Cool Down by Steve Prentice Read Free Book Online

customer service actually means. It’s essential when defining this term to make sure that in addition to our own definition of the term, we clearly understand how our customers would define it. This is what Michael Eisner was referring to in his email speech quoted earlier. It takes time to learn how to communicate with, and then know a customer. In other words, great customer service must be based on great customer comprehension . Let’s look at an example: Does answering an email the moment it comes in, or answering a ringing phone before the second ring constitute great customer service? It might, but then again, in some professions such reactions might be an indication that you’re not busy enough, and therefore you’re not the best in your field. What about people who respond to an emailed inquiry on their wireless PDA at 10:30 p.m.? Will such an action be indispensable to your customer, or will it tell him that you are working over-long hours, potentially burning out, and therefore likely unavailable for a long-term quality relationship? The point is this: Do you know where your customers sit on this issue? Have you taken the time to ask them? Or are you too busy to find out?
    Speed is not the sole indicator of quality. When you go out to dinner at an upscale restaurant, you would expect the waiter to serve you immediately, because that’s central to his role. But you would not expect your order to be delivered immediately. Instead, we hold to the belief that a professional, competent chef will take reasonable time to prepare and plate the meal properly, with the attention to detail that makes the dining experience at this restaurant much more enjoyable than at the fast food joint down the street. The strength of your company’s reputation no doubt rests as much on the quality of your products and services as it does with the relationships you have with customers. It would be expected, therefore, that the company work to maintain this level of excellence. Information overload distorts our ability to do the research and make mindful decisions to uphold this standard. It forces people into a mental state in which they feel they must reciprocate at the same pace as the incoming stimulus, and that’s what gets them stuck inside the silo.
Case Study: The Funeral Caller
    Leanne is unhappy. Over the course of one evening, between the hours of 8:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m., a certain client called her three times, leaving three messages and later, two emails, each with the same message. Upon returning her calls the next morning, Leanne spoke to this client, who voiced his dissatisfaction that it had taken her so long to respond. The next time the client called her, it was during the day, during a funeral that he was attending. Again Leanne felt guilty about not being sufficiently available.
    What would you do with a person like this? How does this tie in with the ideas of customer service? What advice would you give?
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    Leanne’s reaction was that perhaps she should be available 24/7, in order to avoid ruffling this customer’s feathers again. My advice to Leanne was the opposite. I suggested she not let this trend continue. There will always be demanding people in the world, people who work at a different pace and different hours. But to fall in line unquestioningly means giving up autonomy, and worse, conditioning this person to expect the same type of treatment every time. No evening or weekend will ever be safe again. This, to me, is not customer service. It’s an example of Boxer’s “death-in-harness” brought about by speed. I suggested she explain to this customer that she would be happy to deal with late evening issues if they were truly emergencies, but that the high quality of work that he is paying for is best produced during the day. I would suggest also that she ask this client for more information about his timelines and priorities, in order to manage his