TimList.net - Customer Service Basics

I keep hearing that the United States is going to a service economy. That we are making fewer products ourselves and instead providing services for products. A good example might be IBM. IBM has sold off much of their manufacturing capacities in order to focus more on being a service provider. When they do manufacture products it is often as a service to their customers.

However, there is one nagging question for me. How can we do this when so many companies no longer know or care what Customer Service is? If stock prices are to be a determiner then IBM must still know about customer service. But what about other businesses large and small?

States are horrible perpetrators of poor Customer Service and they do this in little known ways. Their methods often cost tax payers big bucks, induce bankruptcy, and drive inflation. Take California for example. They drove up fuel costs and continue to do so through a series of incompetent decisions. Lack of objectivity, failure in logic, and an indifferent and out of control California Air Resource Board (CARB) leadership.

First, they mandated diesel fuel that caused millions of dollars of damage to thousands of trucker's diesel engines. If that were not enough, the same guru that ordered that brought CA MTBE even though universities did studies showing that the stuff was a toxic nightmare. This proved true with underground plumes poisoning watersheds state wide. Ultimately, causing Lake Tahoe to receive and exemption from MTBE additives.

Add to this the worst economic hit in CARB mandating that all new and existing filling station storage fuel tanks be upgraded to newer and safer tanks that would monitor leakage and such. Then, those tanks were found to be unreliable so what did they do? They did it again. Now the only filling stations left in CA are Shell, Chevron, 76, and other major market fuel suppliers. Gone are the Mom and Pop shops that the state forced into bankruptcy with their 'new' and 'safer' storage tank requirements pushed onto the businesses not only once, but twice in a very short time!

So, the states need to be very careful of how they force Mom and Pop (M&P's) shops to close. Especially considering that M&P's employ 80+% of our nations employees. Personally, I don't want GE, Chevrolet, Boeing, and other huge conglomerates running and employing everyone! One corporate scandal would put a ridicules number of our citizens out of work at one time!

I have always wanted to publicize my rage towards CARB's miserable and pathetic bureaucratic dictatorship. So, where was I? Oh yes, states slowly driving M&P's out of business. Business costs so high that you can not be a self starter and have much chance at survival.

This creates a huge loss in customer service. Gone are the days where each store was owned by someone that was there working 6 days a week 12+ hours a day. No longer are they there assuring pride in sales, support, service, or merchandise. Now it is all controlled by the bean counters at the corporate headquarters on the 70th floor. We have college graduates that may never have even held a job before let alone in the industry they chose to become employed in.

Thank God that there are some shining stars still out there. Small businesses that have not gutted Customer Service in their attempt to compete. Middle sized chains trying to climb the ladder and even some larger chains that have a history of good customer service to uphold.

My Background- I am wandering into my 40's. I have worked in the customer service industry since I was 14. From docking boats and pumping fuel to bagging groceries and technical support. I have worked at the smallest of small restaurants up to the largest as well. I have also spent 10+ years in the technical support industry supporting the average Joe to VP's.

Here is what I have learned. You can not always do this as an employee. If you are not allowed or dissuaded from providing top tier services you may be working with one hand tied behind your back, but you can still do what you do as best you can.

Here is what I have learned, been taught, and picked up.

Do what you do best
What ever you do, be it digging ditches or brain surgery, do it the best you can
Do what is best for the customer and business
The customer is always right
The customer is entitled to respect
Take time to educate the customer
There is no reason or excuse to be rude

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