Customer Dis-Service: Do Canadian Companies Need to Rethink their Customer Service Culture?

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Photo courtesy of Dave Dugdale (www.rentvine.com)

I recently spent a few days in New York City with my daughter.  We went at the busiest time of year – the Thanksgiving Day weekend.  What struck me was the level of customer service we discovered in almost at stores, restaurants and even the street meat vendors.  These people know how to treat a customer and I uncovered the following traits:

• A Friendly Greeting
• Bend over backwards to satisfy you
• If they don’t have it they look for it at other locations or suggest a competitor to try
• The smile and attitude persist even though you may try on 5 or 10 sweaters
• If you don’t buy they treat you with respect and a “Seasons Greeting” as you leave

One sales person gave my daughter his personal email address so that if she was in town again she should call if she was interested in shopping in the store again, and in front of me!!  Realizing 30%+ of the US GDP is in the service industry  (primarily in retail), this would make sense, however these folks are either really well trained or they love their jobs. I believe the latter is true.

Since I’ve returned to Canada and experienced our level of customer service, I realize we are severely lacking.  Our CSR’s are talking to their friends in the store, on their cell phones, and have that “I wish I was somewhere else look” about them.  Am I generalizing?  I thought so at first then I walked through a dozen stores and saw so many disinterested people it was demoralizing.

To be fair, I did have couple of great experiences as well.  One experience was in a well-known bookstore where the CSR went the extra mile in picking out a gift.  The other in a well-known home improvement centre where the CSR took me through a DIY project beautifully, and even suggested he come over if I get stuck.  These were two memorable experiences.

I’m not a big fan of some of things our friends from the South may do, however they do treat the customer right. It seems to be part of the service culture.

Think about your business. Is your company in the customer service business?  Do you provide the five traits I’ve listed above?  Regardless of what business you are in do you provide value in the customer service experience?

The business climate is being severely challenged; customers are more discerning, money is tight, employee expectations are escalating, businesses are looking for that edge.  When was the last time you sent an email to a customer that started with “I hope you are having a fabulous day”.  And ended it with “I really appreciate your business”?  Isn’t it the way you’d like to be treated?  Are you being memorable to your customers?