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RISING WOMEN EXPERT
ADVICE...
Where is the great customer service all
businesses say they offer?
“Do you have Canadian 67?” my friend asked the bartender. The blonde-haired
waitress blinked, recognizing the name but shook her head. This was now the
tenth establishment where, having seen this low-cal beer advertised
nationally, my partner was despairing of sampling the elusive beverage. Is
Molson practicing reverse advertising psychology?
Few companies can afford to pay for expensive advertising only to annoy
their potential-but-now-frustrated consumers. Why not deliver? Molson is not
the only corporation who fails to connect the dots between a promise and
delivery. However, don’t get me started! Having worked as a flight
attendant, where it didn’t matter if my eyeballs were crossed after
sixteen-hour duties, I was still expected to provide service with a smile.
Now having my own business, I cherish my referral system as I continually
hear from friends of happy customers. Good news spreads easier than marmite.
Don’t businesses today want to stay in business? If so, why are we, the
consumer, treated so shabbily? Here are the ways that companies lose
business in less than 90 seconds:
1) I call, explain what I need. I am transferred and explain the problem
again. I am transferred again. Three explanations is my limit. I hang up.
2) A person answers and quickly connects me to the ozone where I listen to
soothing music. I’m not in heaven. I’m in transfer no-man’s land. I hang up.
3) I call in response to a flyer offer. The operator doesn’t know which
offer I am referring to. If she doesn’t know, how will I?
4) On-line, I go through the whole-filling-out-the-form-process. After I
“add to the cart”, a pop-up on the screen informs me that this
service/product is not available in Canada. I want to speak to a live being,
but no one answers. Maybe that’s a good thing at that point.
5) I buy an outfit in the US. Back in Canada, I discover that the ink-filled
theft device is still attached. “Oh, it happens all the time,” is the
clerk’s amused response. Why is it funny that I have to spend two hours
mailing it back?
In this impersonal, sometimes efficient, sometimes frustrating technological
age of doing business, let’s not forget we are dealing with human beings.
How about investing in the people; the people who serve and the people who
dream of being served within 90 seconds?
Natasha J. Rosewood, author, metaphsysician & speaker facilitates “Energy
Dynamics” programs for companies who want to improve their efficiency of the
group dynamic. For more details, call 604.886.5718
www.natashapsychic.com |
