Well…it can. A recent study here shown that the customers were irritated the excedigling polite speech used by the customers call centers of cell phone companies.
Which I didn’t find surprising because I myself am irritated by this when I call my cell phone company. I’d rather have them tell me “hello! What’s your problem?” I don’t need to know their name, I don’t need half a dozen greetings before and after the call, and so on.
Oh! And what about the example frequently mentionned of american restaurants where the waiter is asking you all the time if you need something? I wouldn’t want this here. There’s a point when too much of a good thing becomes a bad thing.
And artificial and standardized speech isn’t very pleasant to hear as a customer, IMO. And that’s what’s taught to many service people.
I would agree with that.
You listed roughly everything I don’t want a waiter to do (except from taking my plate away).
If I want a drink, I’ll let you know. Please don’t interrupt my meal/conversation
If I’m ready to order, I’ll let you know. Please don’t rush me into ordering and interrupt my conversation.
Asking if I want a dessert is OK. But it’s done mostly in the interest of the restaurant, not of the customer. I know you don’t do that so that I’ll be happier, but in order to possibly sell another food item.
Don’t bring me my check until I’ve asked for it (but this is a cultural thing…bringing the check without having been asked for it, assuming you’re not closing the restaurant and there’s no staff switch is just rude, here. It’s a way to say : we want you to leave the premises ASAP). Besides the cultural part, though, I would feel once again that you’re rushing me (once again, in your interest, not mine).
clairobscur, you’ve described instances of bad customer service that the supplier mistakenly or thoughtlessly believes are good customer service.
The standardized speech can be very grating. A few years ago Safeway, a major supermarket chain, decided that the cashiers should thank all customers by name at the close of the transaction. Do the cashiers know the name of any customer who happens to walk in? Of course not. The cash register prints the name on the receipt as obtained either from the credit card or the customer loyalty card. Often the cashier delays the customers departure by the time it takes him to guess how to pronounce the name, and naturally is often wrong. The management thought they were “personalizing” their customer service. but this ploy is so obviously fake that it accomplishes nothing other than irritating people with unusual names. I just overlook this because I know the employee is being forced to do it.
On the other hand, here’s an example of how good customer service can increase business. I used to do most of my grocery shopping at the supermarket closest to my home. One night I happened to stop at a more distant supermarket on the way home from a meeting. The cashier that checked me out was very friendly and cheerful in a natural and unforced way. She would make a little neutral conversation by, for example, commenting on how some item you bought had a really good price, or was very fresh, or the like. I lifted my spirits a little. Now I plan my food shopping so I can buy most things at the more distant store because I like the genuinely personl service I get there.
I work for a grocery store. Recently, we were informed that we are expected to annoy (I mean, speak to) any customer that comes within six feet of us.
I absolutely loathe being bothered by multiple employees in a store. Hate it. Just go away, please, I’ll find you if I need anything. Having you hover around me makes me wonder if you think I’m a thief!
My personal compromise is that I’ll just say, “Hi, how are you today,” or something short, not “Hi, welcome to (Store), my name is (Name), if you need anything I’ll be here,” which is the sort of thing that was suggested to us. After all, I’m guessing that if they need something, they can track an employee down without being told that they can.
I have worked in food service and I now work in health care–two huge service industries.
IMO, I think the OP is trying to say that looking to customer service to save a failing business is not gonna work. If the food is lousy or the ambience is bad–no amount of good service will compensate. It’s a way of blaming the front line troops for the incompetence of higher up (sometimes, not always).
I did read that his suggestions to his manager are ignored–a huge red flag to me.
I have the same problems at my work–admin keeps saying–“it’s your unit. Work together. Come to us with ideas and we will get them implemented.” None ever are, really. The ideas go into a blackhole and are never heard from again. After awhile, an employee may be excused for cynical thoughts about self-governance and “we’re all part of the team.”
