Customer entitlement didn’t spring fully formed out of nowhere. While it’s always been an issue, the politics of the last four years have spotlighted it in unwavering, infuriating detail. Entitled customers make it much harder for customer service reps to do their job—because the bottom line in most cases is bowing to customer wishes, even […]
Tag: #customerservice
Where does customer service cross over into undeserved customer entitlement? A recent T-Mobile ad campaign got me thinking about this important distinction, with the “I want it all…and I want it now” theme. While competent, dedicated and sincere customer service needs to continue growing in this country, the opposite is true of our entitlement mentality, […]
As COVID continues to dominate our lives, customer crankiness is growing substantially. That makes the job of customer service specialists even more challenging. Consumers are not in a forgiving mood, as a recent article in MartechSeries.com (via PRNewswire) notes: “As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, more than 80% of consumers in the US expect customer support […]
Through all of the advice and philosophizing out there, sometimes great customer service boils down to what Jack Palance told Billy Crystal in the movie City Slickers. Excerpted, Palance asks, “Do you know what the secret of life is?…One thing. Just one thing…[Crystal asks] But, what is the ‘one thing?’…[Palance replies] That’s what you have […]
Gotta hand it to Costco once again. Their growth continues healthily through the pandemic, largely because of their unwavering dedication to customer service (and their strong employee support doesn’t hurt either). And, this is despite ranking lower than some competitors in the convenience category, cited by a recent ZDNet.com report as a chief consumer buying […]
“Nuts and bolts” of a company’s strengths and credibility once focused on length of time in business, track record and proven abilities—in other words, historical measures. Now, companies increasingly are judged based on their customer service-related performance in the present and moving forward. Historical reputation, while still a factor in buyer decision-making, is taking a […]
Heather Wilde, CTO at Roceteer, wrote an article in Inc. Magazine entitled, “What Working at a Call Center Taught Me About Customer Service…The customer may not always be right, but you can certainly treat them better.” The essence of her advice to customer service departments and reps is to act more like caring, concerned moms […]
Mom and pop customer service traits—most notably doing business with companies you like, respect and trust—are surfacing everywhere as drivers of loyalty and the bottom line. To make it work, companies must invest time, resources and, yes, money.
While Costco was listed first on my top mom and pop kudos list, there are many companies out there with similar attitudes and aptitudes. These companies, smaller in scope than Costco, come up just as large when it comes to taking care of customers/clients. I’ve already recognized these three in previous posts. I’m bringing them […]
As companies grow bigger and more global, customer service in many quarters is feeling more like dealing with a caring mom and pop enterprise than a mega-company. That’s clearly the attitude of such companies as Costco, which has been making me feel right at home since 1999. (Full disclosure: I’m an unabashed, biased Costcophile with […]
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