Customer Service-Core to our Philosophy?

There are very few companies around that will admit to not being customer service centric. However, the reality is that most customer service is predominately lip service. There is a pattern on how customer service evolves in a company and either becomes a part of the culture of the company or eventually disappears from the routine of the day to day operation of the business. This is not planned but because there is not any forethought given to this issue – it just happens.

New businesses just getting started always provide outstanding customer service. The main reason for this high level of customer service is there is a lot time to devote to paying attention to customers and their needs. More often than not, after a few months in business, the first sign of atrophy in customer service begins to appear. Business picks up and there is less time to spend with customers than there was when the business got started. This is compounded by the fact that there is no systematic methodology to train, reinforce and insure through measureable metrics that customer service is being delivered in a high quality manner. Management’s time is absorbed in other more important (or at least immediate) concerns. Over time customer service becomes a vague concept with the staff responsible for delivering it to customers.

Generally eroding customer service is ignored until there is a problem. This was dramatized last year with a story that was picked up by the national media and got significant traction to the embarrassment of the company creating enormous negative PR.

Mona Shaw walked into her local Comcast customer service center one day last summer swinging a claw hammer. The feisty 75-year old clobbered every piece of office equipment she could find before she stopped. “Now do I have your attention?” she demanded.

A few weeks earlier she had switched to Comcast’s phone-Internet-TV package, but after days of spotty service, a botched installation attempt, a missed service appointment and rampant indifference to her plight, she decided to visit the Comcast customer service office to talk to someone. She made no progress with the front line Customer Service Representative so she requested to see the Manager. After a two hour wait to see the Manager, she was told that he had gone home for the day. That was the straw that broke the camel’s back. She went home got her claw hammer and headed back to Comcast to get someone’s attention. I’m sure the negative publicity generated from this avoidable incident significantly re-enforced many other of Comcast customer’s feelings about the company.

Recently, Jeff and Carol had a client so impressed with their experience during a collection that she unsolicitedly wrote a letter of recommendation. I am sure there are other such things going on in your locations. The question to ask ourselves now is “What is our customer service going to look like in a one, two or three years from now?” If we want it to stand out and become known for our unparalleled customer service, what do we have to do today to make that happen tomorrow?

Stay tuned for my thoughts on this in my next post on this blog.