Lack of Customer Service in the USA

[buyerjohn]

I don't agree with that. This thread was about customer service, not about rude customers. There is a big difference. I'm not saying that there aren't rude, nasty, mean, stupid, short tempered customers. There are, and plenty of them and I know because I'm in a 'service' industry. But they aren't the problem or even part of it.

In general, I agree that there is a distinction and I wasn't clear in making my point...

You said: "But they (rude customers) aren't the problem or even part of it."

This is where I disagree. It's not a one-sided equation, it's circular. And while your customer service policies are admirable, they are not the rule in this country. Many companies and their employees don't put forth the effort because they only get trampled as a result. Is this smart from a business perspective? Nope, but its a contributing factor to why businesses (especially small ones) don't support customers the way they used to. You can't separate the action and reaction.

For example, if you have a customer who rakes you or one of your employees over the coals, how will that affect your dealings with the next customer? or your desire to go above and beyond? While you may be able to keep your reaction in check, I bet your're employees are less likely to. In fact, nobody other than a robot can handle the next customer with zero impact.

Now multiply that a hundred fold. Customer service and the ability to deliver it doesn't happen in a vacuum...we're talking about real people here.

I also try to provide great support but get tired of the rude and inconsiderate people, so it affects my responses to ALL...it's hard for it not to. And so the cycle continues...that was my point.

 

[N80]

I also try to provide great support but get tired of the rude and inconsiderate people, so it affects my responses to ALL...it's hard for it not to. And so the cycle continues...that was my point.

I think the key is not letting the bad customer affect how you treat the average customer. I'm not saying its easy and I'm not saying I can always do it. But it is still the goal. And if you want and value the customer, which is what this is all about, then you do it. I often see 30 customers a day, my office often sees 300 or more. By 5 pm, after dealing with difficult customers, it is hard to smile for that last one. But that's what I'm supposed to do, and if I don't then it is my fault, not the last nice customer or the jerk I saw before the last nice customer. And if we say it is, we're just making excuses for our own poor customer support. Been there, done that. Like you say, none of us is perfect. And while we can blame the jerk for putting us in a bad mood, the one person who is absolutely not to blame, is that next nice, or just average customer. And they are the one that we are paid to keep happy. And if we can't, they take they're money somewhere else.

And even worse, they tell their friends.

And I don't mean to sound preachy. I've lost customers from bad support from both me and my office. Some I regret, some I don't. I'm just saying that most of us are big boys and girls and we know how we are supposed to act even if we don't always do it. And just because its hard doesn't mean its okay or anyone elses fault.

 

[buyerjohn]

George - you have a great awareness of service and run your business the way its supposed to be run....

However, the topic was about the lack of customer service...and I'm saying a major contributing factor to the lack of customer service is the very people (and their negative behaviors) who complain about it (ie most of us)! For every action there is a reaction. We are not robots who remain unaffected by bad days, rude customers, etc.

And, up until recently, the free money in this country meant that most businesses could care less if you took your money somewhere else because there was always somebody else in line eager to accept your (not you specifically) lousy service and mediocre product. For the past 10 years I've said that you can do better than 95% of the businesses out there by simply returning phone calls, doing what you say you're going to do, and having an average product/service. And if you do more than that...they sky is the limit.

The best thing that could happen towards improving customer service is a recession...it'll adjust attitudes in a hurry...as buyers dry up and people get hungry, their attitudes will change - I think!

 

[Bedlam]

I agree with N80.
Surely one 'bad' customer is going to sit with the employee, even if they try to shrug it off. believe me. I hear if from the better half at night. LOL
But I can only try ,when I'm at a store etc, to make the employee feel at ease.
When they say can I help you, I find I want to slow it down with a Hello, how are you doing? question to them.My belief is that they will be distracted from the harsh customer they just dealt with, and be of more assistance to me.And maybe make them feel better overall.
Th stress levels of employees s high because we make it that way in a sense. We want it now.
Just the other day I went to the town to register a vehicle, I got there promptly at 7 pm opening time
I was asked what I was needing to I said register a car.
Well, she said I'm sorry the state computer is down till 730.We agreed to wait. with a NP.several more people came in and left to do another day
well this one woman and hubby came in and she was clearly mad. She paced back and forth about 15 minutes finally, when the computer was 'up' she burst in jumping ahead of my wife and myself.
My wife says geeze she has more important things to do than us..But I know this small office and the people better a second later the woman came back out yelling your next come on get on there. your next.
Geeze the nerve.Apparently the clerk told them we were before them . in short words.Then the woman and hubby came in as we left, they were bickering back and forth.LOL
Oh yea, and the clerk suggested new plates as opposed to transfer. hmm 2 dollars savings. not much but her seeing this and telling me .Priceless.
Also found i had a 3.59 dollar credit with he state form years ago.LOL

