SERVICEWISE CSA – HELP, I NEED GAS!!

Like any good homemaker, I like getting ahead of running out of anything so I don’t find myself in a desperate situation. That was why I decided to call my gas supplier well ahead of the time I suspected I would run out of gas (two whole days, though I didn’t know it then!)

He promised me that he would come the following day. I waited for his apprentice till well past the agreed time but he did not show up. So I called my gas guy again. He apologized profusely and told me that he was actually out of town but would be back that evening. He assured me that he would be there himself the following day to fill my order. Like any customer, I preferred waiting for someone I was used to doing business with, rather than go to a competitor.

The next day, I totally ran out of gas. I could not heat up any water for a bath and had to pack my little girl two breakfasts for school instead of a cold breakfast and a hot lunch like I usually did. You can imagine that I was quite irritated about that. I called the gas guy yet again and discovered that he was still out of town! I promptly informed him that I was going to look for an alternative if he could not send someone that morning. He agreed that that might be better since he was just leaving for Lagos.

Now I was angry; not only angry but also clueless as to where exactly I was going to get gas since I had only always used that guy. I had to go around my estate hoping that I would stumble across someone. Eventually I was directed to a gas seller by the lady I usually buy emergency food stuff from. He not only filled my order in record time but also gave me a little extra though he let me know that it was only due to the inattention of the person filling the gas. He did not neglect to mention that he knew my gas guy and aimed a few subtle digs at him.

My regular gas guy paid me a visit later in the day and apologized again, explaining that his apprentice misunderstood his instructions. I assured him that he still had my patronage. I’ve got to say though, that I’m really glad I have an alternative!

Customer Service Analysis

 Gas Guy #1:

Negatives

·         With him, I experienced what is known in Customer service as Service Breakdown. This was because he did not deliver on his promise to me. It’s preferable to under-promise and over-perform. As soon as he realized that he would be delayed longer than anticipated, he should have let his customer know.

·         Ownership: one of the qualities of a customer service person, this means that you do not shift blame but take responsibility for the service breakdown. The customer really does not want to know who was to blame; the customer just wants the job done.

·         Lack of Respect for the Customer: he was more interested in making the sale than whether or not I would be inconvenienced by his plans. He either felt that my need was not really as urgent as I made out or that I would accommodate him regardless. This showed a lack of respect for me.

Positives

·         Responsibility: He never avoided my calls.

·         Follow Up: He took out the time to come in person to verify that I had gas and apologized for the run around.

Gas Guy #2

Positives

·         Service Delivery: He fulfilled his promise that I would have my gas filled in good time, thus earning him a coveted place on my home vendors list.

Negatives

·         Respect Your Competition: Being in the same business does not permit you to badmouth your competition; it belittles you in the eyes of your customer and suggests to your customer that you are so insecure about your ability to keep her satisfied that you have to make your competition look bad.

·         False Representation: Though he told me I was given extra gas, he spoiled it by saying that it was because someone was not paying attention when filling my cylinder. He was sending me mixed messages. On one hand, I should use him because I can get extra gas by doing so; on the other hand, I only got the extra gas because someone wasn’t paying attention so I shouldn’t expect the same again.

My Verdict

Gas guy#1 – he gets a 7: he might have given me a bit of a run around but on the whole, I do get good service regularly so this snafu did not make me blackball him. As mentioned, customers actually prefer being loyal because it decreases the amount of time spent on deliberating on where to get a product. Unless you give them ample cause to switch service providers, you can use this to your advantage. So I’ll be sticking with him.

Gas guy #2 – he gets a 5: he helped me out in a fix but his negative comments about his competition made me perceive him as petty; and for a customer, perception is reality. I’ll probably give him a call if I find myself in another fix.

What do you think?

SERVICEWISE CSA (Customer Service Analyses) - Making My Hair on a Budget

I was desperate to make my hair but did not have much money. Any woman that has ever been in these shoes knows that a lack of finances is no excuse for bad hair. The key is to look for a hairpiece that is nice, durable and of course, cheap, a hairstyle that looks good with the hairpiece and on your face and a good hairdresser.

I was directed to a salon in one of the halls in University of Lagos. I had high hopes because University hairdressers have to keep up with trends in order to satisfy their clientele. There, I was met by a young man who escorted me to the washing area.

Now I’ve been making my hair for a long time so I can tell when someone is experienced. This guy was green, and it showed even in the way he washed my hair. I was really hoping that he was not going to be the one to make my hair since the other two ladies in the salon were busy with other customers. From the conversation flowing around me, I was able to determine who the person in charge was and wondered why she was not making more of an effort to satisfy me since it was my first time there.

My suspicions about my hairdresser were confirmed as he wove my hair and attached the weave-on and I was hard pressed to stop myself from getting angry. Apart from the fact that it would leave them a bad impression about me, it might antagonize them into not doing a good job on my hair. I remember vocally expressing my concerns once but was reassured by the same inexperienced guy that he would do a good job.

I had told him that I had an appointment and had to leave by a certain time. He did his best but his lack of confidence made him slow so he would not make a mistake.

