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We’ve all been involved in some kind of customer service in our lifetime. Whether you are the one giving or receiving you’ve been a part of it. Every job I’ve had since 16 has been some kind of customer service, starting out at a supermarket part time moving on to working on the phones for a healthcare company, to my current job working for a cashback site dealing with the support tickets. During all of these jobs I’ve had some great customers, even regular ones at the supermarket who always made a beeline for your till and you felt like you know them, you’d help them pack their bags and make small talk about their life and what has been happening and then they’d be on their way until the following week. For the most part, working in customer service is a rewarding job, you get to help the customer, they’re happy and that makes you happy. But what about when things don’t go so well?
In my personal experience, I have found restaurants to provide some of the worst customer services, often as it starts bad and progressively gets worse. I understand they are busy, but sometimes even when they’re not they would rather stand around and talk rather than help you. Once I was in Chiquitos for almost 3 hours; and an hour of that was trying to pay the bill when we had finished, I wanted to complain in regards to this matter but I struggle to find a phone number and that’s where CCSN come in. With their huge directory, you can find the number for the correct person within an instant, great right? No more trawling through Google for hours trying to find an email/phone number which is correct. I myself try to reflect to speak to the customer how they are speaking to me. You can tell when someone just really doesn’t want small talk, but it’s often good just to reach out to them even about the small things, e.g. an item of jewellery. Just let them know you like it, it’s easy and can make someone’s day. Like most things, there are ups and downs in regards to customer service.
Recently I was visiting Birmingham and wandered into Blue Banana and if you know me well, you’ll know I like to dye my hair a lot. I was considering a pink hair dye but wasn’t sure which to get to go over the darker colours in my hair plus what process would be involved. Straight away an assistant was on hand offering their opinion on what dyes and colours would suit. Her manager was listening to the conversation and it turns out she has a background in hairdressing and told me I would need to start with a dark pink and also would need to strip it, bleach it, leave it for 24 hours, wash twice and dye it last. I didn’t know half of these steps existed and would never have gone away and considered them. Once I was done deciding on a colour, I also wanted some help with my piercing and getting a ring for it, the sales adviser again was more than happy to show me the different sizes and help me pick the best size for my nose. I left the shop feeling happy with my purchases and with a great review of the staff. It’s strange how when people have a bad experience they’re more than happy to share it with the world, but with good customer service, we don’t shout about it as loud.
It’s so important to let people know how great their service is, but also the same if their service could be improved. If the service is outstanding let them know.
