Customer Service Isn’t the Main Thing – It’s the Only Thing
Customer service is essential to any successful business – or you won’t have any business.
We’ve all experienced bad customer service. If the business lets that happen on a continual basis, well…
Once, I went to a restaurant and a friend and I were splitting the bill because we wanted to share a meal. Neither of us had credit cards, so we were paying with cash. We wanted to each pay half of the bill with $10 bills and get the appropriate change. The lady behind the counter could not figure it out for the life of her. For some reason, dividing the bill in half and giving change accordingly wasn’t easy. Now I get that we made a crazy request. That’s not what annoyed me to the point of not ever wanting to go back.
The thing that turned me off was the lady called her manager over, explained the situation, and he proceeded to say something to my friend and I like,
“Okay. The next time you want to do something like this, have exact change, okay?” in a tone of voice that said, “you caused us a huge headache and you’re both super annoying.”
Next time? There wasn’t going to be a “next time” anytime soon. You know what else? I told all of my friends about how that particular restaurant was rude to us. Negative reviews spread like wildfire – so avoid it if at all possible!
Another time, I wanted to go get quarters for laundry (Broken Sinks and Quarters), and the gas station attendant made me feel stupid for walking into the service station and asking.
Today, I was looking for quarters yet again. Unfortunately, it’s Sunday, so no banks are open. Luckily, there was a convenience store right next to the second bank I stopped at.
Fine – I guess I’ll buy something and hope they are willing to give me quarters as change.
The guy behind the counter listened to my request and replied:
“Oh yes! Of course!” with a voice that said, “It’s my pleasure.”
THAT’S the difference!
Additionally, I have been shopping at Trader Joe’s every weekend, and their customer service skills are some of the best I’ve experienced. And it doesn’t matter which Trader Joe’s you visit – the employees are all very nice and friendly, and you can tell they all LOVE working with people and pleasing their customers.
Again – that’s the difference.
You may think that customers can’t tell if you care or not, but they can. Your intent shines through no matter what kind of face you showcase on the outside.
It doesn’t matter what you do – if you deal with customers in any way, shape, or form, your #1 concern should be to make the customer feel like you respect them, and that you’re on their side. They need to feel like you’d do anything within your power to satisfy them, and that even if you can’t help them or sell them anything, they still feel like you care about their problem.
No matter what happens, the customer needs to walk away knowing the following 3 things:
- You genuinely care about their wellbeing.
- You respect them.
- You don’t consider them “just another customer” (treat them as special and unique).
To master those three things, it’s going to take a heart check. Do you care about helping people? Even people you’ve never met? Are you passionate about solving people’s problems with your product or service? If the answer to any of these is “no,” then you might need to rethink your line of work (I’m serious).
The customer isn’t always right – but they’re still your customers, and therefore, your business. More importantly, they’re human beings. Treat them right.
Until next time,
Hope Frances
