Ziggy 22 August 2005
As the competition in the market place gets fiercer, the role of customer service is becoming more important everyday. Customer service often becomes the distinguishing point between one business and its competitors. Companies compete on giving the customers the best experience and satisfaction, starting from pre-sales until after-sales service. They spend a lot of money for customer service trainings, CRM system, and so on to ensure that they can be the foremost in service.
One of the tools that some companies use to ensure high quality of customer service is to enforce the following rules:
RULES FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE
Rule no 1: The customer is always right
Rule no 2: If the customer is ever wrong, see Rule no 1
These rules are intended for customer service personnel, reminding them on the importance of listening to their customers' problems and helping customers to solve those problems.
Imposing these rules is not without risk because there are customers who would abuse the system. Companies should be aware of this risk and strive to keep the balance between providing excellent service and its cost. In my opinion, one of the most successful companies in keeping this balance is Nordstrom. Nordstrom is famous for its customer service and customers are willing to spend more because of it.
As companies compete to provide distinguished customer service, we as customers benefit the most by getting better service everyday. One thing to remember: We can demand the best service but we need to keep in mind not to abuse it, thus bear in mind the notice in the cartoon above "The customer is always right...but don't get cocky!"
Learn and Grow!
4 comments:
The trick is to let the customer think they're always right.
i'd be ok with that rule if the customers weren't wrong 90% of the time.
"It's not what you say, it's how you say it", so if the customer is wrong, tell him/her!
You might add rule 3 Know what business you are in. Some places are so busy following the rules. They forget what business they are in.
"No, we can't watch your bags you haven't checked in."
"But you don't have a room ready."
"That's right."
"So can I check wihout a room?"
"No ma'am"
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