Customer Service from Heathens
We are on the verge of entering another Christmas season. We are going to be storming the grocery stores to buy the ingredients for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner as well as all the other meals in between. Then on full stomachs we rush out of the house heading for places like the mall, Best Buy, Wal Mart, Target and Macy’s for Christmas presents.
While we are out shopping most of our interactions with store clerks and cashiers will be pleasant. They will have their smiling face on. They will seem to go out of their way to help us get exactly what they thing we need, and sell something else as part of the process.
In all reality there are going to be purchases that will meet if not exceed our expectations. There are going to be a few purchases where we will disappointed. And hopefully none, but maybe one that we will say to ourselves, “God, I should of have been shot for thinking about buying that piece of junk!”
Bad Customer Service?
The question for today is, “Are you satisfied with the service you are given?”
Is the businesses that I give my hard earned money to for products worth my patronage? They have been giving me good service for years. Then in the course of a weeks time, I started getting very bad customer service from two different businesses.
In the past week this happened to me. The local drive through coffee shop hired a new employee that after three attempts to get an order for two iced coffees, and a hot chocolate all wrong. We got a black iced coffee, a super sweet iced caramel, and hot chocolate with sour milk. By the time we got less than a mile from the establishment, we all agree never to go back again.
Clear Expectation of Service
Several years ago, I worked briefly at this computer store. The owner would change the terms of service at least once a week, if not more. When I left there the Terms of Service was very fine print on the back of every receipt. The receipt was printed on an 8 1/2 by 11 sheet of paper.
This is nothing unusual. Every business has literature that states where their responsibly starts and where the customer’s responsible begins.
Where Have All The Shoppers Gone?
The true test of any product or service is the amount of repeat business it gets. New customers will come and go, but the ones that keep coming back is the true test of the business’s merit.
Repeat business is dependent upon that first impression. Rarely does a business get a second chance to WOW a customer to the point when they will return. Most of the time a customer does not return to that business because there was no overwhelming WOW factor.
Years ago we went with Tmobile as our cell phone carrier, because they offered a great deal on a nice flip phone for my wife and myself. Over the years they have always given us good service at a reasonable price. So we keep using them for our cell phone carrier.
Stapled That Service
I have notice that most business people are creatures of habit. They find a formula and keep repeating it. This has worked for McDonald’s, Wal Mart, and many large other companies. Any good business person will tell you that when a routine is broken the chance of losing time and money greatly increase.
Then there are times where circumstances force a change from a routine. That was the way it was, for me, yesterday. I passed by Staples, and did not stop.
Staples is where I get most of my printing done. That is when my little HP6110 is just a little to small to do the job. It is mostly when I want a high quality than what the Hp6110 can deliver.
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