Ah, the old classics of the scary-movie genre – Frankenstein, Dracula, and the Wolf-Man – times were simpler then without digital technology and CGI. Films were made quickly and on a strict budget and movie stars of the day would appear in several films a year; unlike today’s lengthy production schedules and bloated budgets. But these movies aren’t the only ‘horror stories’ in our lives – just mention ‘customer service’ to anyone – and it’s almost assured that they’ll have a tale to tell…
Today’s technology can make ‘nightmares’ of a different kind – the dead-end automated phone support system, help lines that provide no help at all and online customer service portals that leave you hanging and your questions unanswered – while you wait in a queue for assistance, or for a belated response via email or other message.
Face-to-face customer service experiences can be frustrating as well. A friend went into a cellular store to get assistance with his phone, and while talking to an associate, the store’s phone rang – and the person who was waiting on him took a lengthy call. When asked why he had to wait he was told that incoming phone calls received priority. My friend proceeded to grab his phone from the clerk and call the store…
It doesn’t have to be this way. There are many excellent solutions to assist with customer service, that if implemented and managed correctly, are a boon to the businesses that use them. The combination of the right customer support tools coupled with a trained and professional workforce; puts your business in the best position to succeed.
"Knowing how to best connect with your customers is an important part of being successful in the long term, as well as achieving growth that keeps you going in the meantime. With so much information out there, you would think that we would have the process down to an art. But all it takes is a trip through Yelp, or Googling large companies like Xfinity to see that customer satisfaction is far from being mastered."
- Ann Smarty in '10 Creative and Efficient Customer Service Solutions’
The old saying, “The customer is always right,” may be a fallacy. But the customer is always the customer – and that’s something we should never forget.
