“Hello. May I help you?” The words we hear all too often when calling an 800 number or go to a location all in the hopes of obtaining some customer service. It is not that I dislike these words; I just wish that they came with a want to follow through on them. There are two things I constantly wish for, sorry colleagues I know you have heard this before, customer service and better communication. I will save the latter for another post.
The problem, and others may disagree, is that customer service has become nothing more than lip service in so many places. I have heard that it is because employees don’t care. I have heard that it is the Millennials, and their lack of work effort. I have heard that it is due to outsourcing. While each of the mentioned items do play a little part in this area, these are not, in my mind, the cause for companies having reached the point of, “Hello. Thank you for calling customer service. Please note that I may or may not listen to you, and I most likely will do nothing for you.”
Is it too late? Can it come back?………….It can because it is not gone entirely.
We like to go to Big Bear. Now for those outside of Southern California, this is a small city (population 6000) up in the mountains of San Bernardino. It is known for its skiing, but it has a great little village. Within the city you will find some “big box” stores and restaurants. However, for the most part the shops and eateries are small businesses trying to make a go at it in a city that lives and dies by the weather. For the most part, it is a beautiful place to go even on holiday weekends when the time to town goes from 10 minutes to 30. More importantly it is a nice place to go due to how they treat people whether they are locals or tourists. They depend on each and every customer. They do not only rely on them just for that particular sale, but for future sales as well. They need them to come back time and time again.
We frequent these small businesses whenever we can. I would like to say that it is because consciously we have made the choice to support the underdog. It is not. We step through their doors because of how they treat us as a customer. These businesses do what they state they will do and more. On the few occasions when I have had a problem, it is taken care of swiftly. What I like even more is that they do not attempt to shift the blame back on me. There has been a time or two, when dealing with the hardware store, that the problem is me. I did something wrong. I informed them of this; they smile and say no problem. The problem gets fixed.
I am also happy to report that this type of customer service is not limited just to Big Bear. My wife and I come from small towns in Western New York. We go back to visit our family at least once a year. Again, these towns, even smaller than Big Bear, are made up of Mom and Pop styled stores. The sense of helping the customer is just as strong in these stores. When we traveled last spring, our stops took us to smaller communities. That sense of doing what is right existed in each and every small community. By the way, we were served by all types and ages of employees, so we can toss out the blame the Millennials.
So what is it? I think it goes back to what I stated earlier. These companies depend on each and every customer. They cannot afford to lose a single customer. Even more, they cannot allow a customer to walk away with bad feelings to spread on to others.
Larger stores and chains are missing this. If a customer decides to change loyalties on electronics, the first store will most likely never even know it happened. The new receiver of the customer’s loyalties probably wont care. They will still have all of their other customers coming back. If a person writes a bad review, the companies hire people to counter the comments. The companies have more means to fight the single consumer causing them to need less and less customer service. It doesn’t need to be like this. Have you ever gotten the fluke call where the person on the other end knew what he/she was doing and helped you? I have – it is wonderful.
When I get those customer service representatives, I call back to get a manager. I sing the praises of their employee. I tell them that that person needs to be training others. I compliment the employees want to really put the company in a good light and making the customer feel as if no one else mattered. I tell others about the great experience. Yes. Good customer service is that important to me.
I don’t even want to make this sound like the problem is that big box companies do not depend on the customer. They do – they just have more of them. I think the problem is that those running the companies do not come out and meet the customers. They don’t walk in the shoes of those who might be buying a big ticket item only after saving for it for a year or more. They don’t understand who it is that pays their utility bills.
I also think part of the problem is in pushing new employees through quick tell and sell training. They get told what to do without having proper training. It has nothing to do with uncaring employees or the young generation being horrible workers – it is that employees are living up down to the expectations of their employers.
So I will stop complaining about poor customer service. It is funny, many are all too willing to leave a bad tip or no tip for bad service by a waiter. Yet these same people will hear that nothing can be done to help them in a store where that person spends thousands of dollars and still remain a loyal customer. I will no longer do this.
I will put my money into stores, restaurants, and companies where I am treated properly. That means I will stay with some larger companies, but most of my money will go to the little guy.