A local news station here on the Virginia Peninsula has recently been dealing with the problem of customer service. The issue seems to have finally risen to the very top of consumer concern. I can believe that because it is an issue with me as well. I'm willing to bet that it is also an issue with you.
Think about it for a minute, how many times have you telephoned a company only to find no real person on the other end of the phone? And isn't it is amazing the number of cashiers who can't calculate the simplest numbers, much less actually make change unless the register spits out a tape that tells them exactly how much is due?
Then there are the stock people who tell customers that the store is “out of that sale product” because they don't want to bother looking for it. I watched this happen today. Once the worker left the area, I let the customer know on which aisle the product - - which was fully stocked, by the way - - was located .
Who in the world can deal with those buffet lines that are only stocked with obviously burnt, overcooked, and inedible food. Talk about an appetite suppressant!
Not too long ago, my daughter was overcharged for a single item three times in a row. She finally just told them to keep their product and stormed out vowing to never darken their doors again.
I personally can't count the number of times I've posed a question about a store's product only to hear the words “I don't know” not only from the cashier, but also from the supervisor in charge.
In truth, the employees themselves are rarely responsible for these types of problems. Most of them are truly doing the very best they can with the training they received. The problem is the training itself; or more to the point - the lack thereof.
As a former owner of a management, marketing, and training consultant business I can tell you that training is often a low priority with business. They more often than not point to issues like the “lack of time or money.” In truth, however, they are probably spending more time correcting errors caused by lack of training and losing money from lost customers because of poor customer service. Let me give you some examples of what I mean.
Before my partners and I developed training programs for businesses, we typically posed as customers and observed how the business operated so that we could ascertain where the problems lay. On one occasion, I made a purchase at one of the stores we were observing. I was overcharged for the item. The amount was small, a little more than a dollar. The cashier told me that she couldn't open the register again until her next customer and, at that time, she would retrieve my change and bring it to my table.
Having been a cashier myself at one time, I knew this was highly unlikely because for her to take the change out of the register without correcting the tape would make her register off at the end of the day. However, I decided to wait and see what she would do with the issue.
I watched at she waited on one, two, and three additional customers; never making an attempt to pull out my change nor bring it to my table. In fact the only thing that she did do was shoot me a drop-dead look when she passed my table on the way to her break. That's what you call an example of truly bad “customer service.”
On another occasion, I witnessed an absolute frenzy cause when a customer reported that she had observed someone stealing a piece of merchandise from the store. By the time the workers figured out what to do about the situation, the perpetrator was halfway out of town. There was an obvious need for training in “crisis management.”
With regard to the time that my daughter was overcharged not once or twice, but three times in a row, it took three employees more than ten minutes to even begin to figure out how to solve the problem. By that time, my daughter had decided to just cancel and move on. In this instance, a little “problem solving” might have helped the issue.
Obviously it is true that business has a lot of demands on its time and its budget. Every business automatically has a set of inherent problems to deal with. However, there is no excuse for leaving the important issue of employee training to the whims of “maybe, if we can find a few moments” or “someday when we make more money.” Training is too important an issue to be left to any kind of whim at all. It can - - and will - - help make or break a business.
Businesses should always look into free or low cost options that may exist to help them with training issues. Retail Merchants Associations, Chambers of Commerce, Economic Development Groups, Small Business Development Centers, and/or Service Corps of Retired Executives are examples of groups that often provide training programs.
Local colleges, universities, and vocational-technical centers also provide training programs from time to time. Some of them can even customize training programs to fit a particular business's needs. And, of course, there are always private consultant businesses that are available for hire.
In this day and age there are even on-line training programs, video and audio tapes for rent or purchase that allow employees to train at their own convenience. The fact that business may not have the time or personnel for on site training, is no longer a viable excuse. There is something available for every need.
If customer service is now the number one issue with customers, it follows that solving the problem can only help build the customer base. The benefits of good training are immeasurable. The most successful businesses in the world know this to be true. Any business that wants to play with the big boys had better board the training bus and catch up with the times.
