Now, back to the point. Having done a lot of customer service, and having experienced a lot of customer service, (I believe that in most every type of work if you pay attention, you have some 'customer' you are serving, be it a retail consumer or a client you are consulting for, it is that relationship which is key to your selling/providing/acting out your function, so you better listen up!) it is high time there were standards in place.
Anecdotally, we have all had good and bad experiences. This restaurant is quick and courteous without being sycophantic, that bank loses your certified deposit and then gives you the runaround for the better part of a week without actually helping, *cough* www.compassbank *cough cough* that consultant always seems available even when you call her at 3am because you forgot she, unlike you, is not in Rome at the moment....
What sets people as individuals in normal life, as well as in their workplace roles, apart is their decision to take ownership and not accept failure as a possibility. They might not know the answer, they might not have caused the problem, but they believe that they are empowered AND in and of themselves have the ability to take care of the situation. I run into this all the time...as I am sure all of you do as well. Anyway, there are all sorts of 'how to's' and guides for good customer service, but I think part of getting good customer service and ultimately getting what you need/want out of the situation has to do with you as the client. So here's my list of do's and don't's....for you! (sure sure, easy use of 'Oklahoma' line, but I really couldn't resist)
Don't lose your temper. The sooner you allow your emotions to take control of your reason, the less likely you are to offer good and useful information to the person trying to help you. Besides, even when they are being buffoons, and of no assistance, you think they'll be *more* helpful when you start disparaging their mother? Probably not.
Do center your discussion around salient DATA, not opinion. Sure, the person who helped you before might have screwed it all up royally, but when you lay into their coworker you make the person on the defensive. A person who is defending their company AND trying to help you is splitting their focus, just cut to the facts and focus.
Do have a goal in mind. If you aren't sure what you need accomplished: get a deposit posted, get a credit for calls you didn't make...whatever. Just keep your eyes on the prize and don't give up til you get there. If you leave the goal to the person on the other end...meaning you are just frustrated and venting, you almost always will get nowhere.
Do be creative. Sometimes you have to help them help you. They know what's normally done, they know the rules. Help them figure out a way to make it work within their parameters by asking questions. Explain the situation, and ask for their advice. Make sure you know that (usually) you have faith in their desire to help you, so between the two of you you are going to figure out the path to get there.
Don't just ask for the supervisor and have no reason to do so. Usually all they do is handle complaints anyway, and have no more power than whomever you were speaking with previously.
Very well stated.
ReplyDeletePoint one seems to be forgotten by a lot of people, but you can markedly improve your own performance by just not letting the person get to you. The second you start to crack, loose your temper, or get out of sorts and grumbly, it's your work that's going to be more difficult- no matter what end of the transaction you're on.
Point two is something many people could benefit from- fact based, quantifiable and verifiable stands are much more defensible, and more times than not, if you have the facts in front of you, more reasonable people will just ceade and arugments, and then it's back to business as usual, and not bound by negativity and antipathy.
Point three I like, although, I sometimes have an issue creating TOO many metrics, waypoints, and checks, and then end up losing the forest for the trees, and focusing more on individual points than the main goal. It's something I've learned not to do as much, but there is a healthy balance to be struck and a certain dogged determination for that goal to hang on to.
The last point is very imporant, especially if you ever plan to work with these people again. By trying to go over someone's head, you've likely poisoned any relationship you had with that person- you've rendered them impotent and while not saying it in so many words, very much suggested they are incompetant. In the long run, if you can maintain those postive relationships, you'll likely drastically improve your productivity in working with them- especially since in time the people you do work with can become specialize, supervisors, managers, etc- and if you've not burned bridges, you've now got a great contact, and probably someone who enjoys working for and with you, and will go out of their way to ease things for you as much as they can.