 

[Podunkadunk]

Doc (N80),
You're a wise man. I've read all your posts on this thread...we share beliefs. My question to you:

Why do Dr.'s offices schedule an appt. for me, be adamant that I show up 15-30 minutes early, yet I sit there for 2 hours before getting into the room where they check my blood pressure, then make me sit for another 15-20 minutes before seeing the Doc? My time is valuable too and I want to minimize my exposure to MRSA, Cdiff, the crud and other things I can't pronounce.

I despise overbooking! I'm not naive. I know that overbooking is due to cancellations and people not showing up for their appt. However, it seems that on the day I'm there, EVERYONE shows up for their appt. Probably answered my own question...but the rant feels great

Thanks,
Podunk

 

[N80]

George - you have a great awareness of service and run your business the way its supposed to be run....

We still have a ways to go. And that awareness comes from doing it really poorly (for a number of years) and hearing about it in the community, from friends and even family. A large part of improving things was 1) getting better people and 2) getting enough of them. Both can be hard to do and remain a challenge.

I also had to improve my own skills. I think some of that comes from getting older and hopefully learning from mistakes.

 

[N80]

Why do Dr.'s offices schedule an appt. for me, be adamant that I show up 15-30 minutes early, yet I sit there for 2 hours before getting into the room where they check my blood pressure, then make me sit for another 15-20 minutes before seeing the Doc? My time is valuable too and I want to minimize my exposure to MRSA, Cdiff, the crud and other things I can't pronounce.

I do not claim to be wise or even great at customer service, but on this point I will take some credit. I do not overbook or double book. But before I toot my own horn let me tell you why many if not most doctors do it.

It is a combination of money and genuine concern for patients. The money part is easy to understand. The more patients you see, the more money you make. Period. And the way the industry is configured, margins are narrow. Narrow margins drive volume. But, many times a doctor will have a full schedule but people still want to see that doctor that day. Many of my partners feel that getting them in that day is good customer service, and it is. It makes that patient happy. So that doctor makes someone happy and increases their income. So they do it a lot. And especially if that doctor is slow, well, it puts them behind and people have to wait. And it amazes me that so many people just take it for granted that they will have to wait two hours for a 10 minute appointment and it doesn't seem to bother them.

I'm like you. My time is valuable. I don't want to wait that long. And to a certain extent I think it is arrogant for doctors to assume that their time is more valuable than yours.

Now, I'm very different from most doctors in this respect. I am driven (my partners thing I'm a little nutty about it) to see my patients on time. If I tell someone to come in at a certain time, I feel obligated to do my best to see them then. And, to be honest, it suits my personality too, so I like it that way. My patients rarely wait more than 20-30 minutes and then it is usually due to an emergency or some type of patient complication. And when that happens, I apologize to the patient and they usually understand. There isn't much I can do about that sort of thing. With this system I'm happy because I like running on time and my patients are happy because I don't tie them up for hours.

But as you can see, there is a trade off. To stay on time, I can't really double book. That makes me less accessible. So let's say you have a sinus infection and want to see me this afternoon. I have no appointments left so I say no, I can see you tomorrow morning. You might not like that and might even consider it bad customer service. And, I make less money. And despite averaging more than 28 patients a day, I'm the lowest earner in the office. (But don't misunderstand, its still a good income and I am not complaining, its how I want it.)

So what happens is that patients who like me and value being seen on time gravitate toward me even though they know I might not drop everything to see them on the spot. Patients who like another doctor and value being seen at any time (and often having to wait long periods) gravitate toward other doctors. And this works out pretty well.

So, its a tradeoff. Neither way is totally right or totally wrong, but at least we offer both ways. We also rotate as walk in doctor. So one of us is always there with a totally open schedule for anyone who wants or needs urgent care that day. You might not get to see your doctor, but you'll get seen that day. Now, that is a first come first serve sort of thing and if lots of people are showing up for urgent care, well, they may have to wait. We explain that right up front and I really don't apologize for that.