My fears blossomed when he began to cut. I don’t know if my panic showed on my face but the lady in charge came to take over and finished up the job. I wasn’t entirely satisfied with the work done but I received a lot of compliments, so it couldn’t have been all that bad.

Customer Service Analysis

Positives

·      Reassurance: The male hair stylist sought to reassure me when he saw that I doubted his competence. True, I was justified but he made the attempt and that’s important.

·         Courtesy: He was courteous and desirous of giving me a positive experience, as much as he was able.

Negatives

·         Perception: With a new customer, you always want to make a good first impression. Letting your most inexperienced worker take care of a first time customer is probably not the best idea.

·         Customer Satisfaction: When your customer alerts you to the fact that they are pressed for time, getting them out on time is more important than cutting your teeth or gaining more experience.

·         Customer Appreciation: On entering the salon, though I was welcomed by the male stylist, I was ignored by the other ladies.

·         Customer Importance: Even though the stylist in charge took over after a while, I didn’t get the impression that it was either to save me some time or make me comfortable. Rather I was left feeling that the male stylist was doing such a bad job that she just had to intervene. I guess I should be grateful that the only complaint I had was that my hair did not turn out exactly the way I wanted it to.

My Verdict

On a scale of 1-10, I’d give them a 2. This establishment will not enjoy further patronage from me. Even if I did not get less than what is normally expected in a typical Nigerian salon, I am happy to say that the salons that I usually frequent whether on purpose or by chance usually treat me better.

Ignorance is no longer an excuse for poor customer service and training might not be as readily available but common courtesy is not something you need to go to school for and I could have received just that in this instance.

What do you think?

SERVICEWISE - Much Ado about the Customer

‘The customer is always right’, ‘The customer is king’ and other such venerations of that entity called ‘the customer’ have been around for years. Well, we know from experience that the customer is most certainly not always right, in fact he can not only be wrong but downright ‘stupid’ at times; and his monarchy is not only questionable but exists only in specific situations and only under certain circumstances (remember, the customer is not always right so it makes sense that he is only king when he is).

So why still all the fuss about the customer?

Why is the Customer Important?

Every need is born of a demand. It might not be wise to start a business just because you can or want to without taking the resources that will help make your business a success into consideration. You need answers to the following questions:

·         Who needs the product or service? (People)

·         Where are they located? (Place)

·         How much are they willing to pay for the product or service? (Price)

·         What are their preferences in terms of functionality? (Product or Service)

·         How do I let them know what I’m offering? (Promotion)

·         Who can I get to help me? (People)

·     How do I get things to work in the most effective manner to achieve my objectives? (Process/Procedures)

So you need people to buy your product or service, people to sell it and people to promote it. Though these people can be grouped into end users, distributors and employees and seem somewhat disconnected, they are important components in the life cycle of a thriving business. This means the way you treat them is vital.

Who is the Customer?

The stereotype definition of a customer is someone who buys a product or service that is available in order to satisfy a need. Before, when products were not performing as predicted, companies simply made a ‘better’ product or slashed prices. Nowadays, business owners are realizing that it’s not only what you sell but how you sell that makes a difference. It therefore follows that you have to think not only about the end user of your product but also of the people that help you get the product or service to them. They are also your customers.

Types of Customers

The world of customer service recognizes three types of customers:

External Customer: They are the ones usually conjured up in the mind when one thinks about a customer. They are the ones who walk into a store to make a purchase that would satisfy his need. The objective of exceptional customer service here is customer loyalty or retention and positive word-of-mouth advertising.

Intermediate Customer: They are less readily acknowledged. They are the ‘middle men’; the distributors or vendors that aid a business in getting its product to the end user. Since you need their goodwill in order for them to move and recommend your product, they are customers as well. They form part of your delivery systems. You want to serve them right also in order to achieve positive word-of-mouth advertising.

Internal Customer: These are your colleagues or co-workers, your human resources. They are potentially overlooked as you presume that because you work with them daily in the same organization, you are working towards the same goals. But picture a scenario where a co-worker is rude, unhelpful to a customer, doesn’t work with you to ensure your customers get the best service you can offer and is in essence not exhibiting the organizational culture. This will handicap your business so you also need to know how to deal with them. Here, you’re gunning for creating job satisfaction and positive, healthy attitudes to work. This cannot help but influence how customers are treated.

In a nutshell, the customer is everyone you interact with who can, in one way or the other, contribute positively to the growth and success of your business.

So if you knew that someone could help increase your profits, wouldn’t you overlook a lot of their ‘stupid’ faults (within reason), look for creative ways to resolve their problems so that they benefit the both of you, cause them to leave your business feeling like ‘kings’ and come back, bringing their friends?

That, my friends, is the definition of customer service.

SERVICEWISE - How do You solve a problem like a Difficult Customer?

Steven Slater, a flight attendant with Jet Blue, an American airline, lived the dream of customer service professionals everywhere when he consigned a disruptive passenger to the nether regions, grabbed two cans of beer and bailed from an aircraft at JFK Airport. According to him, the passenger cursed at him, struck him with some luggage, though not intentionally, and refused to apologize. Apparently, twenty years of dealing with passengers of that ilk was more than Mr. Slater could bear.