But then admin shows up and introduces yet another consultant who will teach us the appropriate way to answer the phones(or insert current fav “issue” of admin here)…(yes, I am aware that there are people who do not know how to answer a phone–please identify these people and train them-why insult 90+% of the employees for the 10% (or less) that are the issue?).
I can (and do) bust my butt as a nurse–but if the food is bad or cold or the Xray tech is rude, if the doctor doesn’t show or even if the test results are bad–the patient will downgrade the whole hospital stay. And there is nothing I can do about that. If I witness rudeness by another coworker to a patient, I will certainly address it, but if not-what can I do?
So, I look askance at people who say that customer service is the lone arbiter of repeat business etc. BS. It certainly doesn’t hurt and occasionally is the deal breaker, but for the most part it is one factor in the equation. I also think that scripted interchanges are bad for business (but good for consultants!). I no more want to see ANY employees shuck and jive for their money (except on Broadway) than I want to myself. Coldstone Creamery is a good example–there is NO reason for those poor college kids to sing–it’s humiliating as hell. Yet some suit thought it up and thinks it’s good for “morale”. I can think of few things more demoralizing than having to sing for an effing tip… :rolleyes:
I, too, have been burned by the “let’s empower the employees” school of thought. There are so few good managers out there. So few that are not on a power trip of some kind or are so up their bosses’ ass so that their position is “safe”… It takes guts to manage–guts and compassion and genuineness.
But I digress.
As to customer service–I have ben known to interrupt the spiels that some companies make their employees say (and some get mad and say that they are supposed to say it, so I HAVE to listen to it!). :eek: No, I don’t. 
As a customer, I want genuine, considerate service. In a waiter, that means invisible, timely attention. In a clothing store, that means not hovering/pushing, but monitoring so that you are ready to respond if I have a question. In a nurse, that means answering my call light promptly, listening to me, anticipating my needs and questions and providing me with info and acting as a liason/advocate.
No cute phrases, over the top smiles, offensively good humored advances are needed.
Most companies, and most people here, have no idea what customer service is – most identify a small sliver and call it the whole. Customer service is meeting the customer’s expectations. The customer has specifications, and your product must meet them; the customer has a timeline, and you must beat it; the customer has a problem, and you must solve it. The first step in customer service is to find out what your customer wants; the next step is to amass the resources to fill that want. Neither of these is truly within the control of the so-called “customer service representative.” The refusal of so many companies to look honestly at the cost of quality service and to deal honestly with their customers is, of course, a direct reflection of the inability of most customers to perceive the cost to them of accepting poor service. How much of your time was wasted by the store employee who wasn’t allowed to accept your return? How about that gas pump that didn’t work because it wasn’t maintained until the last possible moment? What would it be worth to you to have your food prepared correctly the first time? How about if you knew that getting mad and sending it back would raise your blood pressure and take years off your life? If you knew that a clean hotel room that wouldn’t aggravate your allergies (and ruin your sleep and cause you to screw up the next day’s presentation) could be had for an extra $50/night, would you take it?
Perky clerks and efficient order-takers may be nice, but they’re not the focus of good customer service, they’re just the most superficial part.
Good points, Nametag. I think my anecdote fits into that.
I just saw a commercial for a car insurance company. The one that wants you to go on their website and get a quote just for the heck of it, to comparison shop, because who knows, you might save some money!
I have a car insurance company already. Another one of the major ones. I like it. I contemplated getting a quote just to see… How much money could I save, though? $20? $50? Maybe $100 over a year? But I know that the company I am with now has excellent customer service every time I call them. Last time I called their main customer service line, I was startled to hear a human being pick up immediately. They are always very friendly, and will do whatever they can to help you get together the information you need to get signed up, even if it means calling someone else on three-way, or calling you back at a later time (yes, them calling me, not the other way around) so I could deal with the same person after I tracked down what I was looking for. And when my (now ex-) fiancee wrecked my car last year, their level of customer service made the difficult process of dealing with the mess much, much easier. That’s definitely worth an extra $100 a year to me.
