Customer service is something that is super important to me because the majority of my roles throughout my career have been customer-facing. There’s nothing I love more than to make people smile, to feel comfortable and to leave happy having interacted with me. HOWEVER, so many businesses have a serious problem when it comes to customer service and the treatment it gives to its customers. And as someone who values great customer service when I see it, here’s why customer service is important to me.
It Makes You Feel Respected
There is really nothing worse than trying to get your point across when you’re making a complaint or have an issue with something and the person over the phone or in front of you treats you like every other customer they’ve seen with the same problem. You know that look they give you and the way they speak to you in that tone that just makes you feel as if you’re inconveniencing them, rather than the other way around. As someone who works in customer service, the best thing to do when speaking to someone is to make them feel valued. To respect their situation and to have some sympathy for them when it’s not going their way. Great customer service makes you feel like you’re you, rather than just another bit of profit that’s going into a business’ bank account.
Communication With Others Is Needed
It can feel really cold when someone speaks to you or interacts with you in such a plain and boring manner. That script that they’ve probably rehearsed and said one hundred and one times can feel empty. Communication is wanted but having good communication is really where happiness lies for me. I like to feel engaged and I want that other person to be engaged to. I also like having information and it’s something that is often lacking when I’m commuting too and from work. Anyone who lives in London and commutes or just travels via train will often get vague and misleading information. Communication is only effective when it’s honest and so when it looks as if I’m going to be delayed for an hour, just tell me. Don’t start harping on about red signals and something being wrong at the next station…but not saying what!
That Feeling Of Resolve Is Great
As someone who’s worked in customer service, I’m always of the mindset that I’d rather solve a problem than tell them there’s no resolution to their issue. There’s always something that can be done, it might not be what they really want but at least it’s some sort of progress to the situation. There’s really nothing more satisfying than figuring out a solution to someone’s problem and as a customer, doesn’t it feel good? Like really good. That’s why I find some companies so frustrating because there could be some things that could be easily fixed if they just could be bothered to fix it.
Social Media Sees Everything
Right now, social media is taking over the world. There’s nothing that really goes unseen and if social media gets a whiff of it, it’ll jump on it and expose it. CallCare told me about their project #RailResponse and how they want to find out just how long train companies would respond to tweets made by customers. Now as a commuter myself, I have found that personally, tweeting can be very helpful when you want a response and it’s not happening. No one likes there dirty washing being aired and boy are you doing just that on social media. You can read all about how rail lines conduct themselves in their article and it’s certainly an interesting read. Check out their infographic below!
What do you think about customer service? Do you think more brands and companies you use, need to focus more on customer service? Let me know in the comments below.
*Disclaimer – This a collaborative post with CallCare. All words are my own.
