Is customer service a thing of the past?
I think not, however I am finding it harder to find. A couple of real life examples that have occurred in the past 72 hours. One good and one not so good.
A major Aussie lighting company - we have lamp shades that had started to stain and we couldn't work out what was causing it. The shop manager simply looked at the shades, apologised and advised it looked like a manufacturing defect and immediately sought replacements. Then he checked on the system to see when we had purchased them, noted it was only 3 months ago and happily gave us brand new shades.
Immaculate service and has our ongoing business and positive recommendation. (well done Beacon Lighting)
I had to visit our bank today. When I walked in I saw one of the customer service assistants was dealing with another person whilst the second assistant was sat at their desk completing work on the system. It took 7 minutes for the assistant to acknowledge me with a "Won't be a minute". That must have been VERY important work they were completing.
Why didn't they acknowledge me at the outset and tell me they were going to be 10 minutes. That's how I would have perceived good customer service. A simple 10 second process. No I won't tell you which bank it was.
A smile, an acknowledgement, understanding of the product (great cheese shop in Rome if you ever get the chance to visit) and resolution solving are straight forward time honoured customer service 101 training.
Whether you are engaging with customers face-to-face, over the phone or via online you MUST understand their needs and expectations.
If you feel your team could do with innovative and real-life customer service training contact us. We won't keep you waiting!