Tag: customer

Customer Service 101

Your response should be crafted.

‘Recently, I took my car in for normal maintenance. Driving away from the shop, leaving from a red light, the engine stalled or hesitated. Calling the shop, their response was, “Those cars have Gremlins.”’

Even though they were obligated under warranty to fix it, I lost confidence in them immediately.

Finding another shop, I elected to pay them to fix whatever was wrong. Citing a potential catalytic converter issue, I reminded them of when the problem first occurred and then let them do their diagnostics.

The fault did not generate a check engine light. The lack of a ‘fault’ made the problem tougher to troubleshoot. If you have ever tinkered with old cars, the issue resembled a vacuum leak.

Finding a tear in a hose leading to the Mass Airflow Sensor cured the problem.

The ‘gremlin’ was the mechanic who did the original work and did not check to make sure his ‘cure’ did not introduce more problems.

While I am out a few hundred more dollars to another shop, finding an honest mechanic is worth it.

From plumbers to electricians and yes, computer professionals, it is OK to say ‘I don’t know.’

Customers would much rather hear you say ‘allow me to figure it out,’ vs. your (insert issue) has gremlins.

The original shop has lost me as a customer because the mechanic did not check their work and Gremlins.

No matter who you work for or what you do, you have customers. Identify them and treat them as you would want to be treated. Watch what you say.

-Best

Customer Service and #Life #work #job

Recently I picked up my car from the dealer after having some unscheduled work performed.

Key word, “Unscheduled.”

Translated, I had an issue with my rather new vehicle and even though the warranty covered most of the repair, I was still inconvenienced in that I went for 5 solid days without my car. I still had to travel to and from the dealership; twice, and … I had to pay a deductible.

The process of getting the car into the shop was relatively easy.

The service writer was not readily available but after waiting for some time, he finally appeared.

I am an easygoing person. I understand that people are busy and cut them slack when necessary.

Today however, when I picked up my vehicle I was told to go to the cashier’s office.

An elderly woman behind her desk did not acknowledge me.

“Maybe she is hard of hearing…” I thought…. “Hello…”

“Last Name?”

Not hello, not kiss my foot not anything simply “last name.”

Giving her that, she finds my invoice and tells me what my deductible is.

She then said “sign here.”

Trying to make some sort of small talk with her was to no avail.

I am a customer service animal. I give great customer service so when I do not get it, it is bothersome.

She is the last person that one deals with at the dealership and her attitude and demeanor was curt if not downright truculent, to say the least.

She then points to the machine to use my card in.

“Chip or Swipe?” I ask.

She looks up at me as if I have just insulted her, and points back to the machine.

Looking down once again, I see a small-post it note, with scribbled writing on it “no chip…swipe.”

At this, I stop talking and swipe my card… Either this woman is having a bad day, or she is the wrong person to be in this position.

She waits for me to put my card back into my wallet before asking me for the last 4 digits on the card.

Truthfully, it felt as if she was screwing with me.

Twenty minutes later, I see my car making its way through the parking lot.

Here is the deal….

I do not care what vocation you have.

If you are taking a paycheck for what you do, you had best be smiling.

If you cannot smile at your job, go find something else. Life is simply too short to settle for something that you cannot do with a smile on your face.

“I am not suggesting that every moment of every day will be laughs.”

The majority of your time at work you should be able to do cheerfully.

If you are dealing with their customers, that mandate is magnified; as you must be able to project that cheerfulness in your social intercourse.

I realize that many are in jobs that are of necessity and only that, rather than what they truly would like to do.

What is it that you would truly like to do?
What steps have you made towards that end?
Are you a settler, whatever comes along?

Money is unavoidable. Money is a tool that allows you compensation for your efforts. Money permits you to trade that tool for food, clothes, rent etc.

Everyone has some sort of skill or talent, what are yours?

Have you taken an inventory of them?

Much like a leaf traversing a stream of water, many choose to go where the wind blows them. Folks that is a mistake!

Develop a Rudder

We have all seen leaves in that stream of water. Some are in the middle and some coalesce along the banks, snared in the weeds.

If you want to avoid having some crummy job that you cannot smile at doing, take some control of your life.

Many sit back and wait for the government to take care of them. Others come out of school having spent tens of thousands of dollars while learning nothing, and expect a corner office.

Another percentage has taken inventory of their life. They have developed their skills and have taken a course of action that places them in the category of “properly employed.”

The bottom line is that you can do what you want, just know what it is that you want to do.

Take your interests and skills and match them up to some sort of vocation.

Match that vocation with the style of life that you want to live.

If you want to live high on the hog, you had best choose some white collar vocation and be the best at it that you can be.

It is not going to happen by accident. You have to know where you want to end up so you know how to steer your boat with your rudder to get there.

A word about H1-B Visas

Businesses have been for a long time bringing in foreign nationals to work high skilled jobs for cheap.

