Customer Service Surprise
We all have our customer service horror stories. It seems like they’ve become more and more commonplace. To counter this disturbing trend, I believe it is important to share positive customer service experiences and tout their benefits.
To that end, here’s my story…
I bought a new home about 7 years ago. The builder used Delta faucets in all the sinks and bathtubs. The caps on the faucet handles were fading – normal wear and tear from my perspective. I called up Delta customer service and asked them if I could purchase some new caps. They took my home address and said they’d ship 8 of them out that day. I asked how much I owed. The answer – No charge. What kind of faucet do you think I’m going to get next time I need one? How many prospective customers are now aware of this story?
Joe and Wanda, can you share any positive customer service stories – things that your team members have done for either internal or external customer?
Joe Kerr: Our customers are pains in the @ss. Regardless, we bend over backwards for them! One time last year I had one of my guys pull an all-nighter to redo a customer report. I remember it well, because I was at party for game six of the World Series and got a call from Mary in bottom of the ninth with an update. I almost missed the game-winning hit! Yes, we routinely sacrifice for the customers. They don’t appreciate it though.
Wanda B. Goode: We mainly have internal customers. I find I really need to train new team members to understand that our job is to help them, not to throw up roadblocks or make things difficult. Sometimes we come up with processes that work great for us, but cause frustration for those that use our services. Not good.
Recently we got a nice email from a new employee outside our group. She was thankful for the way a team member thoroughly explained and then walked her through our processes. A week later we needed help from her group, and although she was very busy, guess who was thrilled to make the time to help us out? And guess who wrote a thank you note to her supervisor?
Good customer service, both internal and external, truly does pay. It seems to be a well kept secret. No reason for that. Let’s spread the word.
Here are a couple other posts on the value of customer service:
http://simonpayn.typepad.com/simon_payns_blog
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