At some point in our lives, we all are customers and at some point in our lives we all are on the receiving end of poor customer service.
The definition of poor customer service is when customers are trying to spend some of their hard-earned money and are met with rudeness or a marked lack of appreciation.
Personally, when I am faced with bad service I am not angry, I am impatient. I know what lack of good customer service can do to a business. Why canÕt business owners, managers and employees recognize this?
Poor customer service is not unique to any type of business. I had a professional tell me he currently has plenty of business so he doesnÕt feel the need to go the extra mile to provide good customer service to someone who has anything out of the ordinary happening.
My reply to that is, do you really know how many times a customer may need your services in the future but won't hire you because of a marked lack of concern the one time when you should have gone the extra mile?
All businesses have cycles, faster and slower. When your business is in the midst of a slow cycle will you have enough customers?
Here are my tips on good customer service directed toward anyone who will listen.
Do not assume someone can or cannot afford something because of the car they drive, what they wear or how they look. Some well-off people cannot be identified by the way they look, so don't ignore a customer because they do not fit into your typical customer mold.
Do not assume you know who is making the buying decision. I actually had a salesman tell me he wouldn't come to my home for a sales pitch unless my husband was present.
When I told him my husband trusted my judgment, he argued that it was their policy not to sell any products before approval from the husband. Needless to say, our big-ticket item was purchased elsewhere, without my husband present.
Always acknowledge customers when they come in the door, even if you are busy. A simple "I will be with you in a minute" goes a long way toward making customers feel valued and appreciated.
Sometimes managers or supervisors are unaware of the type of service given by underlings. But other times the type of service provided trickles down from the top.
Bosses who reprimand or belittle their employees in the presence of customers set a bad example of how people should be treated. A more private moment could be found for things like that.
How can you expect employees to treat your customers with respect if the employees themselves are not treated in that manner?
It is the charitable thing to do to qualify the rude behavior of others by telling yourself that people who are rude generally have something going on in their life that causes them to be so unpleasant.
Sometimes that is the case; sometime it isn't. Sometimes it seems as though there are people in the world who are just crabby, period.
To all you crabby people I say, go ahead and be unhappy - just don't subject me to your crabbiness. I do not want to work that hard to spend my money.
P.S. Smile, it makes life go faster!