Ten Customer Service Maxims

  • Posted by Pete
  • May 29, 2007

I am inspired (or tickled) by the article Even CEO Can’t Figure Out How RadioShack Still In Business, (thanks to Bad Dad Radio for the link). My own experiences with this chain have often left me wondering if I’d stepped back in time…

I think a lot about customer service, mainly because I experience it most days and provide it most days too! So here is – most of – a Top Ten list of non-negotiable maxims (or expectations) I have for Customer Service. I say most of because I’ve left the last 3 blank, and that’s because I’d like you to offer 3 of your non-negotiable expectations for customer service.

Here we go…

  1. When you’re smiling, most of the world is smiling with you
  2. If you must say “we can’t help you with that”, do add: “What we can do is…”
  3. Never bluff when you can find out the truth
  4. The aggrevating customer before you may not be a Career A**hole; they may just be having a very bad day. Treat them kindly.
  5. If you hate the job, either find another or find the silver lining. People don’t pay for surliness
  6. Help people find solutions, even if it means they buy somewhere else. They’ll remember your help and often they’ll both be back AND recommend you to others.
  7. Your job is important; that’s why customers come to you. Treat yourself with respect and learn your job well.

Now what would you add to the list?

Information and Links

Join the fray by commenting, tracking what others have to say, or linking to it from your blog.

Information
May 29th, 2007
3 Responses
Feeds and Links
Comment Feed
From This Author
Del.icio.us
Digg
Technorati
Categories and Tags
Winning Others Over

Other Posts

Write a Comment

Take a moment to comment and tell us what you think. Some basic HTML is allowed for formatting.

Reader Comments

Comment Number:
1
Written by:
James Shewmaker
Posted on:
May 29, 2007 at 10:32 pm

How you treat your employees affects how they treat your customers – and employees are a form of customer who can also go to the competition.

Comment Number:
2
Written by:
Pete
Posted on:
May 30, 2007 at 9:15 am

Absolutely. That’s a great point James and thanks for making it here. Having lived in both the salesman and the sales trainer/supervisor roles – and having worked for a certified sociopath for 10 years and survived – I think there’s still something to be said for each of us as human beings tkaing responsibility for our own thoughts and actions despite the way we are treated. That’s a lot more empowering than waiting or looking for a new boss.

But I do agree that if you’re good enough at your job you CAN go looking for a better employer. And if you are a manager, one day we all get “judged” in some way for the way we treat people.

Maybe I’ll run a similar post next week on management behaviours along these lines…

Comment Number:
3
Written by:
Markk
Posted on:
June 1, 2007 at 9:30 am

Here’s one:

If you are one of those types of businesses where people have to wait in a waiting room, provide papers and magazines for them to read and coffee. Make the coffee good; not instant coffee. And not International Roast.

Summary: make the customer facilities good.

I also like James’ point. Employees with good morale will treat customers better!