Make Customer Service an Outlier Not an Outpost (Part 3)

Refining the Frontline and Lifeblood of Your Business

A go-to manual with practical and helpful advice. A primer to assist managers, human resource departments, and small business owners.

10. Boundaries and Limits On Customer Service

In my experience, I found it much more feasible, profitable, and productive to cultivate and please repetitive business than chasing after every type of customer.

Time after time, I watch small business owners incorporate schemes and strategies to compete for customers. You have to have principles, values, and a vision. Corporate integrity and identity. It’s easy to become desperate and tempting when things slow down. So and so is doing it this way, let’s try it. There’s a ton of business over the hills and far away, let’s find it.

Build a corporate identity. Perfect who you are through exceptional service and the word will spread. Customers will evangelize your brand as well.

By all means, seek and attract new business. Don’t change who you are just to keep and please a batch of disloyal customers. Customers who might be using you to see what the hubbub they read online is all about.

Don’t get desperate and start changing who you are to get attract new customers. Everyone is trying their best. Many others are working long hours, weekends, and holidays. It’s a reminder of what to go after and who you are.

I’ve watched too many companies jump through hoops for the wrong customers. Rude, obnoxious, and entitled people who refuse to be satisfied. As you’re prancing around to meet their needs, they string you along while searching for a replacement. One prancing slip is their excuse to jump ship.

11. A Corporate Tsunami

During the Uber invasion, I was employed in the taxi and limousine business. I witnessed firsthand the shared panic, uncertainty, and corporate anxiety. You could imagine the desperation and unknown we faced.

One of the best business, customer, and people educations I ever received was from my time in the car service sector. I learned a great deal about price structure, service, and customer relations.

Over my tenure with various firms, I wore many hats. On any given day, I drove, dispatched, and managed. No different from a naval submarine under siege. All hands on deck, do what you can to keep this thing in service. No job is too small — you’re not above it. No task too big — learn as you go.

The nugget I learned was that customers want to be heard. They yearn to be listened to, understood, and empathized with. Once that hurdle was cleared, ninety percent of the time, they would rejoin the fold.

You could imagine how reservations became jumbled. Over-booking by the dispatch office, drivers calling out, cars breaking down, flights delayed, or arriving early.

Many times I found myself racing to the airport to pick up a disgruntled passenger. In the middle of a blog post, mass email, or marketing project, the phone would ring with a crisis on the line. An apology with full responsibility often provided the best results.

“Thank you for waiting, Mrs. Jones. I apologize that I’m late.” (Less is more).

If more was required: “We’re in the midst of a busy night and I did my best to make it to the airport so you wouldn’t have to wait any longer. I appreciate your patience and understanding.”

In my experience the acknowledgment, empathy, and apology did it. Some customers took longer to cool off, but it often worked. The only times it didn’t, is when the customer felt it was too habitual on our part.

Fair enough. When they left the company for greener pastures I couldn’t blame them — I shared their frustrations.

I’m not saying it’s perfect and hope you have something better. What I didn’t say was, “There these guys go again. It’s a wonder we’re still in business.” It may or may not get the heat off of me, but isn’t a good message. Covering Your Ass is not a strategy — it’s a cop-out.

Remember, it’s not about you, it’s about your company. Of course, it wasn’t my fault. I didn’t book the reservation, schedule the drivers, or fly the plane. Fair or not, it was my mess to deal with. That’s the way things go down sometimes. Such is business, such is life.

I’ve dealt with all kinds of customers. Meanies, hotheads, and arrogant fools. I’m not suggesting that you be a doormat either. That’s disrespectful and unpleasant. I’ve had it happen to me on several occasions. It sucks and it stings.

You want to body slam your co-worker for screwing up. You wished you could explain, or at least show the customer the hoops you jumped through and the effort you put into their situation, and still, things go south.

12. Customer Service Agents As Your First Responders

Instead of the Putting Out The Fires Team and Cleaning Up The Mess Crew, think of your customer service department as First Responders. Since that’s what they are.

During 9/11 we watched these people enter those burning buildings. Our hearts sank knowing many would not return.

We also believed they sensed this, yet they still proceeded. Acts of humanity and sacrifice galvanized and reassured a damaged nation. We knew the country would survive with people like this on our side.

Think of the first responders we know personally. They’re special people. The ones I know have the temperament to look beyond the day-to-day red tape and politics found in many institutions and workplaces.

