What Ever Happened to Good Ole' Customer Service?

When did customer service die? You’ve all been there. You’re waiting in line, your time is valuable and you have a return or a question. You finally make your way to the person who appears to have all the answers to be greeted by…now close your eyes and imagine it. Abubble gum popping, non eye contact, texting on their phone live person…who says “can I help you"?. They are obviously clueless, don’t give two cents about you or your problem and can’t wait to clock out to run home to mom’s basement to play video games.

So is the problem that most of our customer service is animated now? Farmed out to some foreign country? The worker is only there to collect a paycheck? Lack of upper management support?

This all drives me absolutely crazy. I’ve worked for years in customer service. I expect good customer service and I demand it of my employees. Our company was built on it….one customer at a time. It is our motto that “It doesn’t matter how much you know, but how much you care”. That sentence makes the world of difference in today’s society. The average customer is lacking sleep, stressed out beyond belief, works hard for their money and already thinks they won’t be taken care of properly. You as the vendor, are providing them with a service. Without them, your business will not survive. So, why would you NOT provide the best possible service available to someone paying YOU money for your offerings?

It takes a minute to call someone back. It takes a minute to send an email. It takes less than a minute to smile. It takes less than a minute to admit when we are wrong. It takes less than a minute to say please and thank you. So, for less than 5 minutes per person you’ve provided them with good customer service. I promise you that you spend more than 5 minutes talking to a co-worker about what your plans are for the weekend. I also promise you that one day, you will be on the other side of the phone, the counter or an email with a problem that needs fixed. I’m sure your time is valuable as well. How will you feel when your problems, issues or questions are not cared for?