CASSIDY QUIPS: Thinking Outside the Box with Customer Service

In some cases, “thinking outside the box” doesn’t always produce the best results, especially with Customer Service.

A good example would be when Coke decided to change their recipe and called it the ‘New Coke’. What a marketing nightmare that became. It didn’t take too long for them to come to their senses, and soon after, we had Coke Classic. And now today, we just have Coke again. Heads probably rolled on that decision.

We’re talking about customer service here. To start with, let’s say McDonald’s customer service. I only use them as an example, but rest assured, many companies are following in their footsteps.

Not that long ago you would go in, stand in line, give your order and, in no time, people behind the counter, who were running around like crazy, would present you with your purchase and you’d be on your way. By the way, before these new electronic monitors came into fashion, the only place you might have heard more “pleases” and “thank-you’s” were kids in an orphanage. Back in the day, if anyone butted-in line, you would witness more steely eyed glares from customers than you could shake a stick at, from employees as well.

Just a Number

Fast forward to present day. There are no lines, just a bunch of people waiting around for their number to be called. “Hey! Wait a minute! That guy came in after me and just got served. What the hell is going on?” I think the McDonald brothers would be turning over in their graves if they could see their well-timed, almost perfect system, turned into chaotic crap!

Believe it or not, in the not too distant future, we will wish we could be treated as just numbers, because any remaining sign of appreciation for our patronage will have gone right out the damned window.

Another example could be the people and machines at the end of your phone line. I especially love the recording that “this call may be monitored or recorded for quality assurance”. What a bunch of crap. Does anybody ever listen to these recordings, if in fact they are being recorded. And let’s not kid ourselves into thinking this is for “training” or “quality assurance” purposes. These recordings only serve to protect the company from any potential liability issues. Should we just have some half-decent customer service to begin with, the number of ‘potential liability issues’ these companies would have would drop significantly.

I received an email recently from SiriusXM. They were notifying me that my credit card would be charged $268 when my subscription came up for renewal in October. I called them up to cancel my subscription and within about 5 minutes they were offering me the same service for $100 a year. When I told them that I would still like to cancel, they came back again after a few minutes with $68 a year. I still cancelled even at that low price because I felt I was being taken advantage of. I mean seriously. Had they bothered to offer me the discount that was already apparently available, before I phoned to cancel, might indicate they do value their customers. But today, that’s just par for the course.

My point is this: if they were able to offer a lower price, and they do in fact listen to their recordings, then why the hell don’t they just send me an email telling me that as a loyal customer we are cutting the price in half? I would have all over that like a fly on shit.

Keep it Simple!

The vast majority of consumers have two basic needs: to be treated fairly, and equally important, that their patronage be appreciated. You may have the best product in the world, but if your customers are treated like crap, your product will soon become the best kept secret.

As consumers you have rights, and I’m not referring to the fine print. Exercise those rights! Stop accepting sub-standard service! If a company can’t demonstrate their appreciation for your business find one that will!

And remember my friends: when you take care of the customer, the customer will take care of you. It really is that simple, it always has been.

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About
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Mike Cassidy

Drain Specialist & Business Owner at Cassidy & Cassidy Déblocage/Unblocking

Mike has spent most of his life working in the customer service industry, starting back when the term customer service actually used to mean something. Finally fed up of having to follow the lead of others, Mike and his son Sean started their own company Cassidy & Cassidy Déblocage/Unblocking. Together, they are quickly becoming the #1 company for customer service within their industry.

Mike and his daughter started these blogs as a way to start connecting with their customers. With all his years of experience, Mike has a wealth of information many people would find useful. So with this in mind, we created our first, educational Cassidy & Cassidy blog posts.

Still wanting to bring the customer service issues of today to light though, Cassidy Quips was then created. These quips are intended to help people realize that they deserve better when it comes to customer service, and offer them some tips and tricks to perhaps start feeling as though they're not constantly getting screwed with their pants on.

These quips may be rants, they may be fun, and with any luck, they may leave you coming back for more!