After working 13 hours a day 7 days a week, I have decided to write about the impact of customer service in the retail avenue. At the beginning of the week, I was picture perfect of what customer service should be. I greeted every guest, assisted guests in a timely manner, found an answer to all their questions, entertained drunk customers and so much more. Good customer service and profit are something that is directly aligned. Check out a great blog written by Robert Moment on April 1st, 2008 titled Is Customer Service Weakening Your Business Brand at http://customerservicetrainingskills.com/blog/ This blog provides such great insight into the impact and effects of customer service.
Toward the end of the week, my customer service became that which is a little less than perfect to say the least. I was short with guests, did not make eye contact, treated each customer as a mass audience, instead of an individual and did not go above and beyond to help anyone. I realized over this excruciating week that customer service can make or break a company. I know that I will not go to a restaurant or a store because I remember that the service was terrible. Although I don’t remember the good stores, I will for sure remember the bad ones. I hope that my poor customer service did not affect anyone this way. It was a good lesson to me to know that if I am tired and cranky, the last place I should be is behind a cash register.
My experience of what good customer service looks like:
- You are acknowledged as a customer when you enter the store
- You are asked during your shopping experience if you need any assistance
- When in a small store, customers should be hands-free; take the product they are holding and start a dressing room for them or place goods on the back counter
- When the customer has a question, find an answer or find someone who does
- Make it an EXPERIENCE not a normal dinner or shopping errand
- The associate is genuine. I hate it when I feel like I am being quoted to from a work manual
