I went to the local (name deleted to protect the
guilty) store on the weekend and received both the worst and the best
customer service I've seen in quite some time.
In a nutshell, the first employee couldn't help me and made no effort to
try. My questions were met with grunts, I-don't-knows or the ultimate
brush-off, "you'll have to call customer service to get that
information." "All I do," he finished with, "is sell stuff."
Wait a minute. Aren't you in the customer-service business?
Then, along came Stephanie. "Of course," she said. "I can take care of
that for you." When she didn't know the answer, she found
it--immediately. As it turned out, there were some things only
the call centre representatives could answer.
"Here, let me call them for you," she said helpfully. Five minutes
later, I was on my way out the door with all the answers I needed--and a
smile on my face.
The differences in their approaches were obvious. One treated me like an
interruption while the other treated me as, well, someone in need of
help. It was as simple as that. One cared about me while the other
didn't. One saw me as a possible transaction and, when it failed to
materialize, he lost interest. Stephanie saw me as much more than cash
in the till. And it showed.
She treated me more like a good friend.
A friend has a problem, you help. You don't worry about yourself. You
put yourself in their shoes to determine what you can do to make your
friend's life better or ease his or her pain.
The relationship with your customers, program participants, stakeholders
or anyone else who supports what you do, is no different.
Treat them as you would your best friend. Because in the work world,
they really are.
