Photo (CC) by Ron Mader, on Flickr

If this happened to you as a customer, how would you feel?

Our washer has a problem. Service person came out and ordered a part for it. Part should be here in two weeks and made the next appointment. The day before the appointment, I get an automated call. If my issue was a service call, I was asked to press #1. I did. I was then put on hold for the next available representative. Remember, they called me. Is this service?

And the story continues. I then get a text asking me to call in. I do and get someone right away. She asks about my issue. She puts me on hold and checks their database. The part is back-ordered and I should contact them to reschedule when the part arrives. That could have been done and put into the text. Is this service?

After these two contacts, I received three more calls and texts asking me to call in. Is this service?

So let me move to another situation on the same day. I had some medical tests done. The doctor who ordered them had a family emergency. My appointment to hear the results is cancelled. She, however, won’t be back until mid-August. The office staff said they would have my primary doctor order something because I qualified. But I have no idea what the test said. Is this service?

The last one is especially a challenge. What would you do if you have an emergency and your clients had to wait? I know one service person who, in a small town there there were only two of them, connected with his competitor to cover his clients in certain situations. Would you do that?

I am sure all of you have had similar issues. Service is sometimes hard to define but we certainly “know it when we see it.” Know ask yourself as a business owner, how might you have handled the situations above? In hind-sight it is easy to come up with a plan but are you ready to respond on the spot? And is your staff prepared as well? Do they have the authority to take a bold action?

Just something to ponder as you think about your service efforts. 

Photo (CC) by Ninlan Reid, on Flickr

I just had a recent experience that reinforced the importance of customer service.

A recent trip to our basement found water on the floor by the water heater (How many of you can relate?). The plumber was called. They came out. Upon a brief inspection, they informed my wife that it wasn’t the water heater, our basement walls were leaking. The story is much longer but that’s the main point.

A week later, after examining the walls in several ways, I proceeded to carefully inspect the water heater. The evidence strongly suggested that was the problem. Re-contacted the plumber, they came out, replaced the water heater and no more water.

So in this transaction, where were customer service moments?

Listening to the customer comes first to mind. Now I appreciated the fact that they offered a second opinion and didn’t want to do an expensive job that might not solve the problem. But maybe you need to “go the extra mile.” In my case, it wasn’t easy but my re-inspection of the heater finally found water drops a couple inches off the floor and a line of rust coming down the inner liner.

Next, don’t assume that a nod by the customer that they understand really means “they understand.” If you are dealing in a technical area, you may want to ask them to repeat key parts of your message and help them walk through the issues. When talking with the customer make sure you talk in laymen’s terms and not in technical language.

In my case, another customer service moment was missed when they failed to acknowledge they didn’t get it right the first time. We all understand how life goes. So if you do have to go back, make sure you take the chance to talk about the issue. Some research suggests that customers may have more positive feelings towards the company in those times where you need to return to a job than those who got what they wanted the first time.

Finally, learn from every customer encounter. Replay the situation and see what you might have done differently. If you have employees, you may want to discuss it as a case study with the group. (The first couple of times you may want the example to be something you did to show it can happen to anyone or pull this one out as it is anonymous).

Remember that for every customer service issue you hear about, there are probably 10 more that you never learn about; instead, the customer just disappears.

Customer service is the bedrock of your business. Selling once to a customer makes money. Developing a lifetime relationship based on customer service builds a business.

Holder Drug by Becky McCray via Flickr

When you think of good customer service when you have a product issue what comes to mind?

To me it starts with fixing the issue.  Words like prompt, fair and immediate come to mind along with getting having it happen quickly with the first person I contact.

As a business owner, we want to believe that everything gets done right the first time and that customer service isn’t necessary. Yet customer service issues happen.

I recently placed an order for a product and then forgot about it.  It wasn’t until I was going through some old emails I realized the item never came.

I clicked on the online tracking link (a customer service tool I love). Learned that I supposedly had received my item two weeks ago. But it wasn’t around. Checked the likely spots where our delivery people have been known to put things. No luck. Asked my spouse. Still nothing. Contacted the package service directly and they showed it was delivered. So I am batting 0 for 3.

At this point I assumed the worst, I would never see this item. I got mentally tired just thinking about going through the pain of dealing with customer service, especially since I had no documentation on my side. But I needed the item so online I went. One of the customer service options was an online chat so decided to go that route. .

I typed in the situation. Pretty short,  basically one sentence, “I didn’t get my product.” Maybe a minute passes and someone responded. We had a brief chat and the person said they would check and be right back. In about two minutes the service person was back and said it would be reshipped, with an expedited service. I was asked to hold for again a couple of minutes. The person returned and said the item was out-of-stock and offered a choice, wait until it was restocked or get a credit on my charge card.

Since the delivery date was too late I asked for the credit. I indicated I would order a comparable unit. The service person replied that they would cover, at no charge, the expedited shipping costs for the replacement item.

So in less than 10 minutes I have ordered a replacement item, had my account credited for the first item, and have it coming with 2-day delivery. I was impressed.

Now customer service actually is much more than getting a specific issue fixed, but, for many customers, it certainly starts and often ends there.

Good customer service never changes. Make sure your small business scores big in this area.

Now I wonder what happened to the first item I ordered??