Customers – Of course we love ’em – but do we show it?
To: Innovative’s Customers!
We love ya. Below is a quick email I shared with the Innovative team today. Read it and if you’re one of our Customers, let us know how we’re doing. Let’s us know which of the three companies we are. Just post to the blog. And Thanks . . . Thanks for your business. You Rock!
Sincerely,
Gene Gray
President …of Customer Service
Explore posts in the same categories: cool gadgets, customer service, employees, Innovative Automation, Legendary Customer Service Act of the Week, marketing, Omron, Parker, SMC, STI, UL508A, UL508A Panel Shop, Wago, Wittenstein, YaskawaFrom: Gene Gray
Sent: Tuesday, January 26, 2010 10:32 AM
To: InnovativeAutomationInc
Subject: Customers – Of course we love ’em – but do we show it?
Importance: High“Customer Focus” is a motto, a saying, a pleasantry shared by most companies. Yet the actual execution of Customer Service varies wildly across companies.
At one company, a Customer service rep answers the phone, helps a Customer and then thanks them for their call. The service rep feels he’s been Customer Focused.
Across the street at a competitive company, a team member ends a phone call with a client, thanks the Customer for their call and later that day sends a follow-up email asking what else he can help with and again in the email thanks the Customer for their call.
Across town, a young team member at yet another competitor takes a call from a longtime Customer, thanks the Customer for the call and then asks the Customer how she feels about the way she’s been treated and served. After he hangs up the phone, he sends a personal handwritten thank you card to the Customer letting her know how important her business is and thanking the Customer for sharing her input on how he’s been taking care of her company.
Are the three companies wildly different in their Customer service? You decide. Then ask yourself; if you had a problem and needed help — if you had a new opportunity — which company would you call?
Customer service means you’re grateful for what you’ve been given and will work to help those Customers before they complain of a problem. Customer Service is how you react when you’ve dropped a ball. How you apologize. How you make it right. How you work for the Customer’s forgiveness, knowing that only the Customer’s opinion matters. Customer Service is knowing that the only way you’ll consistently get that Customer’s opinion is to ask for it.
Be grateful you get to serve. Not everyone has Customers. BTW, the word “Customer” is capitalized on purpose. Think about Customer in everything you do. They are, after all, who pays your wages.
Take Care,
Gene Gray, President
Tags: assistance, business, customer, customer service, help, legendary, service, strategic business
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February 9, 2010 at 12:41 pm
Sometimes it is imperative to have experienced the customers’ predicament to understand what solutions may be viable.
February 12, 2010 at 1:33 pm
Yes, no substitute for experience!
January 29, 2010 at 5:56 am
We recently had a situation where some Leeson drives
were not available so one of our guys found a suitable
substitute. Had this not happened we were going to be
way late with our order. But when it turned out that
that drive was also going to cause us to be late. I talked with Jason Scott and told him the scheduled
delivery wasn’t acceptable. Jason went into action
and found the nessecary drive and delivered in plenty
of time. Now thats what I call customer service. Way
to go Jason.
March 23, 2010 at 8:30 pm
It’s been great doing business with you guys. Thanks for the comment!
January 28, 2010 at 3:35 pm
I saw this quote many years ago that I will share with you. “In one day, Sampson slew 1000 Philistines with the jaw of an ass. Every day, ten million sales are killed with the same weapon.”