Long, long ago, when I was working for a U.S. Federal Government Agency, there came a time when we were instructed to “convert” our service delivery mentality from one of “imposing” what was required (it was a regulatory agency, after all) to one of providing “customer service.” Our customers were internal staff but the mandate was clear; if you provided a service, you were to consider those who received that service as customers.
Changing an Old Habit For a lot of us, with at least a decade of the previous mindset, this was an adjustment to say the least. And our particular customers were a pretty demanding bunch. After a while, and with quite a bit of “name-calling” behind closed doors, we realized that the most demanding customers - the “pains in the ass” - were actually our best hope for elevating the quality of our service. So we changed their nickname to “power users” and set out to provide the very best service based on their demands. It worked, I am proud and pleased to say.
And Then This What also happened was to forever change me when it came to the customer service I receive out in the real world, where I have no power over the service providers, the other customers, or any other stakeholder. When I receive excellent service, or even good service, I am as profuse in my thanks as I can be. When I receive substandard service, I am equally vocal, but, as the saying goes, “it ain’t pretty!”
"Cuss-tomers!" Over the years, I’ve collected a number of stories from both sides of the customer service quality equation - the good, the bad, and the downright ugly. Now that I have a blog, I have a place where I can entertain you with my customer service tales! Or, as a friend of mine likes to say, "We put the cuss in ‘cuss-tomer’!"
That always makes me smile, but customer service that makes me cuss certainly doesn't. If I take the word cuss back to its origins, which is probably some form of the word “curse,” it has a certain resonance.
Who Will Receive My Props? Here, on my blog, I want to take the opportunity to give a special shout-out for exceptional customer service, but also point out areas of improvement for unexceptional customer service. On my wish list, I’ve added, “I want my customer service tales to become a much-sought-after rating system for customer service providers of all types!”
Hey, it could happen! All we need is a symbol! You know? Like stars, or tomatoes, thumbs up. Send in your suggestions on my Contact Form.
No One Saw It Coming? And, then, COVID-19 happened. Now, I have to rework my previous thinking on the subject of customer service because everyone is so beleaguered - so burdened, so stressed - by the changes the pandemic has forced on our society, that it doesn't seem reasonable to hold to my previous standards for customer service. For one thing, I believe it is necessary to go way higher up the company “food chain” early on in any complaint process. The folks at the bottom of that food chain - the ones delivering the service - are often hanging onto their jobs for dear life and “rocking the boat” just isn’t in the cards for them. And then there are factors like nation-wide shipping, distribution, parts and supply shortages that can make for customer service nightmares.
On the other hand, here’s to the people who have done an exceptional job in any kind of service role during this pandemic!
Here We Go! So, in my first blog post about customer service, I'd like to talk about people I have recently encountered as I have settled my mother's estate. You see, she passed away in December of 2021. I am her executor and it falls to me to talk to people about the arrangements that are necessary to close her accounts, cancel her policies, and otherwise shut down the business of a lifetime.
Overall, people have been very kind to me, even if they don't yet know the subject matter of my call. A couple of exceptional stand outs include the gentleman who was charged with collecting my mothers remains. I'll spare you the details of what happened but his sympathy and compassion were noteworthy. His name was John. The poor man had to withstand my spluttering about "yet another person named John," which is a running family joke. Both my father and my brother are named John, and there are so many more men named John in our world, I'm thinking of assigning them numbers.
Sadly, the rest of my encounters with the Philadelphia funeral home that sent this particular “John” to pick up my mother's remains were less satisfactory, so I'll leave the name of the business out of this post. Suffice it to say, John exceeded my expectations under extremely trying circumstances.
Please Share! I'll be telling more stories about both sides – the light and the dark – of customer service. And I would love to hear any stories you would like to share. Feel free to contact me and let me know if you'd like to give a shout-out or a smackdown (virtual, of course) to anybody out there.
Side Note: I’ve debated the point of naming the businesses featured in these customer service tales. For now, I’ll err on the side of privacy for the smack downs, although I will gladly name the heroes. Should you ever need to know the identity of a business in one of my less favorable tales, just contact me!
Welcome to “The Pipeline”
Barbara Dickinson, Owner and Operator