Real Service

“I need a 25 foot garden hose, do you have one?”

“Whatever we have is on the shelf”, said the pony-tailed cashier behind the customer service desk, her eyes never meeting my pleading gaze.

“I can’t find the garden hoses - maybe because it’s off season. Can you show me where they are?”
“No”, she said, chewing gum as her life depended on it. She turned to straighten candy boxes on the shelf behind her. I was dismissed.

I left my cart and walked out of the store. In that short exchange, I could tell that “Store X” had no interest in taking my money. I had one more thing on my list and they wouldn’t help me find it. I was definitely not building a relationship with “Store X”.

I was determined that I would never be THAT kind of service provider. My “pleaser” personality aside, I knew that I would try to be a good listener, stop what I was doing, assess what my customer’s needs are and truly attempt to fulfill them. My customers would have a relationship.

Who are my customers? Aaaaahhhhh - that could be tricky! Of course, the list includes clients, potential clients, “bosses” and others that have some influence.

Meeting the needs of this group will hopefully keep you out of trouble. More than that, a good Quality System requires that we identify our true customers. How often do we groan when we’re in the middle of work and the phone rings or an urgent message pops up? Oh, it’s only my colleague…..I know that he has an important meeting today – better stop what I’m doing to see if I can help. “Customers” are not only the obvious influential ones in our worlds, the ones that give direct feedback – they are also the internal customers that we interact with every day. The interaction between departments, teams and staff hierarchy is truly where customer service begins. Bottlenecks are created by lack of communication and understanding of how our roles, products and deadlines affect others that we work with. Inefficiency, defects, poor service and increased cost are a result of misunderstanding of internal customer service.

How about that another collection of customers; peers, colleagues, team members, husband, kids, friends, neighbors? The list could go on forever! These folks pay me back with respect and reciprocation. No, it’s not easy and it takes some two-way communication, but the relationship is well worth it. By the way, how am I doing? How are YOU doing?

- Beth Freed