There is no substitute for excellent customer service.  This week I found myself on the receiving end of some excellent customer service and some extremely disappointing customer service.  In both cases, the service was memorable and worthy of comments.  I generally repay excellent customer service with loyal patronage.  I return to the site of the wonderful service to spend my time and/or my dollars on the goods and services.  On the other hand, poor customer service frustrates me.  After voicing my aggravation about the deficiencies in the service, I intentionally work to inform others about the regrettable experience.  Then, I avoid future contact unless absolutely necessary.

When I experience sketchy service that borders on awful, I wonder why people struggle with the concepts of kindness, respect, and reliability.  I wonder why people fail to give competent service with a smile, a welcoming spirit, and genuine concern for creating a positive experience for the customer.  I understand that service may not be perfect.  As a result, the incidental challenges of the service provider or the challenges of a new staff members don’t immediately sever the consumer relationship.  However, the negative customer service experiences remind me of the better ones and what made the excellent experiences so positive.

The worst customer service experiences I had this week were reportedly the result of staff changes.  In two very different industries, the sources of my difficult experiences were attributed to new management and incompetent staff.  I asked the new leaders who were pitching the excuses to me why the incompetence of their staff became the problem of their customers.  I asked whether or not the provider would be expecting payment, in full and on time, or was there an accommodation for the customer when their staff failed to provide the services or goods promised.  In both cases, I had dialogue with at least four people at each place before I spoke to one person with the capacity to listen to the problem AND develop a plan of action to resolve the issues presented.  These situations also presented similar profiles for the not-so-helpful staff member.  The staffer was defensive when I didn’t accept their initial statement as the policy and final company response.  The staffers spent time deflecting their failures onto me and trying to convince me to just accept their policy or protocol as the standard even though there was no benefit to me.  There was no compassion or flexibility on their side of the challenging situations.  I felt underappreciated and used.

Thankfully, there were some really great customer service experiences this week.  Like the really bad ones, there were some commonalities between the really good ones.  In every excellent customer experience, the provider was polite and informed about their product or service.  I felt valued because the providers listened carefully and executed the services with prompt and efficient delivery.  I was treated with a respectful familiarity and professional concern that invited my return visits for service.  Additionally, those with excellent customer service secured a place in my contact list.  At no time was there an excuse for a failure to meet a request.  At no time was I made to feel responsible for any shortcomings of the provider.  In fact, there were apologies and accommodations made to ease the burden of my expenses of time and finances.

The not-so-great experiences frustrate me, but provide valuable teaching moments for me as a leader.  It is important to work to be better than the best customer service experience and never close to the standard of the worst.  I encourage all of the members of the teams I work with to be informed and concerned about listening, offering appropriate guidance, and creating a supportive, inclusive environment for those we service.  I want my team and myself to keep our conversations and actions fixed on providing the desired outcomes with professionalism and courtesy.  Excellent customer service begins with a leader who cares about projecting passion about the product or service to customers.  The leader’s ideals about customer care must be adopted by the team and woven into the fabric of the team or organization.  A provision of excellent customer service is not accidental.  I hope that others will use negative customer service experiences to enhance relationships with customers in their own environments.