Although some organizations have a specific customer service department, ALL employees are in the customer service business. Many businesses seem to forget this and don’t train their employees properly.
Most everybody has walked into a retail store, and asked an employee about something (where to find an item, how much something costs, and so forth). How that employee responds to the query often determines if you buy an item or not. If an employee is unhelpful or unwilling to find help, chances are good that you will walk out of the store, not buying anything. If the employee is helpful, you may purchase something or if the store doesn’t have what you want, you will still shop there in the future.
Here’s an actual situation, with commentary in italics:
Shopper: Excuse me, could you check to see if you have this shampoo in a smaller size? You only have the bigger size out here.
Employee: Well, we just got a shipment, and everything is not labeled, and there are tons of boxes back there. (Making excuses for not helping)
Shopper: But I need this one brand.
Employee: Do you want to see if there is another brand that would work? (Not listening)
Shopper: No, I want this brand, just a smaller size.
Employee: Well maybe come back tomorrow. (The customer is here right now, ready to buy).
Shopper: I can’t come back tomorrow.
Employee: I am sorry. (No attempt to salvage situation)
Could this situation have been fixed? Yes, had this employee been trained to do something specific when a customer asked a question. For instance, she could have been trained to get a store manager. Or to say, let me check for you.
Unfortunately, many businesses don’t seem to train ALL employees on how to respond to customer queries. Training should be required, and should include common scenarios for that business. If you are a business owner, and are in the position to hire and train staff, you should think about what you want your customers to think of your business. Do you want to be perceived as helpful, polite, friendly? If so, you must train your employees on how to project those attributes.
We’ve talked before about how hiring the right people can make a difference. If you haven’t hired the most customer service savvy employees, you can salvage the situation by giving them good training.