Bingo, and expectations vary depending on the nature of the business in question. I don’t expect the same level of customer service from Wal-Mart as I get from my tailor.
There’s a game shop here in town that I’ve been to a total of four times. Two of those times the store was closed during their posted hours of operation. The first time it happened I just figured it was a fluke and let it go. The last time it happened, this past Sunday, I decided I wasn’t going to go to that store anymore. I expect them to be open when they say they’ve demonstrated themselves to be unreliable.
I had a retail job once and I really enjoyed it. It was a game store and I was suppose to ask those who walked in if they needed assistance locating anything in particular. If I got a negative I was suppose to let them know I was available and then let them go about their merry way. I was suppose to know a bit about the products we sold and I got a special talking to about treating female customers with respect.
Marc
Same here. I actually don’t know if I’m getting the cheapest insurance, but I know that they have damn good customer service, and my experience with them after my one and only accident (so far) was so good I wouldn’t switch even if I’d be paying, say, a third less than I do now.
But I still don’t want store employees constantly greeting me and bothering me and derailing my train of thought. Too bad my own bosses seem to think otherwise.
There are three things involved in any business transactions.
Cost of the Product
Quality of the Product, and
Speed (service) in which it is delivered.
Some companies claim to have all three, but that is impossible logically.
Only two, any two of the items can be provided. So companies must choose.
Walmart chooses costs – namely cheap, that’s about it.
Fancy restaurants choose Service and Quality but sacrifice price, and so it goes.
This has been a lesson in bus 101.
Sorry mate, but I’d have to lump you in with the group you describe. Customer expectations are what advertising/word of mouth create. “Customer Service” is the customer interacting with an employee. That’s it. You go on to describe a person not doing his job, which validates every point i’ve made.
Train your staff to do their job efficiently and correctly and they will serve the customer better than any inspirational speech or service oriented seminar you can provide.
I appreciate the management tangent this thread has produced. I’d like to see a “What makes a good manager?” thread started. It appears some of you have a lot to contribute and I honestly would enjoy reading your thoughts on that subject.
I have about 7 employees that I am directly responsable for. I have no management training at all, but my goal is to make them as good as me or better (and several of them have been promoted to my equal). I tell them everything I know. I train them to the absolute best of my ability. I really make no distinction between myself and them. Remarkably, i’ve never had to reprimand anyone. I never give orders, rather I ask for help. I enjoy my job and sincerely hope everyone I work with does as well.
Am I a good manager? I hope so, but i’m always looking for ways to do my job better and would love to hear what you folks have to say on the subject of Employee/Management relationships.
I don’t think you need to learn what you already are.
Good Job.
YES customer service matters. It matters a bunch.
No I don’t want a waiter to pester me every 2 minutes. However, I have walked out of several resteraunts when no service appeared 10 minutes or so after being seated.
Another thing I hate is waiters/waitresses who walk through the dining area staring at the floor or with blinders on. ALWAYS be alert for a patron trying to get your attention.
To respond to one of the points of the OP:
YES, I dropped my landline (Qworst) which has a total monopoly, due to poor customer service.
Examples:
Typical hold time of around 20-30 minutes when calling customer service, which only functioned M-F 9-5. No indication of my position in queue.
3 weeks to fix “no service” problem. Total of 45 minutes on hold (at which point I cave up) and nobody could figure out how to pro-rate my bill which charged me for a full month.
Pay-bill-with-Credit-card-by-phone “service” offered, but only possible M-F 9-5.
No walk-in buisness office in the entire state of New Mexico.
3-5 CS operators (IME) who speak only Ebonics. Is it racist to think ghetto slang doesn’t show much respect for the customer?
Most henous offense was that a customer service rep I spoke with (trying to get my bill pro-rated) called me that evening as a telemarketer selling magazine subscriptions. Very distinctive voice, patois, and same figures of speech. and I had his name. Called on custom ringing number assigned by him, that day. NOBODY but Qworst had that number. Reported to Qworst security department who treated me as a foil beany wearing nut job.
