip setting in that this company is going to fold if you return your $1.49 bag of candy so you walk back out of the store while eating that same bag of candy; thus ruining your day and your diet.
You buy a used car from a car dealership and within a couple weeks the transmission is acting funny. You take it in to the dealership you bought it from and they slap you with a $4,000+ repair. You just bought the car from them! They aren’t willing to do anything for you until you get loud in their sales area, embarrassing yourself and your family.
Is this how you want to be treated? No! (Unless you really don’t care how people treat or respect you.) So then why would you treat someone else that way?
Customer Service is Elementary
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” I’m sure you remember hearing that from the time you were little. Your parents engrained it into you. “Say ‘please’ and ‘thank you'”. There’s your mom and dad popping into your head again.
I know how easy it is to forget to say “please” or “thank you” especially when you have a million things going on and you are just trying to get things done. You have to take a moment to stop, breathe, and “mind your manners”.
The first step to quality customer service is remembering your manners. If you can remember all the little mannerisms that you learned as a child, then you are on your way to improving your customer service skills.
Customer Service is Empathy
Part of good customer service is empathizing with the customer. You don’t have to agree with what they say, think, or feel. You simply have to understand what they are saying, thinking, or feeling.
“I feel great! My back no longer hurts!” = You understand that they are no longer in pain and feel good.
“I love you” = You understand the person has feelings for you beyond acquaintances or friendships.
“This place smells bad.” = You understand that they don’t like the odors they sense.
“I think you overcharged me.” = You understand that they feel the value wasn’t there for the price they paid or you understand that the amount charged was more than the amount billed.
What Do you Do with This Information?
You repeat what they said in your own words and ask questions for clarity, if needed. “That is great that your back doesn’t hurt anymore.” “I love you too” (only if you really do). “I understand you think we overcharged you. Can you please show me where we overcharged you or tell me why you feel that way?” Make sure you get a clear picture of why the person thinks or feels the way they do. We don’t want to assume we understand when the statement may be vague. After all, we all know what ASSumption does, right?
Customer Service is Choices
Once you understand clearly what the customer means, then you can come up with solutions, or choices, to help make the customer happy. For example, you now clearly understand that the person felt overcharged because they don’t see the value in the product or service you provided. In this case, you have options: you can refund a portion of the money, you can explain your value to the customer, or you can ignore the situation entirely. However, most people don’t like to be ignored so I don’t recommend the last option.
In that same breath, customers also like to have choices. Maybe you have been trying to locate a part for their lawn mower. You finally find the part number on the schematics to find out you do not have the part in stock. Therefore you can give the customer choices: you can order the part for the customer or they can seek the part elsewhere. Then you leave the choice up to the customer. You are not their mom and cannot make the right choice for them. In this situation the “mom knows best” adage doesn’t work! As a value added customer service tip, give them the part number if they choose to look for the part elsewhere.
Maybe you are a tax professional downloading a client’s tax documents. However, the system doesn’t seem to be working properly. You’ve even called the human resources department of the company your client works for and they’ve admitted that the fault is on their end. So you give the choice to the customer: wait for their tax documents to arrive in the mail, wait until the website is working and come back in and try again, or let them know they can call their HR department and see if they can’t get their tax documents emailed to them. Customers love choices! Just don’t be their mom.
Customer Service is Friendly
One of the biggest things about providing quality customer service is friendliness. You can’t provide good customer service if you are grumpy. Your bad mood shows through in your tone of voice, your facial expressions, your body language, and even your solutions. ALWAYS smile when you answer the phone. ALWAYS be polite in your words. ALWAYS be respectful. ALWAYS listen to the customer. 9 times out of 10, the customer just wants to vent. All you have to do is listen, understand, apologize, and give solutions or options if they are needed. It’s as easy as baking a pie! (That is unless you have tried baking a pie once. I do find cheesecake to be a bit labor intensive. And don’t get me started on mousse or my husband’s favorite: Pumpkin Roll.)
Customer Service is Service
‘Tis better to give than to receive. Having a servant attitude goes a long way in customer service. There are times where “you’re welcome” are perfectly appropriate. However, sometimes it is better to say “my pleasure” or “happy to help”. This shows the customer that you are going above and beyond for them. Little do they know that you would have done it for anyone and not just them.
Sometimes it is about truly going out of your way for one particular customer. It’s about calling around to find that specific nail polish color at another store location or about calling their financial institution to get their tax documents emailed to them so they can file their taxes. Sometimes it is about offering a past promotion they should have received on their next visit to your office or offering to return an item without the receipt. Sometimes you really do have to go beyond the call of duty to make the customer happy… within reason of course.
When the Customer is Wrong
There are times when no matter what you offer or what you do, the customer still won’t be happy. You can’t please everyone all the time. Therefore, don’t get discouraged about that one customer. Try your best to help him or her, give him the solutions you are willing to offer, and if it isn’t good enough then apologize but stand your ground. You don’t want to be a pushover person or work for a pushover company. Just like in parenting, you have limits.
For example, some people want something for nothing LITERALLY. You can’t give away the farm but maybe you can offer them a discount on their next visit. They say that isn’t good enough. You can always reply with, “I’m sorry that isn’t satisfactory Mr. Customer but it is the best I can do at this time.” Even if they say no thanks to your offer, still be sure to follow through with your promises.
The Bottom Line
If you sell a product, it is about selling quality and the benefits of that product. If you sell a service, it is about selling yourself. It is about selling your value. To be an outstanding person and/or company, you need to learn the lost art of customer service. You have to listen to the customer, empathize, give them options, and follow through. We are only as good as our word and our word is our bond when it comes to good business practices.
Val's Wonderings and Ponderings 