What Constitutes Good Customer Service?

Last week, my wife had to call our gas company because they had overestimated our natural gas bill by over $300 for one of our properties. As you can imagine, we wanted the bill to be fixed. When she called the company, she was met with some of the worst customer service that she or I had ever encountered. She was treated rudely, and as if she had no idea what she was talking about. Our bill was eventually adjusted, but it left us with a bad taste in our mouth. We are switching to all electric because we know we get good customer service from our local electric company. This isn’t a knee-jerk reaction, as we have dealt with the bad service for a decade and we refuse to take any more of it.

I believe what most people believe. Good customer service is a must or I will go elsewhere. Though there are some cases when it is obvious that the customer is wrong or things are not going well, but anyone who wants to retain business knows that you have to remain calm no matter what happens. Those who work in customer service know that when things get out of control, it is always a good idea to get management to move in before tempers are lost – and customers are lost as well.

All companies need to keep an eye on things to be sure their customers are getting good customer service, even when the customer is being difficult. Some even have repeat customers that give employees a hard time, but they do return because they are given a calm and serene response, even when they are irate for whatever reason. They can be hard to deal with, but they will return if they are getting great customer service. Money is money, and each customer does count, even if you are a large business with thousands coming in and out each day.

If you are worried about good customer service, no matter how many or few customers you have, you do have to keep an eye on things. You should take some time each day to see how your representatives are handling things, and be sure to have a solid set of guidelines and rules in place. Those that want to have good customer service must realize that not all reps can be perfect at all times, and that they need to have someone to call on when they feel they are losing control of the situation. If there is no one else, that go-to person can be you, as you have the most invested in being sure great customer service is occurring in your company.