Every office is different and there are many other factors such as how fast/efficient a doctor is or how many regular appointments they schedule per hour. Some patients really like a doctor who will spend a ton of time with them even for small problems. That sort of doctor will always run behind. Other patients want a doctor who gets stuff done and gets them out the door. It is often a balancing act between the two extremes in order to make everyone happy. And some doctors are just slow.

 

[Podunkadunk]

Again, a lot of wisdom in your post. Thanks. I wish you were near me! Of course, I only go once, maybe twice a year. Once is for my annual, the other is usually for some other malady (non-cold related, I share your beliefs on colds, sniffles, etc. also).

Thanks for posting, I am forwarding a copy of your post to my primary care physician

Podunk

 

[buyerjohn]

I know that overbooking is due to cancellations and people not showing up for their appt

precisely...so inconsiderate people do indeed have an effect on a business' ability to deliver great customer service...as I said, for every action, there's a reaction...you can't simply say that there is no relationship between offering great customer service and the often rude and inconsiderate people you cater to who largely have come to accept long wait times and poor service...it's a vicious cycle - not a one way street.

N80 and Podunk...what you need to realize is that you both are the EXCEPTION in this country...most people aren't like you and don't have the awareness you do...

 

[gemini5362]

I don't agree with that. This thread was about customer service, not about rude customers. There is a big difference. I'm not saying that there aren't rude, nasty, mean, stupid, short tempered customers. There are, and plenty of them and I know because I'm in a 'service' industry. But they aren't the problem or even part of it.

Customer service is what you do in spite of difficult customers not what you do only for the easy ones. The world would surely be a happier place if we were all nice and could just get along.......but that's not going to happen.

Disney is probably the best example in customer service. They even offer courses to teach other organizations how to do customer service and a key part of that training is dealing with difficult customers which in many cases is all of them.

Don't get me wrong, when I encounter someone who is impossible to deal with, I'll let them go as a customer and I'll tell them. But I don't consider that bad customer service. Its any organizations right not to accept business if they don't want it or it isn't worth it to them.

And for the record, I'm not claiming to be perfect when it comes to customer service, nor is my office, we have good days and bad....but I do know that we try real hard and we retain 'customers' and we are attracting new ones at a much higher rate than demographics here have predicted.

Years ago when I was in the Navy I was waiting for my ship to get back and was temporarily assigned to the visitors pass office. I would give non military people visitors passes to go on base to visit relatives, boyfriends, etc. Most of the people were nice and realized there were a few non negotiable rules and complied graciously. I got them their passes and had them on their way quickly. I remember one guy who was the exception. It was sprinkling and he had parked his car right next to the office in the roadway in front of the gate. Normal parking was on the other side of the road in a parking lot. He came in and I told him that he had to move his car because he was blocking the access to the gate. He got belligerant but finally moved his car. When he came back into the office I told him I needed to see his drivers license, registration and proof of insurance. On the wall behind me in HUGE letters were the requirements for getting on the naval base those were items 1,2,3 out of ten. He got very angry and said he had to back out to his car to get them. It was not raining hard just sprinkling and I told him that was mandatory I was not to give out a pass without them. He went and got them then came back into the office very belligerant and cussing at me. At this point customer service or not a person should not have to take being cussed at for doing their job. HE informed me that he was just coming to see his daughter who was in Officer Candidate School. I copied the information on to the forms and then handed him the phone and told him he had to call his daughter to make sure she would take responsibility for him being on base Item #4 he went ballistic and told me he did not have to put up with that kind of nonsens and i was just messing around with him ( adjectives have been changed due to this being a family post) He was going to call my commanding officer and have my job for this. I told him the I worked for the shore patrol CDO (command duty officer) and that he was next door he was welcome to go talk to him if he liked. The shore patrol CDO was a 25 year verteran Boatswain Mate Senior Chief (those of you that were in the navy can probably guess how that meeting went) The next thing I knew someone from shore patrol had brought him back into my office and said the chief would vouch for him so he did not have to call his daughter. The shore patrol told him that I did not have to give him a pass it was strictly my call and that if he persisted in his behavior his daughter would be the one that would bear the blunt of any action taken about it. Then the shore patrol asked me if I would issue him a pass as a favor to the chief. The guy was totally changed he was very polite and asked what all he needed to give me to get his pass.

The points I am trying to make from this novel length post is
1. No matter how much customer service you give there is always going to be someone who gets angry because you are making them follow the rules.

2. Sometimes when you are the guy at the bottom of the chain in customer service you need to just smile be careful what you say and let the customer talk to someone higher up the ladder.