Customer service, especially in the retail sector, is the key component of a successful business. Then why, with the poor current state of the economy, is good customer service on the decline?
Everywhere you go, it’s evident. It takes too long to get your food. Your bill is wrong. The person waiting on you is just plain rude and seems to care less if you spend your money at their establishment. Poor customer service is spreading like a bad disease.
And the causes of it are not at all surprising. Good help is hard to find, and those businesses that don’t pay much more than minimum wage are finding out the hard way. Take a good hard look at any fast food establishment, and you’ll see very few who work there that actually care.
And can we blame them? If you were forced to serve rude customers in a hot and uncomfortable environment for a few bucks an hour, how long would it take for you to stop caring?
Now that we’re done playing devil’s advocate, let’s examine the issue from the other side. If you want to make it in this world, you have to put in work. You have to prove to your employer that you are willing to do what it takes to get where you want to be.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with the fast food business. A lot of very successful business owners and high level executives have worked in one. And everyone has had an entry level job of some sort in their lifetime.
The problem with American society today is that everyone thinks that they are owed something. Like it’s their American right to be handed a high paying job, a house, and a big TV. The harsh reality of it all is that you have to develop your skills and market yourself to get a good job. And you have to start somewhere.
I personally started at the bottom of the food chain, working in high school. I worked my way around and up to a good paying position. Then I lost it all when the company I worked for went out of business in the last recession. I quickly found out that amongst a shrinking job market, I would have to start over.
I had to put aside my pride and what I thought I was owed with my experience and job record and start over in an entry level position with another company. And I did it without complaining, and provided excellent customer service.
It didn’t take long for my selfless attitude to win over my superiors and several promotions later, I’m back up where I wanted to be.
The key takeaway from all of this is that I had to suck it up and live on a much lower wage than I was used to. I had to drastically alter my lifestyle and attitude towards life in general. And I did it while not taking it out on my customers.
Today, customer service is a huge factor for me in deciding whether to continue spending my money somewhere or whether I take it somewhere else. I won’t hesitate to leave a place and go somewhere else, even if it means spending more money, if I have a poor experience.
It makes you wonder how some businesses survive in the wake of the current economy with the terrible customer service they exhibit.
I leave you with a real life example (one of many I could provide, maybe enough to fill a book). Sears is a company long known for it’s poor customer service, so much so that it’s amazing that they remain in business today.
Recently my girlfriend took her company car to a Sears to get the oil changed. I normally recommend not spending any money at Sears, but her company has very few approved places that they are allowed to use for oil changes.
A basic oil change ended up turning into a two and a half hour experience. We got there right when they opened, and hers was the first car in. And to add insult to injury, there were oily handprints on the hood and door, and a grease stain on the driver’s side seat.
Not one to take this sort of thing lightly, my enraged girlfriend proceeded to call Sear’s 1-800 “customer service” number. She told the gentleman who answered the phone what had transpired, and basically told him that she would never go to Sears again and would attempt to get her company to stop using their services.
The guy on the phone proceeds to apologize, and then tells her that someone would contact her within 24 hours. Absolutely amazing. To top it all off, no one ever called her back.
My girlfriend is in the process of trying to do exactly what she said she would do, by getting her company to stop using Sear’s automotive services. And I’m rooting for them, because nothing would be better than causing this atrocity of a company to lose tens of thousands of dollars a year in business because of their poor excuse of a customer service representative.
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