Instead, they focus on the bigger picture — answering the next distress call. They know it’s coming and they’ll be relied upon. Not to mention the stakes in play. It could be life and death since it often is.

The ones I know make it their mission to concentrate and be ready. Going to work is to be of service. It’s more than a job — it’s their duty.

You might find this hokey and the previous 9/11 comparison an extreme example. If so, think of it this way: What would you do if your company collapses and goes under? Take a moment to ponder this devastation.

Do the steps now while you can. Provide your customer service division with optimum support and resources. Help them help you. Equip this team with the right people and give them autonomy.

You have the power to change. Make it a priority. Create the time and craft a strategy. If you’re still in business, it’s never too late. Bosses, managers, and supervisors have titles. Leaders have the people and always will.

13. Customer Service and Social Media

As salespeople produce and acquire more clients, many rely on their customer service skills. More so than their selling ones.

Many consumers with customer service issues contact their sales reps directly. Why not? They’re the middleman who sold them this product or service.

Social gifts are a precious thing — and commodity. In our digital age, more and more social contact is being forgone and replaced. We text instead of conversing. Email instead of calling.

Apps allow us to access a product, service, and website without a gatekeeper. Less and less conversation has pervaded our daily communication streams.

Social media platforms share your identity. If you decide to create these pages, it’s essential to come up with a plan. How do you want to be perceived? What type of information would you like to share? The type of conversations you’d like to inspire and engage in?

Some firms comment on current events. Others choose to remain in-house, only messaging about their products, brand, and industry.

Whatever your image and portrayal, have the right people in charge and command of your social media. It’s more essential than ever to communicate on various levels, channels, and mediums.

Customers are known to contact companies through social media rather than phone lines or chat rooms. They’re on their phones with their apps, channels, and platforms. Many aren’t and won’t log out to call or email. They’ll text or do whatever else is handy and expedient.

In this real-time climate, it’s the way we correspond. In our information age, consumers also expect an immediate response. If not, they’ll feel neglected and go elsewhere.

The future has arrived. It’s not only found in the portals we use to communicate but in its speed. It’s the new frontier and it’s here to stay.

Invest in these communication channels. Make sure your service division can contact and converse quickly. Social media and response time is at the forefront and is crucial to the growth and health of your business.

14. Customer Service Never Stops

A year removed from the car service and out of the business for good, a former customer reached out. He texted me looking for a ride. He had phoned the offices and no one had picked up. Are they still in business?

It would have been easy to blow this guy off. It wasn’t my problem. I was no longer involved or concerned. But I couldn’t. I texted back that I wasn’t sure of the company’s status and assured him that I would help.

I contacted one of the drivers and we took care of it. The man is a customer. We enjoyed many pleasant conversations whenever we corresponded. I also paid a visit to his office to open a corporate account. It wouldn’t feel right to leave him behind.

Another customer from the car service left a voice mail. She needed to make a reservation for a ride to the airport the next day. She also passed along her airline, flight number, and date for her return.

I contacted the car service to alert them while returning the customer’s call. If I hadn’t, she would have been waiting the next morning for an unscheduled car and might have missed her flight.

I also suggested that she remove my contact information from her phone. Thanks, but no thanks. The last thing I need is to be a liaison between customers and the car service. Whenever it happens, I take a few minutes to chip in.

15. Customer Communications

I’m not suggesting you rename your department, but is something you may consider. Customer service, customer support, customer relations. Whatever you decide to call it, it’s always been and will always be a communications division.

When it’s thought of in this vernacular, it not only expands its importance but who should be working in it. When you think of communications, you think of branding, public relations, and corporate image.

Expand your department by expanding your criteria and talent requirements. Your reach, parameters, and outlook might expand along with your new division’s prestige.

16. Riding The Tsunami Wave

Fine jewelry, fashion, and transportation. Books, music, and entertainment. Startups to brand names. Mom and Pop locals to global platforms.

As a kid, my paper route paid for baseball cards. As an adult, I’ve dealt with customers who’ve dropped six figures on a piece of fine jewelry. In between, I’ve encountered all walks of life, backgrounds, ages, and education levels.

From my tenure as a paperboy through the retail and service sectors, I’ve always enjoyed my time with customers. Well, mostly. I could furnish a listicle on the customers from hell, but they’re the least of your worries.

I’ve worked for disruptors as well as the disrupted. Besides the car service, I worked for an online giant. Part of a brand and business that grew into a billion-dollar company, changing the landscape of fashion retail forever.