In contrast my cell provider (VerizonWireless) has done a good enough job at customer service that I have sent them perhaps 6 new customers in a couple of years.
Examples:
When I call customer service, Typical on-hold time has been 1-3 minutes. Might be longer off hours, but at least they are available 24-7. Qworst trained me to call from work, so I
haven’t tried weekend option yet.
At that time the CS agent, who is in US and speaks perfect english. This agent then “owns” my problem and will stay on the line until it is resolved, even if they need to conference in other departments, etc. No waiting on hold as I’m passed around. No giving the same info and explaining the problem to 5 different people. In one case I had called on Cell phone, which had to be hung up to resolve problem. CS rep maintained cell connection until she had me on landline.
On the one occasion problem could not be resolved while I was on the phone, CS rep set time and contacted me to follow up.
They do give a little speil about thier commitment to customer service, but the fact that they follow through as they do makes it only slightly annoying.
Yes, you’re terribly wrong.
I own a small business (a bookstore), and I can give you dozens of examples of good customer service that people notice. If you walk into a bookstore and ask for a Straight Dope book, what should happen if they don’t have it?
A clerk could say, “I don’t know–it should be over there.” That’s bad customer service.
A clerk could say, “I’m sorry, but we don’t stock that book.” That fits the definition of responding quickly, accurately, and politely to the customer, but it doesn’t help them very much.
A clerk could say, “Just a moment, let me look that up. Here we go. We don’t have it in stock, but we could have you one by Wednesday afternoon. There’s no extra charge for special orders, and we can give you a 10% discount if you prepay.” That’s what I tell my employees to do, and it gets us repeat business.
Going a step farther, what if the book is out of print? Your basic big bookstore will either tell you they can’t find it, or that it’s out of print. We look it up and tell them whether we can get used copies, what they cost, and how long they’ll take. That gets repeat customers.
A new bar opened in town a few months back, just a few blocks from my store. I went in and found it very pleasant. The owner and bartender both introduced themselves and we chatted a bit. They asked what kind of beers I liked, and I mentioned a fondness for Scottish Ales. The next time I walked in, three weeks later, I was greeted by name, and the bartender told me they had a Scottish Ale on tap–did I want one? I was impressed, and I’m a regular now. They serve quickly, they have good food, and when they asked me a question, they listened to the answer and acted on it.
Yeah, people notice good customer service.
Anything that annoys customers is not (by definition) good customer service.
Customer service is all important.
Treat the customer as you would want to be treated.
One disgruntled customer can do more damage than twenty satisfied customers can overcome.
The best advertising is a growing base of satisfied customers.
But please, please, please, people, treat the employees the same way. I have to be nice to you, and there is a certain satisfaction in being nice in the face of some jerkish behavior – after all, who looks sillier when you’re being all mad at me over some very minor issue?
I’m not so sure about that. If they have a genuine complaint, possibly, but if they’re mad because policy X says I can’t do Y (as do my supervisors) and they start screaming at me about it, then I can’t say I really care if they go away and never come back. I will remain as polite and calm as I can, but that doesn’t mean I LIKE you. And most reasonable people, I would think, are going to side with the employee when a disgruntled customer is making a real ass of themselves.
The customer is NOT always right. Sometimes they are flat-out wrong. I don’t care if you say somebody else who works here always does X. I was trained not to do X, and I’m sorry if that irritates you, but I’m trying to do my job the best I can the way I was trained to do it!
If you’re talking about accents, yeah, that’s a racist attitude. People don’t have a lot of control over the accent they developed as children, and it can be hard to shake.
If you’re talking about slang, then I agree with you completely. I think just about everybody knows the difference between proper English and slang (ghetto or otherwise). I know guys who have trouble formulating an entire sentence without using four-letter words, yet they’re perfectly capable of talking respectfully to their mothers.
Slang’s great with your buddies at home, but all it does on a customer service line is make communication and understanding more difficult.