Can exceptional customer service be trained? Can you nurture service reps to care about your customers, or is caring a trait of nature inherent in some people and not others?
We’ve all dealt with customer-facing employees who seem to not give a hoot about taking care of us. Employees who “process” us like an item on an assembly line—who avoid eye contact, interrupt us, talk over us, and hurry us through the line.
Real World Story: A few weeks ago, I meet a client at a coffee shop she recommended. Neither of us had been to this place, so it would be a new experience for us. When I walked in, my client was already seated with her drink.
I took a quick glance around the place. It looked cute. It had a homey feel, and I immediately felt welcomed. I walked up to the counter to place my order;
however, no employee was to be found—anywhere. After nearly 2 minutes, an employee finally approaches me. She does not smile. She does not apologize for my wait. She doesn’t even look at me. She says with no feeling whatsoever, “Can I help you?” I pause, waiting for her to look at me. She never does. I ask, “Do you have iced tea?” She replies flatly, “Yes.” I ask, “Is it sweetened?” she says, “No.” I say, “Okay, I’ll have one.” By this time, I’m quite annoyed. And she has yet to look at me. She tells me the price, I pay, and she walks away. I think to myself if maybe am I too sensitive to customer service experiences? When I ask my client about her experience, she relays a similar story.
When my iced tea is ready, the employee yells to me, “Here’s your iced tea.” I walk up to the counter where I ordered, but she points to the side table and says, “It’s over there.” Ugh. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse!
This woman obviously could not have cared less about me, about her job, or about this coffee shop. I will not return to this shop and will tell anyone who listens to me to avoid it!
Strategies that Turn it Around:
- Customer-facing jobs are for “people” persons who genuinely and truly WANT to help others—regardless of what is happening in their personal lives.
- Have prospective employees define what customer service means to them. Then have them provide specific examples of how they have delivered great service based on that definition. This interview method is very revealing.
- Once you hire employees with the right attitude, make them all-around exceptional service agents by training them on your customer service protocols and company policies. Customer service training can also help to elevate great service people into exceptional representatives.
Remember: Not everyone is cut out to be a customer service superstar. Some people were meant to be behind the scenes people—and that’s great. Choose carefully and wisely and you will be rewarded with world-class results—happy and engaged employees, and loyal and returning customers.
What do YOU do to ensure you hire people-loving customer service reps? Please share with me your fabulous insights.