Top Notch Customer Service Still Reigns Supreme

In the past 48 hours I've had the BEST and WORST customer service experiences.  On Saturday, I walked away ----or should I say I DROVE away from Enterprise Sales----in a new car due, in part, to the outstanding customer service interaction I had with the sales team.  Meanwhile, on Monday I walked away from Burger King determined to let Corporate know how dissatisfied I was with one of their managers.  What set these individuals apart?  Attitude and a genuine enthusiasm to make the customer happy.

Saturday experience:  I can't say enough GOOD things about the way I was treated.  Charles, who worked with me initially on determining what type of vehicle I was interested in, was patient, kind, knowledgeable, courteous and personable while offering absolutely no hard sales pitch or pressure to buy.  Mike, one the of the managers who help with the financing, found a way to make me laugh when MY patience started falling short.

Monday experience:  I can't say enough BAD things about the way I was treated by Mike at the Burger King drive-thru window when I ordered a croissant sandwich before work AND when I returned the half-eaten sandwich because of its horrible taste. (My complaint was that the sandwich wasn't fresh, fast and flavorful like they advertise.  Oh, it was FAST---too fast.  That's probably why it tasted so bad because it was cold and it looked like it had been prepared hours ago.  When I returned the sandwich I discovered Mike was also the manager who seemed like he was having a bad morning---but that wasn't my fault.  He did offer to make me another sandwich to which I declined but he offered no apology and no refund.  (Of course, you know I took the survey to express these sentiments).

Here's my point:  Businesses who invest in quality customer service will attract loyalty and referrals from those loyal customers.  A well trained, positive customer service team will make their company the best version of itself.  Employees/managers who can communicate effectively with customers will always come out on top and people like me will sing their praises.  On the other hand, nothing matters when you offer poor customer service to someone like me.  You not only lose a customer but you may lose more business once the word gets out (like in the blog post) and you could even lose your job.

Customer Service Matters!

Customer Service Skills Wasted on the Young

I have a teenage daughter who works at Burger King. Practically every day she tells me some story about a rude customer. I keep reminding her that no matter how bad the customer is, she must always keep a smile on her face and be courteous.

Am I the only parent doing this? I ask because I see way too many young people in customer service jobs who have no business being there. Case in point: I was preparing to fly out of Kansas City after the end of the Hallmark Bloggers Conference when I came up to the ExpressJet Airlines check-in line. Behind me was a very bubbly young blond who displayed a lot more than her personality, if you know what I mean.

A young man motioned for me to come up to the counter to check my bag. He didn’t ask me for my ID so I asked him if he wanted it. Very timidly, he said yes. I watched as he looked puzzled at the computer screen in front of him. I made a joke about making sure my name was on the roster because I was ready to leave Kansas City. He responded by telling me it was his first day on the job and continued to stare at the computer screen. It was obvious he needed help from a co-worker so I took it upon myself to ask the young man standing next to him if he could help him out. Now this young man, who I will only identify as Mark, didn’t seem to like the fact that I interrupted him since he was having such a good time with Ms. Personality Plus, who was just giggling up a storm at WHATEVER! they were talking about while he was checking her luggage. Mark told me his colleague would have to wait until he finished with his customer. To make a long story short, Mark never did help out his co-worker and I wrote up a customer service complaint.

How sad it is to see young people put into positions when they are poorly trained and to see the arrogance of those who think they’re way more important than they really are. But the overall shame is having young people in positions where they don’t know how to effectively deal with EVERYBODY.