I’d pass liquidation and going out of business sales on my commute to our offices. At the warehouse, we had three eight-hour shifts picking, shipping, and putting away two-hundred-thousand items per day.

While helping out in their understaffed warehouse, the barcode on a hanger was defaced and I couldn’t scan a needed dress. The system was set up so that scanning is required. Now, what do I do? It was the only dress in that size. All I could think of was the customer.

Somewhere, a woman entrusted us to fill her need. A wedding or another type of formal. A presentation, business event, or a job interview. You name it.

I felt sick. Here was the item and I couldn’t pick it. I had other orders to fill and didn’t have a pen to write this down. I made a mental note, but the warehouse was too vast and new to me.

When I found a floor manager and explained it, she told me I did the right thing by leaving it behind and going on to my next item. What choice did I have? According to protocol and the floor manager, my performance metrics were more important.

This logic made no sense to me. What about the customer? Her dress and order? Her situation?

This is the stuff that inspired me to write this manual. Not that a billion-dollar company needs my counsel. It’s this mentality that we encounter all too frequently. When we come across it, it hits home and we’re bothered by it.

17. From This Point On

I hope this manual helps you rethink and refine your customer service model. There is no bible for making it perfect, only better.

It all depends on what you’d like to build and accomplish. If you’re in business to business, your customer service will differ from those selling directly to the public.

The idea is to step back and recalculate your service mission. Think of it as an entity instead of another department.

Craft a mission statement and business plan for your new customer service department. Take the time to create a blueprint and vision. An outline with objectives designed to achieve your goals.

Think of the end game and work your way back. Create the steps to take you there. The best screenwriters and novelists apply this process all of the time.

They start with the end before writing their books and movies. Every scene, action, and sequence points the story to its climax. The more effective their endings, the more satisfied their audience.

Do the same with your customer satisfaction. What do you want your customers to take, enjoy, and experience from doing business with you? Create a manifesto that will steer them to these landing spots.

You’re the expert. You know your products and services better than anyone. You believe in the benefits, savings, and value they provide.

Find the best agents to share and spread this good stuff. Take the time to craft a formula that will not only guide your customer service division but allow them to carry it out.

18. Reality Checks, Skin In The Game, and Other Stuff

During my time in the workforce, I’ve been an employee, an entrepreneur, and a business partner. A manager, freelance writer, and consultant. I’ve come across various businesses, owners, and executives.

I know firsthand many aren’t living high on the hog. They’re succeeding, yet, they’re personal and professional lives are intertwined. Everything near and dear appears woven together and on the line because many times it is.

These aren’t the cigar-chomping fat cats. The steakhouse and martini crowds of film and TV folklore. Far from it. Many are so invested in the situations that they demand high performance, results, and profits as a means for survival.

Their daily plight reminds me of that old axiom: The gazelle wakes up and must outrun the lion to survive. The lion wakes up and must outrun the gazelle to survive.

If their company collapses, they face lawsuits and ruin. Because of this, I understand their goals and styles. If the business goes under, their employees are out of a job. The worker is free to leave and move on. Free to collect unemployment insurance while searching for their next venture.

The people beneath the rubble may never reach solid ground. This is their fear and it’s real. Many won’t because many don’t. At worst and most times, the misplaced employee faces a patch of misery compared to a life of hell. Poles apart.

Through this looking glass, I understand the compliance mentality. Many higher-ups are busy leading by example. The long days, extended weekends, and red-eye flights to visit clients. There are trade shows and new businesses to seek and secure. An improved product line to design, develop, and launch.

Various hats, deadlines, and responsibilities compared to one customer’s pesky phone call. Dog-gone-it, can’t people learn how to solve an issue? A complaint? What the heck is going on in our customer service department?

The hope is that this information provides the spark you are searching for. A vantage point to view your customer relations through an unfiltered prism. To tweak your current model or construct a replacement.

When it comes to investing in customer service, ground events and the bottom line enter the equation. The checks and balances of reality rule our business days and decisions. In most companies, effective will do. Why settle for less? Anything but the best it could be?

With the right people and doctrine, it may not be as expensive, daunting, and time-consuming as it appears. You’ll probably have to bump up the wages and salaries for the better agents and supervisors.

If the case, another business cost. I hope you see this investment in the risk versus reward column, rather than in the expenditure against return ledger.

The solutions you seek and need may be closer than you think. Tangible and workable. Good luck on your road to prosperity.