2 More Disappointing Customer Service Stories

Okay, here's the thing: I don't go out of my way to be critical of salespeople or businesses. But given that I'm in the business of sales training and improving performance of companies and individuals, I can't help but notice when things could be improved.

This is a follow-up on my post from a few days ago wherein I shared a few disappointing customer service stories. Both of the following stories highlight the same customer service problem:

Story 1: Disappointing customer service at FedEx Kinko's (now called FedEx Office): I was at FedEx Kinko's last Sunday to copy some training items for training sessions this week in Chicago and Cleveland. I started copying my 230 copies, and then the copier quit and alerted me to a paper jam. I copied a few more and had another jam. And then another.

So I went up to the front desk and told them what was happening. The woman said, "Yeah, we've been having problems with that copier today. I'd use a different copier."

The question I wanted to ask her was this: "If you've been having problems with the copier today, why not either get it fixed or put a sign on the copier that says it's out of order so you can save your customers some frustration and time?"

The desk clerk didn't bother to put a sign on the copier, so the chances of the next customer being frustrated were very high. So I decided to invest ten seconds in placing a sign on the copier for the sake of the FedEx customers who would come after me.

Apparently, I cared more about FedEx Kinko's customers than the FedEx Kinko's desk clerk did.

Story 2: I was staying at a hotel in suburban Chicago, waiting for the single elevator for ten minutes. I finally took the stairs to my room. A half-hour later, I left my room and went to the elevator, to find that it was still not working properly.

I took the stairs down to the first floor and went to the front desk clerk and asked, "Did you know your elevator isn't working?"

The desk clerk replied, "Yes, we know. The maintenance man will fix it when he comes down."

If you know your elevator doesn't work, why wouldn't you invest a few moments to put up a sign that says "out of order", so you can save your guests some time and frustration?

Sometimes investing a little bit of time saves a lot of time.

Please share your comments by clicking on "comments" below.

Skip Anderson is the Founder and President of Selling to Consumers, a B2C sales training and consulting company. Subscribe to the free Selling to Consumers Sales Tips Newsletter.

Comments

[Brad Trnavsky - Sales Training Community]

Skip,
It's unfortunate that it is so hard to get business owners on board with simple customer service. In reality most people are willing to pay more for legendary customer service and actually become advocates for your company if you display it. I recently read the book "The Starbucks Way" and would recommend it to anyone interested in developing a culture based on customer experience and legendary customer service. It is easy to say "good people are hard to find" but in reality it is a management problem.

-Brad