The Dos (and don’ts) of customer service

When you are at the receiving end of poor customer service, you can either suffer through it or use it as a “teachable moment” that will help your business grow.

I recently had the pleasure of interacting via telephone and in-person with both my cell phone service provider and my cable company. These contacts were the result of a perfect storm of investigating a switch in cell phone providers and concurrently having my cable box stop working. What follows are the key “pain points”, what I learned from them, and how it helped me (and now you) learn about how to do customer service the right way.

Poor customer service on a cellular level

I made a phone call to my cell phone provider of over 20 years to see if I could reduce my monthly rates. The impetus for this effort in frustration: a mailer from a competing mobile telecom company promising me lower rates, better service, and an overall magenta outlook on the world.

Me calling Big Telecom: “Your competitor is offering me everything you are currently providing me for $xxx dollars less than you are charging me. I still want a hotspot, the same number of lines, and the same speed. I will continue using the 11-month-old phone that I currently have. What can you do for me?”

Big Telecom agent: “We can reduce your bill if we cancel the hotspot and put you on a slower tier of service. If you eliminate one of those lines, we can give you a lower rate. Oh, and we can provide you with an upgrade to your phone for $41 per month.”

What I learned about sloppy customer service that also applies to automotive service: Listening skills are of prime importance in customer service. Reading back the customer’s concerns confirms that both parties are in agreement and that listening occurred. I have observed (and may have been guilty of) shop owners, technicians, and service writers not actively listening to a customer’s complaint about their vehicle, but instead sell whatever is the hot profit maker that week without regard for the customer’s original reason for their visit.

Don’t hesitate to write down the customer’s concerns. If it is in writing and both parties agree with what was written, it makes it more difficult for either party to deny what was said a day, a week, or a month later.

When the cable company gets its wires crossed

My cable box/DVR/source of heat in the winter decided to fail about the same time as I was considering cell phone provider options.

My call to Big Cable: “My cable TV service isn’t working right. I wiggled the HDMI connection on the back panel, and it started working again for a few minutes and died again. I tried a different HDMI cable and a different input on the home theater receiver and the pattern of intermittent service continued. I think I may have a bad cable box.”

Script-reading person on the other end: “We thank you for your 21 years of patronage. We hope that you are having a good day. We want you to be assured that we will do our best to provide you with excellent level service. What is your concern?”

Me: “Umm… I just told you.”

Script-reader (10 minutes later): “Let me escalate your concern to a higher-level technician.”

Technician of a higher caliber: “You need a new cable box. I will order one.”

Two days later a package arrived. Upon opening, I learned that they sent the wrong cable box. Just for grins, I hooked it up. It wouldn’t connect to the cable service.

My call to Big Cable part 2: “I received the wrong cable box. Please reorder the correct one.”

Script-reader: “We thank you for your 21 years of patronage. We hope that you are having a good day. We want you to be assured that we will do our best to provide you with excellent level service. What is your concern?”

They eventually moved my problem to the highest level of service known to mankind. The cheerful person at the other end promised to order the correct cable box.

Two days later the courier dropped off another cardboard box. Ensconced within the container: the wrong cable box.

My call to Big Cable part 3: “I received the wrong cable box - again. Please reorder the correct one.”

New reader, slightly different script: (after the pleasantries were exchanged) “Please visit your local Big Cable Store location, they will have the correct cable box in stock for you. I will make an appointment for you for tomorrow at 3:30 PM.”

The next day at 3:25 PM, I arrived at my local Big Cable Store with my original intermittent cable box and the two incorrect cable boxes. Upon arrival, I identified myself and was informed by the cheery Big Cable Store counterperson that I did not have an appointment. They also educated me on the history of 4K cable boxes and how they don’t stock such items and whoever told me that they stocked such items was badly misinformed.

They promised to order the correct cable box. It has yet to arrive.

What I learned from that experience with poor customer service that applies to automotive service:

Listening skills are still essential to good customer service. Also important is under-promising and over-delivering. I had experienced the inverse.

Following through on your commitments is also critical. Let your yes be a yes and your no be a no. Use either electronic or paper schedulers to keep you on track to get things done when you said you would. Customers have become so used to repair facilities not keeping their word that if your shop bucks the trend, customers will notice.

Lastly, know your products and services thoroughly. Know what repairs you can and cannot do in your shop. Be an expert about the parts you sell and the skill sets of your technicians. Again, under-promise and over-deliver as you strive to provide excellent service.

At the end of the workweek, excellent service may be all that differentiates you from the shop down the street.

Meanwhile, I await my third new cable box as I stare at the black rectangle hanging on the wall.