Good service: Modern-day oxymoron

It seems to make no difference where you turn today, but finding positive, uplifting examples of exemplary customer service more scarce than an incumbent politician quitting the job after saying he or she is ineffective and useless.

How would your customers rate your customer service? On the International Customer Service Scale where a 10 would include free goodies for anyone entering the store to a 1, which would have clerks spitting on your shoes as you enter, where would your business fall?

In today’s environment of independent thought, most businesses should hope for a customer service rating of eight, be willing to work to try to raise the rating to a seven, and be content with a six.

Here are some real life horror stories.

1) A customer walks into a store, looking to buy a new pair of shoes. He is wearing sandals and tells the clerk he wants to buy a pair of socks s he can try on shoes. She tells him, “We have footies.” He doesn’t want footies; he wants to try on shoes with thick-soled athletics socks he normally wears. “We don’t do that,” the clerk said.

The man, perplexed, thinks she means they don’t sell socks. There’s a nearby rack with hundreds of pairs of socks on display. The clerk explains that store policy is that no socks can be tried on in the store. “I want to buy them,” the man explains. “Can’t try them on in the store,” is the reply.

A bit frustrated the man asks if he can take the socks to the counter, pay for them, and then try them on? “Nope.” He asks, “Can I buy them, take them to my truck, put them on and then come back in and try on shoes.”

The clerk, after conferring with the store manager, said that would be fine.

Satisfied, the customer thanked them both, then took his money and bought shoes elsewhere.

2) A woman walked into a store to get some breakfast sandwiches. Having had
trouble in there with previous orders, she had the orders written down: 2 sausage
egg biscuits, no cheese; 1 bacon, egg biscuit, no cheese, and 1 gravy and biscuit.

The order came; the customer checked it. In the sack was a lone
biscuit, two scrambled eggs with cheese added, and a separate sausage patty. The
same with the bacon. The single gravy and biscuit had been transformed into a
gravy, biscuit, sausage and egg sandwich.

Apprised of the problem, the clerk started arguing that the order was correct.
When the customer asked to see the written order, the clerk suddenly decided it
was time for her “break.”

An assistant manager, after spending a goodly amount of time checking the
original written order, filled the order correctly … without an apology to the
customer.

There are many businesses in just about any community that give exemplary customer service. When you find them, frequent the business whenever possible and pass their name along to everyone you meet.

For the record, exemplary customer service seems to be headed in the direction of the ivory-billed woodpecker. It’s out there somewhere. No one is exactly sure of the exact location.