As a motivational speaker on customer service, I’m always looking for examples of great, and not-so-great customer service. And I didn’t have to look far last week.
When I walked up to the counter at the department store, ready to pay for my purchase, the sales person was looking at some kind of document with another sales person. I stood there for a moment or two, assuming that any second one of them would look up. I mean, you KNOW when someone has approached you and is standing about three feet away from you, right? You can feel it.
Well, they both might have felt it – but they ignored that feeling while they continued to look at the paper and make a few remarks about why those items couldn’t be found in the system. I continued to wait – for what felt like twenty minutes. (Okay, okay I know it wasn’t twenty minutes.) Finally one of them looked up at me and simply held out her hand for me to gratefully place my purchase in it.
Without going into the details of my emotional state at the moment, let me just say this. Whether you are a sales clerk, a front desk receptionist or a service provider of any kind, when a client, patient, guest or customer walks into your world and you sense they are in your world – acknowledge them. Lift your little eyeballs up to them and smile. If you are able to, say something like, “Hi! I’ll be right with you.” If you are in the middle of something (on the phone or with another person) give them the same message non-verbally. Let them know somehow that THEY have just popped up very high on your priority list and you KNOW they are there.
Just give them SOME kind of happy sign.
To give your audience more great ideas on how to provide Positively Outstanding Customer Service, call Linda at 941-927-4700 to book her for your next conference.
