I went to the local (name deleted to protect
the guilty) store on the weekend and received
both the worst and the best customer service
I've seen in quite some time.
In a nutshell, the first employee couldn't
help me and made no effort to try. My
questions were met with grunts, I-don't-knows
or the ultimate brush-off, "you'll have to
call customer service to get that
information." "All I do," he finished with,
"is sell stuff."
Wait a minute. Aren't you in the
customer-service business?
Then, along came Stephanie. "Of course," she
said. "I can take care of that for you."
When she didn't know the answer, she found
it--immediately. As it turned out, there
were
some things only the call centre
representatives could answer.
"Here, let me call them for you," she said
helpfully. Five minutes later, I was on my way
out the door with all the answers I
needed--and a smile on my face.
The differences in their approaches were
obvious. One treated me like an interruption
while the other treated me as, well, someone
in need of help. It was as simple as that.
One cared about me while the other didn't.
One saw me as a possible transaction and,
when it failed to materialize, he lost
interest. Stephanie saw me as much more than
cash in the
till. And it showed.
She treated me more like a good friend.
A friend has a problem, you help. You don't
worry about yourself. You put yourself in
their shoes to determine what you can do to
make your friend's life better or ease his or
her pain.
The relationship with your customers, program
participants, stakeholders or anyone else who
supports what you do, is no different.
Treat them as you would your best friend.
Because in the work world, they really are.