There was an article in one of the local papers a few days ago that discussed a problem the author was having with a utility company over some billing charges. I expect this sounds all too familiar to everyone old enough to remember when the customer was “always right.” Today it seems that the customer is always presumed to be wrong.
Customer service is not what it used to be and certainly not what it should be. I see it every single day and, in fact, experienced it a couple of nights ago in a brand-new, just opened restaurant. If they don’t have good customer service/relations the first few days of being in business, imagine what it’s going to be in a few months. Currently the number of companies we deal with that I consider to have good customer service can be counted on one hand. I’m satisfied with the Credit Union we use, the car dealer and Costco. All the rest are marginal at best and most are unacceptable.
People seem to blame poor customer service on the newer generation, or just another example of the decline of civilization. I think the solution is simple, but often I tend to over simplify problems, Actually, we’ve gotten to where we are over a period of time and a number of things have caused it.
Due to the high cost of providing employee benefits, many companies/stores have reduced their full-time staffs and a lot of the employees work less than 40 hours and are considered part time. Obviously these employees often don’t have the incentive or desire to provide the service customers expect. Another trend has contributed to the problem — the rise of the “big-box” stores and the resulting decline of the privately owned businesses. Managers today are focusing on ways to “save” money and most do it by cutting back on things that the customers “won’t notice.” The fact is, that at some point, customers do notice and business drops off. Of course it’s easy to blame the decline on the economy or brutal competition — it’s never poor customer service that causes business to decline.
Now to try to keep things in proper perspective, part of it may be our (the customers) fault. We all claim we want good customer service, but in the end we often end up going to Walmart, or Sears or some other large volume retailer rather than a local merchant, because we save a few bucks. Good customer service is expensive to deliver; we all say we’d be willing to pay more for good service, but I’m not sure that’s true.
Today when I tell someone about a horrible experience I’ve had with a company, their response is usually, “same thing happened to me” or worse yet, “you should have known better.” What? I should have known not to trust what they told me? That’s where we are? I should not trust anything a company tells me, and if I do, it’s my fault for believing them? What kind of a message does this send to the company? They think a big part of the problem is me and its permissible to continue on the current track because I have developed a coping mechanism and will continue to put up with the level or lack of customer support being provided.
As I said earlier, I tend to overly simplify some problems, but here’s my view.
Companies are in business to make money. They will trim and cut costs (by head count, employee skills, salary, etc.) as far as they can and customer service is an easy target for cost cutting. As long as its not stopping you from doing business with them, they’ve got no incentive or motivation to change.
The obvious solution is to stop giving them money. Take your business elsewhere. If we insist on better service and don’t patronize those that don’t provide it, eventually someone else will. That’s what free enterprise is all about.
Someone once said that customers are like teeth. Ignore them and they’ll go away. Maybe corporate America should take note of that….
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