During our travels we come across a lot of examples of outstanding customer service – so it always comes as something of a disappointment when we discover others (thankfully in the minority) that defy all best practice rules leaving you wondering;
a) how those individuals ended up in a customer-facing role
b) how those companies have any customers left to serve.
A very recent example I listened to was, quite possibly, the worst yet and it got me thinking about how big an issue this really was. I didn’t have to dig too deep to find out. Turns out that rude staff are voted the most common reason for ‘poor customer service’ by over 50% of UK customers
It’s perhaps no surprise that rudeness is one of the things that repels us the most. As humans, we want to be treated with respect and courtesy – even more so if we are customers paying for the privilege. I know I do!
If I cast my mind back (not very far) to the last time I filled my car up with fuel I experience chest pain at the annoyance I felt that neither of the two cashiers, paid to deal with customers, acknowledged me as I approached the desk to pay. One of them even sighed! I really didn’t think it was unreasonable to expect a level of courtesy and, dare I say it, eye contact, however it was seemingly beyond this pair whose customer service training may just have consisted of putting on the uniform.
I rant and jest, but of course this kind of behaviour has ripple effects throughout any business. How can we expect our customers to want to come back if our people are not true ambassadors of our brand? This is especially true if we are selling something or providing something that is non-essential. We simply do not need ‘sales prevention officers’ as members of staff, quietly sabotaging our bottom line. We know that people buy people and will return to places that they have had the best experiences, whatever they are buying.
So, what do we do about rude employees? Put their photograph on a wall of shame, lower down than the employee of the month? Give them a jolly good roasting? Sack them? Perhaps we can do as one blog suggests and ‘diplomatically eliminate further issues.’ Doesn’t that sound like something a washing powder would do?
What we really need to do is make sure that rudeness never happens in the first place, by making sure our people are part of our team, supporting each other to give the best to our customers.
We need to ensure that each and every member of our staff is customer service legend and has been trained, effectively trained in the ways of our business and what our customers expect.
This week there are 2 FIT Tips
1) The reputation of a thousand years may be undermined by the conduct of one hour.
AND (my personal favourite)….
2) The purpose of a business is to create a customer who creates customers.
