I’m Naming Names
Image by Der Ohlsen
Read a smart little post from Michael Hyatt yesterday called, “Four Strategies for Responding to Poor Customer Service.” Michael comments on the state of customer service in our country due to the recession, layoffs, and the smaller workforce pool to serve people out of. His assertion is that, while we cannot change the kind of service we are receiving, we can change our attitude/response to it.
It’s a good word in a society that is quick to point fingers (or speak our minds) without looking inward to see how we could have made things better.
Thinking back at my week, I’d have to say that, while I’ve had my fair share of poor customer service experiences, I’ve had a good deal of great experiences as well.
A few examples…
BAD - Bullard Roofing
We finally had a new roof put on our house this week after a couple of mid-spring hail/wind storms, and several months of appeals. The roof looks GREAT, the workers were friendly, but the service from the roofing company has been lackluster. Things taking 3-4x as long as they said. Severe lack of communication (including not returning calls when they said they will). If the work wasn’t so good, I’d probably be irate. Instead, I’m left somewhat frustrated and somewhat perplexed at why a company who thrives off customer referrals not place customer service at a higher level.GOOD - J. Christophers
Josiah and I headed to one of our favorite ‘breakfast’ restaurants Labor Day morning for so father-son time. The waitress was incredible! She was friendly, personable, and attentive - even though she had several other customers to take care of besides us. When Josiah had trouble picking between two choices on the menu, she put in a special mixed order so he could have portions of both for the same price as one.GOOD - Autozone
Andrea had some van trouble this week. She was stranded at work because the battery died. I helped jump-start it, followed her home, and proceeded to pull the bad battery out. I threw it into the trunk of the car and told her to take it to Autozone to get a new one. They came out to get the old battery (she didn’t have to carry it in) and helped her find a replacement. Had she had the van with her they would have put it in… for free. She came back a few days later to buy some oil - they not only helped her, they added the oil to the engine for her.GREAT - Chick-fil-A
To me, Chick-fil-A is the quintessential example of great customer service. I have never had bad customer service in a CFA restaurant. Smiling, friendly, quick-to-help employees. “It’s my pleasure,” anytime you thank them. If the order isn’t ready quickly, they tell you to go sit down & they will bring it to you. I’ve even had an employee offer to help me carry out a large order because my hands were full. This week? Free chicken sandwiches to everyone who came into a restaurant on Labor Day wearing their favorite sports team apparel.
While our customer service experiences may very well be one-on-one encounters with individual employees, they are rarely the ones who get labeled by their own customer service successes & failures. We may not remember who it was that gave us bad service, but we will likely never forget where we received it.
What about you? Let’s name names… who has given you great/good/bad service?
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teresa shared their voice on 09.11.2009:
while in oklahoma over the weekend, experienced much excellent customer service. i could tell i wasn’t in the metroplex! left my bag in an arby’s restaurant in ardmore. besides providing good customer service, they were sweet about the whole thing when i called to inquire about my bag. they put it in the safe until i could pick it up the next day. they were all smiles when i came to pick it up. stopped at a restaurant north of oklahoma city - Sooner…something. can’t remember the name but it was in a small town behind a gas station off I-35. the waitress was very sweet and helpful. i think she could tell we were tired and on edge. they told me claire could eat for free off my plate. we stayed at a cabin at arbuckle/davis. cabins weren’t the best but the service was. sweetest ladies.
the lady at the arbuckle zoo was having a bad day so we didn’t get much good service there. she yelled at my kids :/ but her co-worker was nice and loaned us a stroller for claire. it’s difficult to be nice to grouchy people but we did it anyway. :)
i told my husband, “the people in oklahoma are pretty nice.”
Chris shared their voice on 09.12.2009:
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"Thin Places" are rich in Celtic tradition. They are the places in our lives where the divine and the natural worlds come so close together that we can catch a glimpse of God. For the Celtics these places were very real - places within creation where we could physically go. The Thin Places in our own lives are those moments where the space between us & the Kingdom is thin, when we are introduced to a greater glimpse of Who He is through our experiences and through the stories of others.
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Ethan Bryan shared their voice on 09.11.2009:
Chick-fil-A cannot be beat. Hands down, the best.