Hello and welcome back to the wonderful world of the Dogpound. As a faithful reader, you know I come down pretty hard on customer service, not to be mean, it just seems that companies have forgotten one of the most important golden rules of business. That rule is: “Every person that interacts with your customer base serves as a salesperson for your company.” It takes a long time to get a customer and sometimes only a few minutes to lose one. So when they farm out this service, as many companies do these days, there is no real invested interest. They just read the instructions off the computer screen. Not that they do not try to do a good job, there is just that disconnect that can be easily transmitted to the customer if they are not careful.
However, not all experiences are bad. For example, I went on the Internet the other day and bought a nice pair of ear protection that included a AM/FM radio. I figured it would be nice to listen to my AM talk shows while I was mowing the grass. Since I am a bit out in the boonies, the radio did not have enough power to pull in a signal and I had to return them. I called the company and the first time no one answered, so not off to a good start. They were located in California, so I thought maybe I was a tad too early for them. I tried later and got an answer. A young-sounding man answered my call. I told him I wanted to return the headset; he took down my basic information and told me he would have to process the claim and get back with me. I figure, ok, how many more calls will this take?
Well, a bit later, I received an e-mail with all of the information necessary to return the headset and a copy of the credit that was applied back to my credit card. No fuss, no muss, no 21 questions, polite and efficient. Now that is what customer service is all about!
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK
“If we don’t take care of our customers, someone else will.” – Dogpound Wisdom
MAKE THAT A DOUBLE
A zookeeper wanted to get some extra animals for his zoo, so he decided to compose a letter. The only problem was that he didn’t know the plural of “mongoose.” He started the letter: “To whom it may concern, I need two mongeese.” No, that won’t work. He tried again: “To whom it may concern, I need two mongooses.” Is that right? he thought to himself. Finally, he got an idea: “To whom it may concern, I need a mongoose, and while you’re at it, send me another one.”
I better sign off. My water was cut off by a break in the line so I was not able to shower down after I finished mowing the grass. Water is back on and my deodorant has expired. As always be good, do good, play safe, and remember you are the face of the company…so smile.
JR
