I had an interesting day today. I took my wife's car to have the brake pads replaced. Right next door is the computer repair place, and I was going to be taking my computer there within an hour. However, I also had noticed when I got home yesterday that someone had been trying to reach me from my bank; that's never good, is it?
My first stop was the brake place. I waited a few minutes until someone came to the counter to acknowledge that I was there, but he was friendly enough. I left my wife's car there but said I'd be right back.
I had an appointment to take my computer in, but I had an hour to kill, and decided to walk back to my bank, luckily on the
same street, though a busy street at 9AM. Still, I did it, got to the bank, and learned that I was being called because my
two business bank accounts had never been set up with my tax ID number since my business had been incorporated. She needed
my tax ID number, and had to set up two new accounts; I really didn't want to do it, especially since I'd just learned my
original account number, but those are the rules so one does what one can. She was very nice about the whole thing, and I
was still feeling good so I was being fairly pleasant, and, because I was opening a new account, I got a free gift; that was
nice, and of course my wife got that.
After I left there I went back to the brake place, had to wait about twenty minutes, then went to the computer place next
door, just to make sure they were open. Then I went back to the brake place, and they lowered my wife's vehicle so I could
get the computer and go back into the other store. I spent over an hour with this guy, whom I remembered from about ten years
ago when I'd taken another computer in for repairs. I was regaling him with negative stories about the customer service problems
I'd had with the people from whom I'd bought my computer from, and he just sat flabbergasted, saying that any technician with
morals would have never given me a deficient computer. He said he understood why I thought the problem was what it was, and
said they'd go through it thoroughly and make sure I never had these problems again, since I'd been dealing with them for four
years. He also said he couldn't believe anyone would do something to such a nice guy; I liked that.
I then went back to the brakes place to wait for my wife's SUV, which took another hour or so, but finally had it and
was ready to go back home. I thought about things on the drive home, less than five minutes, and realized that I'd just had
three pretty positive customer service interactions within three hours, three different types of business, and thought it was a shame
that I had to even notice just how nice people were to me throughout it all.
The truth is that good customer service will make almost anything else seem pale by comparison. Without good customer
service, I might have been complaining about having to wait 3 hours for my wife's vehicle to have brake pads replaced.
Without good customer service, I might have been griping that the computer guy spent all that time talking to me instead of
looking at my computer, or reacting bad when he told me I might not have my computer for a few days; good thing we have
laptops in today's world. Without good customer service, I might have put up a stink at having to change checking accounts
and wondering why the process didn't catch it much earlier, since my business has been incorporated for a long time by now.
A couple of newsletters ago, in one titled Management
Is Responsible for Customer Service Issues, I obviously put the onus on management to make sure their employees helped push
the business along in a positive way, rather than allowing it to bring the business down. If management doesn't buy into the
concept, then the employees won't either. Today I dealt with two employees and a business owner, and all seemed to understand
the way of handling customers that left them with a positive experience. Only two of these were trained to be that way; the
computer guy, well, obviously he already had some understanding of how interpersonal interactions are supposed to go, as his
shop has been in the same location for 11 years now, whereas others on this same stretch of road have opened and closed, none
of them lasting even a year.
Providing good customer service to one's clients is a personal choice. This week I ended a short term consulting
assignment for a client in another state. I was there for three months, and I tried to do the best job I could for a
great number of people. I was in a leadership role, so obviously I wasn't really there to make friends.
However, I've always believed that one doesn't necessarily have to beat people over the head with a stick in order to get
results and push people forward. I did the job I was tasked to do, and I held people accountable for what they were
supposed to do. I asked a lot of questions, solved some issues, and challenged some people to higher goals. I opened the
lines of communication, something that they really weren't used to. I worked on giving them a sense of pride, and I know
that, to a degree, I succeeded.
This week, as the permanent person who was replacing me started, the people threw me a dinner party, gave me 3 chocolate
chip cookies cakes with frosting and blue roses (I brought one home), and gave me a going away card that they all signed.
In my final minutes, I walked to every person in the office and shook their hand and thanked them for allowing me to work
with them; they thanked me for what I'd done for them. They weren't alone, as other people who weren't in my office had
done the same thing as my last meeting there, but this was special to me because I worked closely with these people on a
daily basis. I gave good customer service to my clients, even my clients who were reporting to me, and they showed their
expression of gratitude on the back end.
That's what good customer service will do for you. There are no losers when companies provide it, and the benefits
can be overwhelming. Think about that as we here in America head into a holiday weekend. Smile and provide customer
service to every person you meet; bring a smile to others.