Think of an advertisement of an outlet showing you long customer queues, with the sales lady nonchalantly filing her nails and the cashier jabbering away on his mobile to a friend, and not to mention the phones ringing continuously with no one to attend to them. And then you see a scene in the same ad depicting a complete opposite, sales people interacting jovially with a customer who seems to be receiving an ‘out-of-this-world-experience’, the most desired experience for customers. Customers sometimes are influenced by such demonstrations and visit the particular outlet in hopes of receiving great service. Indeed, advertising and media play a great role in shaping perceptions, but how many of these companies actually work towards making a customer experience as pleasurable for customers as ‘they’ think it is? When we move away from fantasy land (a world in which companies force customers to imagine about receiving exceptional service) and face reality (a world in which more money is spent on advertising about great customer service rather than focusing on providing it!), we notice that the Golden Rule which states, treat others how you wish to be treated, has become a mere cliché today. There are very few players in the market who can put themselves into customer shoes and determine what customers really want.

Although standardized procedures seem to be old school now, they still are effective in shaping the ideal customer service model for a company. My experience relates to customer service via the telephone. I called an institution to request for certain information. I was able to get connected to a representative and got relevant information. But since I was not sure about the accuracy of the information received, I called again and requested for the same information. Not to my surprise, I received completely different information. After my third call, I had three completely different versions of answers to a single question. This is how I define poor customer service. For me consistency is more important than dealing with compassionate employees. On the other hand almost all of us have encountered a situation wherein we hear “Sorry, I cannot accommodate that request as it is against our company policy”. Agreed that standardization may restrict the way customers are served, but when this happens you know that there is something wrong with the standards you are following. The International Customer Service Standard (TICSS 2009) is the first global standard for quality customer service. Assess your company against the standard by using the free online Customer Service Self Assessment Tool, to know your position compared to the best in the field of customer service.

Customers require information, and companies need to provide it. Receiving information from a bank about a new loan scheme is very useful. But receiving it via SMS at 2:00 am is not. There are so many ways to provide information about products and services, which are devised by these banks themselves, then why does a company not know about the appropriate channel customers would want to be contacted by? When talking about receiving information about company products and services via SMS, I was forced to wonder about the easiest way to unsubscribe from their list. Because of the nature of the SMS I could not reply back. In some other parts of the world there are laws governing the SMS conduct. Companies who use this mode are required to take permission before sending a commercial SMS. Also, the law requires these companies to provide an easy and free way to unsubscribe from their list. This is not practiced in the Middle East which then makes you wonder about a feedback/complaint management system which is in place. How many online query forms have you filled and received responses to? Does your organization have a fixed time period within which these queries need to be answered? Is there even someone who is given the responsibility to do the same? In my opinion, if I do not get a response from online query forms which are set up keeping in mind the convenience of customers and employees, then, obviously this would be regarded as poor customer service.

Customer perception of excellent service is in part formed by organizations themselves. By advertising about their own customer service skills, by providing easy means to keep contact with customers and by setting a standard for acceptable service. Then not being able to provide it, leaves another desired item on the customer wish list which stays unmet!

Shilpa Asnani
Service Quality Executive
The International Customer Service Institute