Tongues Wagging: The Real Value of Customer Service

My hand trembled slightly as I reached for the phone. It was a call I wanted to avoid.

I shifted in my chair. I thought of a hundred other things to do.

I picked up the phone and pushed buttons anyway.

***Let Me Explain***

Justin, my nine-year old son, received a Canon digital camera from his grandparents over the holidays.

He's a natural with a camera. He takes better photos than I do.

When he opened their gift a few days after Christmas, his eyes became wide and his smile reached from ear to ear.

He was thrilled.

***The Defect***

After taking a few photos and importing them into the laptop, it became evident that his new camera was defective.

The pictures were lined in horizontal strata. Each picture looked like a jigsaw puzzle.

Something was wrong.

***Never Buy: As Is Merchandise***

When I called my father and told him of the problems with the camera, he hesitated.

I could hear his shifting from one foot to the other. Shift. Pause. Shift.

I finally asked him if there was a reason why he couldn't return it?

The he told me the whole story.

The camera was a display model; the last one available.

It had all the bells and whistles that he wanted Justin to have at his fingertips.

And it was a good deal too!

But, it was obviously defective. My father, without question, would take care of it.

***Office Megastore: A Nightmare Waiting to Happen***

I could picture it in my head. I'd had the experience a hundred times.

My dad was doomed even before he left the driveway.

He'd walk in and explain the defective camera to some part-time college student who thought "the rules" were equivalent to the Ten Commandments and he'd refuse to take back the camera.

I was prepared for the worst.

A few days later, I got the call. It was my dad.

He'd been to the Office Megastore and he had some news. He'd taken the camera back. He'd supplied the receipt and even demonstrated how the all the pictures were doing the horizontal mambo.

I was prepared for the worst. I knew it was a hopeless venture.

How would I break the news to Justin?

***The Nightmare Unfolds***

So what did the rule-spewing megastore employee do about the problem? (keep reading...)



***The Nightmare Unfolds***

She looked at the camera. She took a few photos. She saw the horizontal strata.

She looked at the receipt and circled the expired return date in red ink.

Then she looked at father in the eyes, took a deep breath and then she did the unthinkable.

The broke the rules. That's right. :-)

Not only did she overlook the expired return date, but she replaced with camera with a better one.

More mega-pixels, more memory, more bang for his buck(s). She broke the rules for a reason.

In my father's words: "She didn't have to do that. But because she did, I'll return to that store and buy from her again."

***The Value of Creating Wagging Tongues***

When was the last time one of your client's wagged his tongue about your customer service?

Do you go out of your way to make things right for your clients?

When we do, wagging tongues result. Wagging tongues belong to what Ken Blanchard calls "Raving Fans."

A raving fan is a client, so happy with our services, that they can't help but talk about us to their associates, their friends, their grandmothers.

That kind of attention is priceless.

Start breaking your heart-felt rules and give every client the level of customer service that they'll feel obligated to wag their tongues for you at every opportunity.

And that's the real value of customer service. It creates wagging tongues.

***A Double Edged Sword***

But it can cut both ways. Poor customer service will also contribute to tongue wagging.

Like this example...

Years ago I drove my kids through a Carl's Jr. drive through restaurant.

(Yes, drive-through..I refuse to spell it T-h-r-u. Maybe this is the reason behind this example?)

I ordered. I spoke clearly into the microphone. I drove forward.

My order was completely wrong. No! Really? That never happens.

Dead wrong. I drove around and parked (which defeated the purpose of the drive through) and asked to see the manager.

I did this because the person stationed at the drive- through window spoke no English at all. (Did I really think we'd receive an error free order?)

When I questioned the *wisdom* of placing someone at the drive-through who didn't speak English and how it unwittingly contributed to my grossly incorrect order.

The response I received from the *Manager*, was to explain how he couldn't find enough people to fill the positions whose first language was English.

I responded that I didn't care about his issues. I cared that my order was correctly charged at the register and the contents of the bag reflected the accuracy of the transaction.

He placed his hands on his hips and said: "Well Sir, you can always go to McDonalds."

I did. I drove my hungry children to the golden arches immediately.

Do you think my tongue wagged for a week? Oh yeah.

***Final Thoughts***

Customer service makes tongues wag.

It's totally within our control how complimentary the comments formed by those tongues will be.

Here's an article that I believe goes a long way in demonstrating a correct response to a customer complaint.

It's the infamous Burger King article. Hmm, is there a trend here?

Check it out: http://barrymorris.com/Botched_Burger_King.pdf

About the author:

©2005-2006 Barry W. Morris. All Rights Reserved. Wouldn't you love to stumble upon a sec*ret library of small business ideas? Find simple, yet electrifying ideas, on copywriting, public speaking, marketing strategies, sa*les conversion, psychological tactics and branding? Surf by http://BarryMorris.com today and judge for yourself.