I had two very different experiences recently that illustrate opposite ends of the spectrum. Before telling you about them, I want to first remind you about the classic research showing that the #1 reason customers defect is because they’re treated with “an attitude of indifference.” (68% of the time, that’s why customers defect).

Oh, by the way, I don’t know if you caught the Today show yesterday, but a friend told me it was all about lousy customer service, more specifically, indifferent clerks who couldn’t be bothered. So… do your customers feel like your company could have been on that show or do they see you as an oasis in a customer service desert?

OK, first the not so great example. It’s not egregious, so it’s easy to think it doesn’t have an effect. I stopped into a natural health food store to get some tea that was on sale (I’ll write more about them later because they’re a great example of what not to do). Seeing none on the shelf, I asked the lady at the check-out counter for a rain check.

“We don’t do rain checks” she responded matter-of-factly. No “Sorry about that”, no facial or vocal communication indicating that she felt anything but “Tough luck for you.” It reminded me why I only go there for the sales, but do most of my natural food shopping at Wild Oats - which IS a customer service oasis.

Now… contrast this with a call center rep I dealt with recently. Something happened that was not his fault – computers went down or were going slow, something like that – and he apologized several times for the inconvenience. Not in the rote (you supply the Hal the Computer voice) “I am sorry for the inconvenience”, but with true concern in his voice.

What’s the Emotional Take Away?

One of the things I try to get people to think in terms when looking at their brand and how their service affects it is the “Emotional Take Away” – the feelings they leave the customer with. What Emotional Take Away did the call center CSR leave me with? What Emotional Take Away do you think the clerk at the natural foods store left me with?

So… if you’re a manager or business owner, are you reminding your CSRs how important it is to show customers you care and…. what that looks and sounds like?

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