Is Customer Service Dead?

Long lines of self-checkout counters at grocery stores. Kiosks that read printed boarding passes at the airport instead of friendly, full-service check-in counters. Food and drinks that pop out of vending machines. Automated car washes with bays where customers can vacuum their cars and wash windows afterwards. It seems like service delivery has become self-service, and customer service by a living, breathing person is reserved for problem resolution.

The truth is, people cost more money than machines. Eliminate the people and the steps they used to do for the customer and you can save money.

I encountered another type of self-service this past week when I went looking for kitchen cabinets for an investment property. After the sticker shock at Home Depot for baseline cabinets and installation, I decided to go on line and see how I could save some money. What I found was a vendor with great pricing but with a twist. Self-service also meant a little bit of self-assembly.

The cabinets were all wood, with dovetail joints holding the drawers together. They also offered “soft close” drawers, an upgrade that is standard on their products. The hitch—the cabinets themselves come in flat boxes. The customer has to assemble them before they can be installed. I found that there was an outlet for these cabinets in Atlanta, so when I was visiting my daughter last week, I decided to visit the showroom to see these cabinets in person.

To get customer service, you have to go to them. In their huge warehouse in Marietta I found one service person. He showed me all the cabinets, answered my questions and even produced a computerized, 3D plan for the kitchen with the cabinet size and pricing. I left with the plan, a catalogue and a phone number to call if I wanted to order the cabinets from the warehouse.

I came to the conclusion that customer service is not dead, it just relocated. It may no longer be in your neighborhood or city. You may have to travel awhile in order to experience it. The Internet allows you to access goods and services anywhere in the world. What you don’t have is access to a real person from the company to see and talk to, who gets to know you and cares about your needs. Customer service is quickly becoming self-service as well.

Mary Nestor-Harper, SPHR, is a consultant, blogger, motivational speaker and freelance writer for Customerservicejobs.com. Based in Savannah, GA, her work has appeared in Training magazine, Training & Development magazine, Supervision, BiS Magazine and The Savannah Morning News. When she’s not writing, she enjoys singing Alto II with the Savannah Philharmonic Chorus and helping clients discover what they love and spend their life on it. You can read more of her blogs at http://www.csjobsblog.com/ and view additional job postings on Nexxt