What the hell is customer service? Does any company believe in it anymore? Oh I’m quite sure that it is mandated by executives, but does anyone on the sales floor practice good customer service?
I went to Academy, the other day, with both of my children. (Wow, that sounds weird!) I had The Boy in his carrier and was trying to get Sydster to move it along. As I was coming around the corner to go into the store, an employee who saw me coming almost ran me over and looked at me like it was my fault. Once inside, I was trying to find a less common Ranger’s jersey and the manager acted like I was stupid for asking if there were jerseys anywhere else in the store. I was trying to give them my business.
That happens all of the time. Employees act like customers are in their way instead of watching out for them or offering help when they look lost. Customer service as I once knew it seems to be dead. I’m not even going to talk about banking. That makes my blood pressure soar.
School is not a good example of customer service. I can’t even go there right now. Grrr…
I do love my insurance agent. Wess Peterson with State Farm always offers the most help and best service. His office is so nice and efficient. He even drove from Fort Worth to Dallas to make sure I have exactly what I need and that I understand all that they have to offer. His great service makes me extremely happy to work with him, less likely to shop around and leave, and gets him higher sales. Win, win, win.
Why don’t businesses get this? Be nice and helpful to your customers and they will buy more and be faithful. Service is everything! I am willing to pay more money if I am taken care of.
I hope Chase is as wonderful as WaMu was. I still love Chick-fil-A’s service. Wess Peterson, thank you for helping me with all of my insurance needs and retirement accounts! Verizon Wireless is always helpful over the phone (not just because I work with Verizon Business, either.) Apple is always great on the phone, and efficient. Great customer service is out there. Taco Bueno has always been nice, too.
If you are in the customer service business, are you doing all you can for your customers? I know customers, in general, can be asses, but are you being an ass, too? Can you be the bigger person and give your all? When I waited tables, a lot of my co-workers would give less than average service to groups stereotyped as being poor tippers. I tried to be consistent and give everyone the same level of service. I never received bad tips from certain ethnic groups, genders, age groups, etc. (Sunday crowds are a different subject, though!) Be consistent, try to be helpful, be curtious, and you’ll be successful. Take it one step further and apply good customer service to your daily life and I bet your world would be a happier place. Mine is. I still get frustrated, but I don’t get as angry as I could.
