Customer Service and Couth
Just the other day I was listening to a friend recount a bad customer service experience.
At the end of his story, I could only nod my head and reply, “So many people have no couth…..”
Then I fired up my iPhone and looked up the definition of couth ( I was afraid I had mis used the word and wanted to double check!)
adj. Marked by or possessing a high degree of sophistication; refined
n.
Refinement; sophistication: “The man has no couth” (Los Angeles Times).
Whew ! I had used the word correctly…..and many more people need to possess couth.
I was pleasantly surprised to see Seth Godin cover this topic today in his blog Cultural Wisdom
I recommend you read his blog post….. and realize that couth and customer service go hand in hand……
** I find it interesting to note that my spell checker doesn’t recognize the word “couth”
Seth and I are on the right track with our observation methinks…..
Problem? What Problem?
“Hey can I talk to you a minute? We have a problem…..”
How do you react to this ? Do you become stressed out and start to worry about bad things happening before you get the whole story?
That’s how most people react. There is a lot of drama and panic in the world involving how “problems” are dealt with.
Some of you are different though.
You hear the sentence above and are able to remain calm.
You realize that problems have a solution, and you spend your energy on looking for a fix instead of wallowing in despair. You’ve learned that worrying about something is always worse than actually dealing with it.
Ahh yes, that’s right. You don’t see a problem…. you see a concern, a challenge, a situation that requires further information.
These are the people who remain calm and lead others during tough times. These are the people who excel.
People like this are excellent at providing customer service. 
Treat customers like they are strangers…
I believe everyone I come in contact with is a customer.
A common adage is , “Treat customers as if they were your mother.”
The idea in this advice is that you will interact with the customer in the best and most respectful way. But have you seen how most people treat their mother? or their children? or their spouse? or any other loved one that they are supposed to care about?
When i was around 10 or 11 I asked if I could help my Dad fix the lawnmower in the front yard. He agreed and the fix it session began.
“Hand me the Robertson screw driver,” He said, pointing towards the toolbox.
I stood their confused. There were about 10 screw drivers in the box, and they didn’t look the same at all. The heads of the screwdrivers were shaped differently. Some were star shaped, some were flat, and others were square.
“Which one do you want?” I asked my Dad.
“The Robertson,” he snapped impatiently. He was holding a heavy peice of the lawnmower up and the strain made him shake. It also made him impatient with his son. He quickly reached past me and grabbed one of the square shaped screwdrivers.
A few minutes later he requested a Philips screwdriver, and a similar moment of confusion occured.
It was hot out and my Dad just wanted to get the lawnmower up and running quickly. He wasn’t in the best of moods, and so he sent me into the house.
I had barely gotten my shoes off when my dad came into the house and sat beside me. He then said something which has stuck with me even to this day.
“I’m sorry, Slick.” he said to me calmly. “I was impatient and hot. It’s not your fault you didn’t know what a Robertson or a Philips screwdriver is. No one has ever explained it to you, and that’s my fault.”
“That’s ok,” I said.
“No, it’s not.” He replied.
“I work every day with 40 grown men who report to me. If I spoke to any of them like I did to you, it would be unacceptable. People are nicer to strangers than they are to the people they love, and that’s not right. You’re my son and I love you. I should treat you with more respect and patience than anyone else in the world.”
and he always did. Even before that he did.
But his point was right; most people are more cruel to those they love than they are to strangers.
So next time you interact with a customer, treat them better than most people treat their loved ones.
Treat them like a stranger
Customer Service is Fun!
The old saying is true ; “If you’re not having fun, then you’re not doing it right”
But what about the grumpy customers who complain all day long to me?
All I do is put out fires, no one is ever happy when they call me !
You can always find a reason to be miserable. Even though it takes significantly more muscles to frown than it does to smile, it appears that most people are more apt to frown.
You can be different. You can smile.
Find a way to make what you’re doing fun. There’s always a way.
Time goes by quicker when you’re having fun. People around you are happier when you’re having fun.
Walk through a busy store and observe the people around you. Almost none of them will be happy or smiling.
The people who are having fun standout.
I would rather deal with a person who is happy than one who isn’t.
Everyone would.
The Incredible Power of Simplicity
Years ago I read a book by a man named Bob Tasca Sr. If you haven’t heard of him you should get your hands on a copy of his book.
It’s called You Will Be Satisfied and I know I have already recommended it. I’ll likely recommend it again.
He owns one of the most successful Ford dealerships in Rhode Island USA, for decades it has been a huge success.
He shares his secret, which is simple. Customer Service.
People would come from far and wide to ask him the number one reason for his success.
He would say, “Satisfying the customer.”
Disappointed with his answer, they would ask for his number two reason.
“Satisfying the customer.”
Guess what his number three reason was? That’s right. Satisfying the customer.
Many people would ask him if there was another way to succeed. He would shrug and say, “There might be, but I don’t know of it. I like to keep things simple.”
Bob Tasca Sr. is right. Satisfying the customer is powerful. Many people try to make it complicated, but it can be simple if you try to look at it that way.
Especially if you’re a Gold Apple….. like Bob Tasca Sr.
Silence and Customer Service ( PART 2)
Thanks to everyone who noticed what I was attempting to do with my last post !
My last post contained silence….
It added nothing to your day.
It made some of you confused.
It made others frustrated.
Silence is a vacuum, and many of you attempted to fill the vacuum by using assumptions.
Long story short; When there is no communication, great customer service is impossible to achieve.
I went to an office yesterday for some help. When my number was called I sat down at the desk across from a bored looking woman. Without smiling, she asked me how she could help me. I told her the problem and the focus from her dull eyes flicked from mine to her computer screen.
She then began to click away on her keyboard.
What was she doing? I have no clue. I assumed she was looking for info to help me, but she could as easily have been checking her auctions on E-bay.
I sat there for 4 minutes (which is a really long time when there is only silence) and then she finally looked back towards me. Her eyes almost seemed to ask, “Who are you?”
I smiled.
“Ok,” She said. “Your problem is fixed. Anything else?”
Imagine if she had handled it this way;
With a smile on her face and a nod of her head, the friendly lady said, “Ok no problem, Terry. I’m just going to check the computer for a couple minutes and get things changed for you. It usually takes a few minutes so bear with me please. Wow it sure is cold outside for a summer day isn’t it?”
Just a small effort to let me know what was next would have gone a long way towards good, even great customer service.
Silence results in bad customer service.
Silence and Customer Service
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