Customer service karma

More often than not customer service feedback seems to be a vehicle of payback for a job performed poorly. Whether it’s an extended wait, a less than promised product or a bad attitude, consumers are quick to complain about anything that displeases them.

It can seem very daunting to reps that are constantly chided by their customers for even the smallest failure and rarely applauded for exceptional service. They may mention the good experience they had to others but they don’t take as much time to fill out a customer service feedback form with compliments as they do complaints. But they should.

I’ll admit it, I love to see the change of expression or tone when I ask to speak to a manager and then explain how wonderful an experience I had and what a great job their employee did.

For people that go above and beyond or managers that go out of their way I make sure to contact the corporate office. More often than not I receive a reply thanking me for taking the time to let them know what they are doing right and that they will pass my comments along to the employee. Some places have even sent me coupons.

I don’t do it for the coupons though. James Howell said, “Respect a man, he will do the more.” I consider it customer service karma. Instead of payback I’m paying it forward. When compliments trickle down from corporate it breaks the monotony of constant complaints and allows the rep to know they are doing a good job and not only did someone notice but they cared enough to call it in. I hope it inspires them to treat their other customers with the same attention they showed me and to raise the bar among their co-workers.

On top of making someone else feel better about the job they’ve done it help me in the job that I do. I take note of the things people do that impress me and I try to implement them into my own approach when dealing with my customers.

By Heather Fairchild - Heather is a multimedia developer, business owner, and work-from-home mom.