CUSTOMER SERVICE: Three Simple Steps to Excellence

Customer service in America is becoming as extinct as dinosaurs. Somehow showing appreciation for the people who have chosen to spend their hard-earned dollars with a business is no longer preached or practiced. If it is preached, no one’s listening to the sermon because I can relay at least three occasions in the past week where I was virtually ignored or flat out disrespected by customer service representatives.

You’ve been there, I’m sure, because rude people are equal opportunity providers. How many times have you been the one to say “thank you” when a transaction has been completed at a retailer? On how many occasions have you been the one to initiate the greeting at the checkout counter? How often have you experienced poor or no follow up when a vendor was supposed to be checking on your request?

These and other customer service blunders happen countless times a day. In fact, poor service has become accepted by us as consumers. We overlook it as if we’re just happy to walk away without having had an altercation with someone. However, it is unacceptable behavior, and as consumers we must demand better from those with whom we do business. Moreover, when we are the ones to give customer service, we must demand better from ourselves.

In life and in business, it seems we find it difficult to be cordial and polite to one another. We tend to ignore our commitments to serve like they are worthless, dispensable practices. Offering good customer service is as simple as using good manners. Your parents, teachers, grandparents and other adults drilled into you as you grew up that you should say “please”, “thank you” and “do you need any help?” They taught you to greet people always, and do it with a smile. They told you that if you made a commitment to do something you had to honor your word. They demonstrated to you how to treat people with respect.

Those valuable lessons have somehow lost their significance and their relevance in our fast-paced, self-centered environment where it’s all about getting the maximum while giving the minimum. We must reawaken these simple rules of engagement if we are to survive in business today. Eventually, if we do not offer good service, customers will ultimately demand it. And according to research by the Office of Consumer Affairs, they’ll do it by deed rather than word. They’ll walk out of your business and never come back. After all, they have an abundance of choices today.

So how do we do a better job of it? Many customer contacts are either bad or boring. If the service isn’t bad, then it’s most likely forgettable. It’s forgettable because there’s no sincerity. An employee may practice good manners, but they may not be sincere. The actions seem contrived. It’s like smiling with your lips, but your eyes are cold. You can separate yourself and your business from the crowd by exhibiting service excellence. Surprisingly, it doesn’t take much. Mostly because so few people extend good customer service in the first place that the smallest thing you do beyond everybody else skyrockets you into the realm of excellence. Let me share at least three simple actions that will take you higher:

First, when engaging a customer, try to do so in person as often as possible, giving them your full attention and making eye contact. Too often we treat customers like they are invading our space and inconveniencing us. We are distracted in their presence. We talk to them while doing other things, and we half listen to what they are saying. I recently went to a place and tried to use a coupon without realizing the start date had not yet arrived. The customer service representative was fairly new and consulted with her manager about it. When the manager explained to her that I couldn’t use the coupon just yet, the manager spoke to the employee only. She didn’t look at me. She didn’t greet me. She didn’t acknowledge me at all. I felt invisible. Never, never, never make a customer feel invisible!

Secondly, serve the customer. It’s what you’re there to do. You should make sure your customers’ needs are met. They are coming to you for help. You are not a servant (though that’s not all bad), but you are there to serve. Help make doing business with your company a pleasant experience so customers will want to come back and do business with you for the long term. They will be your best salespeople.

And finally, offer a little “lagniappe” where you can. Lagniappe (pronounced lan-yap) is a Cajun word that means “a little something extra”. As a native of Louisiana, we’re a generous brood. Most of us don’t have much to give, but of what we have, we don’t mind sharing. Strengthen your relationship with your valued customers by providing them with a little more every now and then. Do it when they least expect it, and just because. Most often, people “throw something in” extra because some kind of mistake has been made, and they’re trying to satisfy the customer because of the gaffe. But how much more special would you be to a customer if you gave them something they could use without visible strings attached?

These are three easy steps you can take to distinguish yourself from a sea of disengaged workers. Put purpose in your presence when you are dealing with a customer, and make the contact they have with you high impact and highly unforgettable. What you get back will far outweigh what you gave.

For more information on this topic and training in leadership and management skills, contact Betty M. Parker at Sharper4U@sc.rr.com or call 803-622-4511.