Customer Service Requires Commitment & Investment

RDNS Customer Service Representative

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Everyone Talks Customer Service But Few Do It

Customer Service is a huge buzz word in the business world these days.   Commit to being our customer and  we will show you service like you have never seen or experienced before.   In all their advertising businesses of all kinds proclaim  their total and undying commitment to serving you as a valued customer.  Their greatest purpose is to insure your total satisfaction.

So the question becomes:   If all these businesses are so dedicated and determined to serve their customers like they have never been served before,then why does consmer research indicate consumer frustration with customer service?

Customer Service is more Ad Copy than Actual Practice

Consumers see the ads, hear the promises, buy the products and services, and then can’t get help when they need help.  Enormous amounts of time on hold, phone messages ignored , inquiries  that get no response , and employees whose hands are tied due to lack of authority and who  will lose their jobs if they do, seems to be the rule in customer service rather than the exception.

Can You Relate to this Experience?

There is a well known fast food franchise near my home.   I am addicted to their food even though I know it is not the best thing for me.    Lately I have noticed they are promoting an 800 number and a web site for customer service concerns.  They have spent some serious money on this project.   A couple times overe the last couple months I have stopped to get food to take home and they have failed to fill my order properly and did not give me food I paid for.   Each time I called their 800 number for customer service and talked to a charming and compassionate woman, who totally sympathized, was extremely contrite, took down all kinds of information including my home, office and cell phone numbers.  On each occasion I hung up the phone certain that the situation would be rectified.   I have yet to hear a word through email, phone, or snail mail.  Apparently their customer service promotion is all hype, and their 800 number, for all practical purposes, went absolutely no where.  I feel betrayed and don’t go there near as much as I used to.

Customer Service Requires Commitment & Investment

In order to be committed and dedicated to customer service a business needs to establish it as a value above all others, invest in solid customer service training, and not just use it as good ad copy, and a nice jingle.  It will mean training employees and empowering them to serve the customer and not just endure and withstand complaints.  It will mean having an 800 number that actually sets the correcting of a wrong in motion.  For a while it will mean a set back to the bottom line, but in the end it will pay dividends.

Customer Service Pays Dividends

The facts speak for themselves:

  • Customers will spend +10% – good service
  • Good service – Tell   9-12 people
  • Poor service – Tell 20 people
  • 82% approve of your organization if complaint handled.
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