Keeping the Customer

More and more these days, people have this "I don't care" and "whatever" type of attitude, and such an attitude is easily brought over into the job arena. If something is too much of a bother, so many people will just blow it off, and never worry much about the consequences of their actions. Obviously, this unprofessional attitude has absolutely no place in the field of customer service, but is often found to be present anyway.

In my last post I asked some questions and looked at some personality attributes that are needed in order to properly perform and excel at customer service. Sadly, people enter this field without these qualities, and managers hire people without worrying about this quality, and ultimately, companies suffer for not screening people for these qualities.

Ever since I started writing for this blog, I have become more and more aware and pay more attention to the kind of service I get around town. Sadly, I tend to see more of the worst points more often than the good ones. I have a family member that works at a Chick-Fil-A, and I asked them about the job, and why it seems common practice for the stores I have been to, to hear the order takers say "my pleasure" when a customer says thank you. It just seemed odd when I heard that phrase said by more than one employee. I was told that they are trained to always say that.

I have been to many other larger named fast-food restaurants, and usually get the exact opposite "feel" in the service. People who take your order who can barely talk clearly, can't annunciate, and just want to get the order taken and get you through the line - no politeness of any kind is to be found. It really is a big difference in service between restaurants, and becomes really noticeable if you pay attention. So it seems some places do train their employees in good customer service techniques, while others do not. I am not trying to "promote" or write to glorify one company over any other company, but I have just found it so noticeable in the way that Chick-fil-a actually trains their employees to speak and respond.

All companies who wish to increase sales should take similar actions. Maybe some of the other major food chains probably realize that they have a product that people will buy regardless of how they are treated, and possibly do not care to offer better service. Well, I for one, make my choice based not only on quality of food, but on quality of service, and make my eating destinations accordingly.

As they say, it costs almost five times more money/effort to bring in a new customer than it does to keep an existing one. Once a company has you, it is in their best interest to do all they can to keep you as a loyal customer. People can and often do leave over small, seemingly "insignificant" oversights and lack of attention aspects; poor customer service often being a leading factor.

Jeff McCormack resides in Virginia Beach, VA. where he works as a web designer by day. In his off time he is a husband, father, and musician. Aside from being a freelance writer for this Customer Service Jobs blog, he also seeks to assist in career choices and information by contributing to other Nexxt blog sites.