Customer Service First
"If you work just for the money, you'll
never
make it, but if you love what you're doing
and you
always put the customer first, success will
be yours."
--Ray Kroc
For the last six weeks, I have had the
pleasure of
teaching Customer Service and Microsoft
Office to a
group of amazing students. Through a grant to
Northwest Vista College, I’ve been able to
work with a
group of people from all backgrounds. There are
some that have college, some have high school
diplomas, and some have GEDs. All are parents.
They came to this class primarily to learn
Word and
Excel, but they will come out of it with so
much more.
The Ray Kroc quote at the beginning of this
column is
what this course is all about. We’ve spent an
enormous amount of time discussing how to put
ourselves in the customer’s shoes, how to see
what
the customer sees and feel what the customer
feels,
so that we can deliver the highest level of
customer
service.
I drove through a fast-food place earlier
this week and
paid with my debit card. The cashier handed
me the
receipt and the card and then closed her
window.
Since I hadn’t signed anything or entered my
pin, I
wasn’t completely sure I was supposed to
leave. I
waited. She finally opened the windows to
see what I
wanted and I said, “Thank you.” She smiled and
said, “Oh, thank you.” It’s hard to find
anyone who
wants to relate to you as a fellow human being
these days, much less provide decent customer
service.
Feeling Special (or Human)
When was the last time you had excellent
customer
service? Those situations tend to stick out
in our
minds because they are so rare. I look for
those moments. I am much more
likely to do business with those places that
make me
feel special (or at the very least – human).
I love going to my auto repair shop, Gus Mann
, because Mike Koebke and all the guys
there treat me like I am their most important
customer. I like buying cosmetics from Jan
King
because she convinces me that I am the goddess I
aspire to be. And when my computer breaks
down, I
go see the folks at Computer
Repair Zone because
they will tell me when it’s worth fixing or
when I might
as well buy a new one.
The Secret to Great Service
I’ve also found a secret weapon to get better
service.
Communication always flows in two directions.
As a
customer, if I can put myself in the service
person’s
shoes, I get a much better response. I’ll
say, “Has it
been this busy all day? You must be
exhausted,” to
an obviously overworked and stressed cashier
at the
grocery store. Immediately, I’ll see a look
of relief on
the cashier’s face, a look that says, “At
last, someone
understands how difficult my job is.” It
helps make a
connection – and we both benefit.
We are all in such a hurry and doing so many
things
at once that we tend to forget that the
people we meet
during the day are fellow travelers on this
journey.
Make a commitment to connect with the people you
meet. You may be surprised at how much
better your
service is – both the service you provide and
the
service you receive.
Share Your Examples
Do you have examples of good customer service?
Please share them with me so I can use them with
my students. (I have another class starting
on March
19th.)
And if you need a great employee with
outstanding
customer service skills and a good foundation in
Word and Excel, just let me know. I’ll send
one of my
students your direction.
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