It’s one thing to have to deal with the self righteous indignation of an irate customer who has a case. It’s quite another when the customer is clearly in the wrong, but still expects to get away with his infraction, simply because he is the customer and after all, the customer is always right; and more often than not, for reasons, whether good or unfair (these are highly subjective), our superiors bless his right to do so.

So, what do we do? In Steven Slater’s case, challenging the customer was thoroughly justified. Getting out of an airplane seat before being cleared, as this passenger did (let’s call him Mr. X), put not only him but others in danger as 80% of aircraft accidents typically occur during takeoff and landing. Slater certainly did not deserve the abuse he received for doing his job.

But he could have handled the situation differently.

Diffusing Customer Aggression

Sometimes, when a customer acts or reacts aggressively, there is usually some baggage, emotional or otherwise, attached to it. As a customer service professional, the onus is on you to draw on your training to identify the problem and deal with it.

1. 1)     First, understand that you are not the problem. Your company might be; something else might be. You just happen to be there. Unless there had been a prior encounter, there is no reason why the customer would take things out on you personally.
2. 2)     Do not return aggression. Two wrongs do not make a right.
3. 3)     Take control of the situation right from the start. It’s not about you or how you feel. Prioritize. In Mr. Slater’s case, priority was getting Mr. X seated so as not to endanger anyone else. Since it was a safety issue, he could have got his superior or even the captain involved which could have led to Mr. X being escorted off the aircraft if necessary. Since most passengers wouldn’t want that, it’s more likely than not that Mr. X would have complied.
4. 4)     Bring the customer to a neutral state, so you can focus on the issue at hand. A neutral state is a state of mind where two people can discuss resolving an issue without concentrating on what caused it.
5. 5)     Listen. This is your primary way of getting information from your customer.
6. 6)     Empathize. Put yourself in their shoes. You are a customer to somebody.
7. 7)     Admit mistakes when you are clearly wrong.
8. 8)     Accept responsibility.
9. 9)     Take immediate action to resolve the problem.
10. 10)  Know that a win-win situation is possible. Don’t lose the war before fighting the battle. Don’t make it a ‘them or me’ situation. Difficult customers are here to stay so you’ve got to decide, ‘well, so am I!’

Going head to head with a difficult customer produces no winners. You may prove your point, but you lose a customer and everyone else the customer could have brought to your business.

So how do you solve a problem like a difficult customer? You deal with him.

Because in the ‘service-verse’, the customer may be nice, nondescript or nestling on your last nerve but the customer is the customer and he is always right.

SERVICEWISE - The Moment of Truth

No, it’s not the TV game show. Though why an individual would stand before millions of people to admit to matters that could potentially lead to character and career suicide is a question best answered by the participants themselves.

The ‘moment of truth’ I refer to is a terminology in customer service that describes any point during the interaction between an organization and its customers that leaves a lasting positive or negative impression about the business. In the hospitality industry, for instance, this would include, but not be limited to, booking the room, check-in, check-out, dinner reservations, dinner ordering, dinner presentation, quality and quantity of food and so on.

Why does it matter?

It matters for three major reasons:

1.      The customer has changed: In the past, it used to be that a business just produced products for the customer and the customer just had to take it or leave it. In the event that the customer did decide to leave it, the business would just make a better product. Nowadays, customers are more educated, better informed, more value conscious and demand more for their money. Their expectations of the companies and the people they buy from are much higher and the internet has brought more options literally to their doorsteps. They want better customer service and when they don’t get it, a typical dissatisfied customer will tell an average of 7 to 10 people about his problem and why they shouldn’t patronise you.

2.      The business environment has changed: Unless an organization has a monopoly in its industry, businesses today have more competition and globalization has ensured that this competition is not only local but regional and international. If you don’t offer superior service to your customer, they’ll just waltz over to someone who did, and wouldn’t mind paying the difference. That’s your money going to someone else simply because they performed better.

3.      The World Economy: The recession hit a lot of businesses pretty hard and so money is spent with a great deal more discretion. It doesn’t leave that much available for elaborate marketing strategies to attract new customers. The funny thing is, it has been statistically proven that it costs way less to maintain an existing customer than to get a new one.

So how do you determine this ‘moment of truth’?

·        Break down each process involved in the customer experience into its component stages to see where you can save your customer time or money. The best way is to ‘walk a mile in your customer’s shoes’. This is known as Mystery Shopping. A lot of businesses get expert help to pose as a customer and observe employee treatment and operational bottlenecks. You can simply get an informed friend to help out and then discover at which points your customer can potentially be frustrated. This Business Process Mapping can help you identify where money should be channelled and energies exerted.

·         

     Ask your frontline staff. Employees see first-hand the body language, nonverbal communication of the customer and the circumstances surrounding the particular incident, things that surveys will never see and that customers will sometimes not realise is happening.

Excellent customer service has the advantage of not only being an effective marketing tool but also a unique selling point for any company. By understanding the moments of truth, you can improve and even determine the perceptions of your customers. This would lead to positive word of mouth advertising and customer loyalty.