These folks lobby congress telling them that our country does not have the talent they need to compete. The amounts of visas granted each year is astounding. These foreign nationals are indentured servants.

They are beholding to their sponsoring company. Because a company sponsors them, they cannot leave that company without going back to their country of origin.

Tens of thousands of highly skilled Americans are sitting at home or underemployed because of H1-B Visas. If we stopped that program, more than likely those companies would simply move offshore as many are doing every year.

My point to this is pick your vocation carefully. You might also pick your politicians carefully as well. Too many are bought and paid for by special interests. They do not really give two hoots in hell about their constituents. Once elected you are no longer important until it is time for your vote again.

Recap:

Customer Service is more than lip service; it is in fact a mindset.
If you cannot smile at work, you have screwed up; re-visit your choice of work.
Take an inventory of your skills and talents.
Plan your life style you want and work towards it.
Choose your education carefully; some trades will pay better in the end than white-collar jobs.
Some trades cannot be outsourced.
Vote for those that will secure the border as too many people make for lower wages for everyone.

Whatever you are doing for a paycheck, give it your best. You are after all taking someone’s money and for that, you are selling him or her part of you. They are expecting the person that they interviewed, that is what you owe.

-Best

Customer Service

Customer Service

Throughout my history as a business professional, one of the things that I have to offer consistently is superior customer service. Think about this; when someone calls me they are in a fix as something is broken. There are a myriad of emotions in play from anxiety to anger.

As the guy who is going to take care of all of their problems the first thing that I have to do is understand where they are coming from. Then listen to them and take notes. This helps me to remember the points of the discussion and if in front of the customer, it helps them to calm down as they see me doing something.

These are some of the things that I would make sure my technicians carried with them into the field.

I truly believe that we as a country are drifting away from giving a damn about clients. It is almost like we are the post office or the phone company; we are all that there is so we just don’t care about your problems. But wait! We are not all that there is. The phone company has competition as does the USPS. Granted e-mail, FedX and UPS, are not the end all of competition, but it is a start. Vonage and Magic Jack to name two, are good alternatives and much less expensive then the phone company, not to mention the cell phone.

Competition drives us to be good at what we do, and that includes customer service.

Exploring new shopping places as I like to do from time to time, I had occasion to shop at a place called Central Market. http://www.centralmarket.com The layout of the store was well thought out. There were people who came up from time to time to see if I needed any help and here is the biggie; they not only bagged my groceries but they carried them out to the car and put them into the car for me. When I tried to give the guy a tip, he refused it politely! While their prices are a little higher than that of Wal-Mart, or Kroger, the service was excellent and the choices were fresh and plentiful. With people offering help that cut down on my time in the store and time is money!

A lot of you are most likely not old enough to have ever purchased gasoline where it was pumped for you by a friendly attendant. While they were filling your car up, they would wash your windshield, check your oil, and other fluids and check the air in your tires. At the end of the transaction you might get “green stamps” or even a dish or other some such give-away as a token of their appreciation for doing business with them. While I too am not old enough for this to have happened to me; I do remember vividly this very transaction process with my parents. I also remember how nice they were and how they really seemed to appreciate the business.

In stark contrast today, if you do need anything other than what you can do outside at the pump, there is a strong likelihood that the person behind the counter will speak limited English and really wont give a damn if you like the product or not.

I was in a Kroger a few years ago when they first put in the self-checkout machine. I was appalled by this for several reasons. First, I want that little bit of customer service when I patronize a store. Secondly, those kiosks hardly ever work flawlessly and unless you are only buying a handful of items, they are a pain the rear. Lastly and this is the part that I really wanted to drive home, these things are taking jobs away. I remember that night vibrantly as not one checker was at his post. When I found someone he directed me to the self-checkout. I told him that either he checked me out or he could put all of the groceries in my cart back from where they came! Begrudgingly he went to his register and checked me out! What an idiot, a lazy star-studded blazing example of the entitled society that we have raised! Not only did he not want to do his job, he was trying his best for me to do his job and was incensed when I called him on his attitude.

I think we need to vote with our feet or in this case, with your pocket-book. I will happily pay a little more for a little extra service. I actually like to be told to have a nice day! Do you really feel appreciated when a machine says thank you on the screen?

The world in which we live changes daily; some of those changes are for the better; and some not so much. Society needs to dictate to the business world, what is acceptable and what is not. Like sheep we all too often simply roll with it. We forget however that we are the boss. I have to provide superior customer service to keep my customers coming back time after time. We the consumer should expect that and demand that from the different vendors that we frequent. You do that in a myriad of different ways but the best way; the way that they will listen to, is to spend your money where you get the best value for it, including customer service.

If there are places that you like to shop because of the customer service, send a message and I will post it. Consumers need a bill of rights, not only when they are flying but when they are spending their hard-earned money on anything from products, service or otherwise.

-Best to you and those that you care about.