Customer Service is an entity that resides inside every business. In small companies, this responsibility may handled by individuals across the organization. In mid to large sized companies, dedicated customer service departments are in place, which may reside inside the organization or out-sourced to a third party provider. For a customer, the customer service department is possibly the touch point of greatest frustration. Why is this?
The reason is quite simple. Too many customer service departments are not set up to service the customer, but rather, they are set up to service the company and its legal obligations. And this is what sets up the silent problem phenomenon. Here is the scenario.
A customer is having a problem with a product or service they acquired from Company XYZ. So according to directions, the customer contacts Company XYZ’s service line. This is where the customer commonly receives their first line of frustration - the phone tree. While this might be frustrating, its not a significant barrier. Here is the challenge and opportunity.
The Customer has a expectation of how the problem should be solved before the phone call is ever placed!
Consequently, anything less than what is expected is construed as being mediocre or poor customer service! Unfortunately, customer service isn’t set up to meet, much less ask “what do you expect” questions. Instead, the dialogue follows the path of:
- You tell us what your problem is.
- We will tell you what we can do to resolve your problem.
- Customer becomes disenfrancised, frustrated and at times outraged by the low level of customer service.
- Customer escalates the problem asking for their supervisor, with the intensity of the conversation and demands growing by the second.
- Customer becomes outraged with the experience and tells everyone they know how they were taken advantage of, and…
In recent years, customer service has become an increasingly hot topic inside the organization. Too many companies still view customer service as an expense item, and allocate for it accordingly. In the void, customers are lost, brand value is diminished, and future business viability is jeopardized. Companies from Apple to Zappos have learned the art of great customer service and their businesses reflect it. Take a lesson from them and emulate what makes their customer service excel.
Bottom Line: Customer service is a business risk and a silent problem for many organizations.Realize upfront that your customers have an expectation of how their problem should be solved. Customer service agents must identify what this expectation is early in the conversation and then exceed it, or get as close as possible to meeting it. Anything less will put your business at risk into the future.
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