You hardly get a ‘thank you’ these days. Service with a smile? Forget about it! Being served up to expectations is as rare as a working public payphone. Yet we let companies, businesses, service providers and brands get away with it.
The truth is we have become so accustomed to shoddy service that we don’t really care anymore.
“Just give me what I want, and I’ll be out of here” we say to ourselves.
Don’t businesses know that customer service is way too important to neglect? Businesses do know it, but the people who deliver the service don’t.
A business can make its employees wear as many “Service 1st” or “I Serve with a Smile” badges for the sake of improving service levels. But if the person delivering the service is not bothered, the badge may well be another piece of office accessory, and nothing more.
Humans, by nature are proud. We want to be recognised for our efforts and every mini achievement is celebrated like a roaring success. Over time, we think we are better than the people around us.
A simple example; how many of you think you are better-than-average drivers?
My guess would be that everyone thinks he/she is a good driver than the next person. It is this kind of thinking that has killed customer service.
“I am doing my best already”
“Nobody can do it better than me”
“You think standing behind the counter is easy?”
The practice of overestimating our ability actually serves as a confidence booster. This egotistical behaviour is great for overcoming challenges or problems but only makes one look disinterested and nonchalant when delivering service.
And a customer service personnel that looks or talks like he rather be somewhere else is exactly the kind of stuff we customers hate.
So get your customer service guys or front-liners to lose the ego or get ready to lose customers.
This was a slightly long community service message brought to you by a freelance copywriter who’s pretending to represent all customers.