CUSTOMER SERVICE- A DEPARTMENT OR AN ATTITUDE?

I experienced yet another facet of customer service some days ago. One of the online vendors we advertise with had offered us a scheme with a cash -back offer and a gift voucher. The sales executive came over to complete the transaction. However, this wasn’t going to be so easy. He was unable to generate the promo code. So right in front of us, he called his colleague to get this clarified. From his conversation, it looked that it could be done without the promo code. So our enthusiastic, young man went about the whole process.

A couple of days later he came back, huffing and puffing. He exclaimed how he had tried to work out the best deal for us but the promo code bit wouldn’t allow us the cash- back. How, his colleagues were not supporting him. And that we must do something! I was quite amazed at his request. He even let us hear the conversation he had with his colleague by putting their conversation on speaker.

I asked for his customer service head’s number. I was in for a greater surprise here. When I spoke to this gentleman, he told me how he had reprimanded his executive for committing without checking. He repeated this to convince me of his intention. He explained the whole procedure of how he and his team had got the entire thing wrong. He said   he wasn’t aware that the executive had visited us with the scheme.

I asked him if he could give us something of equal value, else we would like to take back the amount we had paid. So he promised to revert after consulting his national head. And that, he did.  We did get an equivalent value of gift vouchers.

My observations and recommendations for anyone in customer service:

-Be a customer yourself before you sell/recommend/commit/discuss

-Train your staff to deal with difficult situations

-Do not involve the customer in your internal affairs

-Do not commit beyond what you can deliver

-Be in touch with your staff

-Build relationships with your team members. They shouldn’t be talking of you and colleagues

-Accept a mistake

-Do not argue

-Try to resolve the issue rather than involve more people and create chaos

-Look for a WIN-WIN even if you have goofed up

-If not, let the customer win so that you don’t lose him/her

-Communicate clearly and precisely

-Do not go on showing mails and SMSes exchanged to the customer as evidence

-Be calm and don’t spread nervous energy all around you

-Have honest intentions, they get noticed even through a goof-up

-Don’t nag the customer to understand your problem, that’s not his /her job

-All of the organization is on one side- do not put down a colleague in front of the customer

-Customer service is an attitude, develop it

-It is not a favour you do the customer

-Takes months to develop a customer, moments to lose one

-Promise what you can deliver, deliver what you promise