By:  Jerome Williams

February 2, 2009

Before embarking on a new journey of starting my own consulting business, I worked for an organization that grew from six hundred to over thirteen hundred employees in a three-year period. For a number of years, I managed the second largest department, and I was the “front man”, dealing with visitors/customers on a daily basis. As we grew, so did the need for better customer service. We were told that the customer was always right, and I had the responsibility of ensuring the policies and procedures were followed, even if the customers or visitors did not agree with them.

As we increased in our in attendance and in the customers we served in our retail shops, parking garage, checkroom and theaters, so did the number of complaints. We received complaints about our policies and procedures, our strict enforcement of the policies and procedures, our service, and ultimately our employees. The customer was always right, even if I didn’t always agree.

If I made exceptions to some of the procedures, i.e. no refund without a receipt, no admittance after a show had begun, no discount because a coupon had expired, I had to justify to higher ups why I made the exception. If I followed the policies and procedures to the letter, I had to explain why the customer went “over my head” to someone else in authority. It was a no win situation.

Upon reflection, I now realize that as an employee, I reacted to a customer’s complaint. I stonewalled the customer rather than listen objectively to what the customer was saying. As a manager, I got frustrated when employees didn’t handle a situation. The interactions with the customer and with the employee were confrontational. But it really had nothing to do with the customer.

It is all about perception. It does not matter who you believe is right. What matters is how a situation is handled. And that is the responsibility of the employees And the Management! It is also about respect. Employees should be taught to respect the concerns of the customer. Also, they need self-respect so that they do not get baited into a confrontation. Neither employees nor management should personalize a situation, or perceive himself/herself to be under attack. Employees and Managers must learn to listen objectively and to read between the lines.

Once, a customer (an adult, I was sure) asked for the time schedule for shows in our theater. I replied, “The film is shown from 10:30 to 4:30 p.m. daily, every hour on the half hour.” The customer then asked, “What is daily?” This wasn’t the first time I was asked this same question. Exasperated, I replied, “Seven days a week is daily.” Of course, the customer was not pleased. I came across as being snide. What I could have said, and probably should have said was: “From Sunday through Thursday, shows are at 10:30, 11:30, 12:30, 1:30, 2:30, 3:30 and 4:30. On Friday and Saturday the schedule is the same, with additional shows at 6:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. May I help you with anything else?”

I knew what the customer was asking, even though I thought that I had explained it by saying, “daily.” I never said that we weren’t open, and I assumed that by saying “daily”, the customer would know that I meant seven days a week. If I didn’t want to give the complete breakdown, I could have just answered that we were open every day, and that the 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. schedule was in effect every day of the week.

Another confrontational situation can occur when deciding to give a customer a refund. We would tell our employees not to give refunds without a receipt and to call a supervisor if the customer objected. The customer doesn’t want to hear, “I can’t give you a refund; that’s our policy!” And then the supervisor would get frustrated because the employee called. Sometimes, the supervisor would chew out the employee because of the call.

An employee may be able to say, “I am not authorized to give a refund without approval of my supervisor. I will gladly contact him/her for you.” The supervisor should accept that these situations will occur. Management should allow for employees to feel comfortable talking to customers, and Management should be objective in dealing with the employees.

Using an experienced consultant to conduct your company’s customer service training is beneficial in many ways. It has been my experience that employees and management voice their concerns better when using an outside source. The use of a consultant can be a positive factor in getting customer service back on track.

Posted under customer service