Does customer service improve with age?

Customer service improvement

Can the passage of time improve customer service? Some wines have the ability to get better with age but let us not forget that they need to be kept in perfect condition, monitored to assess their balance and sometimes remedial action needs to be taken. Customer service presents a similar degree of complexity to the extent that the environment can change rapidly and everyone's taste can be substantially different. Time can help to bed down procedures, to perfect the training of employees and better understand customer needs. But, as for wine, there will come a time when quality starts to deteriorate. Rather than wait, it is preferable to design new service standards and celebrate their implementation with a deserved glass of the said wine rather than see it being wasted.

Picture courtesy of Riedel, the Wine Glass Company, with our thanks

Customer service: Stand out from the crowd

Stand out customer service

Developing a customer service proposition which stands out from the crowd is the aim of many. Hands raised, waving the flag, surely our service is differentiated... Unfortunately we rarely get to see the perspective of the customer and often unable to assess objectively whether our company genuinely stands out. Gathering customer feedback through social media channels as well as through the more traditional tools becomes a critical activity. This is especially true if we suddenly discover that we stand out for the wrong reason in which case the company reputation is under threat and remedial action must be taken as a matter of urgency

Picture courtesy of Peter Stevens with our thanks - http://www.flickr.com/photos/pedrostephano/

Shadow customer service

So much effort is being deployed on customer service design that it becomes nearly impossible for individuals to be themselves. The rule books, the scripts, the do's and don'ts mean that at best the modern customer service company executive is a shadow of himself. Unsurprisingly this plethora of procedures can often be counter-productive as clients feel that their interlocutor is not acting in a natural or genuine way.  It can also provide plenty of ammunitions for the customer service officer to be obstructive rather than helpful - "computer says no!" or "this is against our policy" become frequently used sentences. More worrisomely this often leads to poor levels of job satisfaction which rapidly result in poor customer service. So, make sure your employees do not turn into customer service shadows.

Customer service poem

Customer Service Poem

Be Versed in Good Service

For really top service beyond all compare,

You have to let customers know that you care,

Right from first contact, the seeds will be sown,

So take time to smile when you pick up the phone,

 Be professional, courteous, clear and concise,

When talking of colour, delivery and price,

Don't rush through your work, or do jobs on the cheap,

And don't make a promise you know you can't keep,

If a customer phones, and is feeling uptight,

Do all that you can to make every thing right,

Sympathise, listen, and let them explain,

You can turn things around, so they'll come back again,

Customer service is just like a poem,

If it's good you will smile, if it's bad you'll just groan.

©Jan Jack’s Perfect Verse 2011 

http://www.perfectverse.co.uk/

In this new world, where AI is making its presence felt more and more, we asked Bard to have a go at writing a customer service poem. Here is one of the attempts made in June 2023. Please leave a comment stating which version you prefer, human or AI generated.

A Customer Service Poem

When I call for help, I want to hear a poem, Not just a list of things I'm not allowed to do. I want to feel like I'm talking to a poet, Not a robot that's programmed to say "no".

So please, when you answer my call, Be creative and be bold. Use your words to paint a picture, And make me feel like I'm not alone.

Tell me a story about your day, Or about the time you wrote a poem. Make me laugh, or make me cry, But whatever you do, don't make me feel like I'm just a number.

I'm a person, and I deserve to be treated with respect. So please, give me a customer service poem, And make my day.

I know that you're busy, And that you have a lot of calls to make. But please, take a moment to be poetic, And to give me a poem.

It doesn't have to be long, Or even very good. Just something that shows that you care, And that you're not just a machine.

So please, next time I call, Give me a customer service poem. It will make my day, And it might even make yours.