When does Customer Service become just a bit too much?
When I was in Cape Town a while ago, working with the Customer Services (CS) team of a global software provider we discussed how much one should question the client’s ability to determine the priority and severity of their own problem.
There were many differing views from the team, driven by their own: lack of time and heavy workloads; a natural shyness not to pry too much; an appreciation that some support may ‘go over the budget agreed’ and / or an in-built assumption that the Customer is always right!
All of this resulted in huge frustration for the CS team, caused by ‘stupid clients’ who: kept asking the same questions, or never thought for themselves, or accelerated problems way beyond their actual business-critical level (crying wolf!). This also raised the issue of what the CS team could do to provide feedback to the client’s management team about the quality and ability of their IT staff, or would that be just a bit too much Customer Service? What a quandary.
After some exercises using questioning techniques (a truly enlightening experience for these wonderfully direct South Africans,) we worked out that you need to question the clients sufficiently or you could end up offeromg the wrong solution. Do you remember that old adage: to assume is to make an ass of u and me’ (Ass-u-me)? Well it couldn’t be a truer maxim in Customer Service. However, at the same time, you have to be careful that you are not too intrusive, or you will be over the top and alienate the relationship.
It is that tricky balance of:
- getting to know the client,
- building rapport and a relationship
- ensuring the initial specification, implementation and training are sufficient
- having common ground and a common language in communication
- picking the right medium for any communications (from whichever member of the CS team)
- valuing the expertise you have – that the client needs - and so should pay for the support
No one has ever suggested that Customer Service should be provided for free – it has to be costed in somewhere: perceived value is for both the receiver and the giver.
Maybe now, as we all become more comfortable with the concepts and application of Customer Services in its widest scope, we can start to take it to its next elevation – Consultation Services. One where rather than selling fixed expertise, we start to individualise the services delivered.
This is, for example being piloted in the Care in the Community sector, where those individuals who need Domicillary Care (support in their own homes) will be assessed for need, given an annual budget by the local Health Authority, and can then purchase the support required from whichever provider they like: real individualised services.
My stay in Cape Town was wonderful and I took the chance for a few days’ holiday too. We only had a few power cuts, the sun shone making it 33C in the shade, and Table Mountain hardly ever had its table cloth (clouds) on. We enjoyed the friendly atmosphere, eating outdoors, and tasting the wonderful variety of wines.
There was just one problem: the service was slow and the waiters sure were direct!! One evening, six of us went out to dinner, we arrived at 8.30pm – ordered our food and by 9.30 we still hadn’t anything to eat, although we were on to our second bottle of wine. Naturally I applied my sweet charm to check with our waiter when we would get our starters. Maybe he thought this was rapport building by me, I’m not too sure, but when he came to replenish my glass with wine, he hesitated and said: ‘Haven’t you had too much?’ and with a rakish grin he moved on to help the others to more wine without topping up my glass. I chose to laugh – but what a foolish thing for him to have done.
If this was an example of Customer Service in South Africa – it was a poor one – and of course it affected his tip.
So getting the balance right is a difficult path, and not everyone understands the subtlety needed to deliver Consultation Services to Customers. It might be a good time to revisit what happens in your organisation – undertake an audit and review your skills through training, maybe. Then you can be sure you are delivering individual customer services to us, your customers who are individuals after all!
Patricia