Do they really care about you as a customer?

Part 1 – Why we tolerate bad customer service

A recent Facebook post about poor customer service in St Vincent got me fired up about looking at ways we can encourage a customer-friendly environment. I was in Dominica and Barbados recently and was impressed with the way I was treated, even when I bought a drink and saltfish sandwich in a little shop. So what about our St Vincent?{{more}}

I’ve written too many articles encouraging business owners to address the issue, so let’s change strategy here. Do you as a customer know how you should be treated? Do you demand it or suffer through bad treatment? When you work all month and want to buy something, think carefully about which company benefits from your hard-earned dollars. Why give your money to companies and business owners that have no respect for you as a consumer? Before we discuss what to expect, let’s look at why we tolerate bad service.

No competition. Customer service has suffered in St Vincent because for many years there was no competition. There would only be one company offering a particular service or product, so Vincentians had no choice but to buy from that company. The company did not care about service with a smile, because it was a forced customer loyalty. You were loyal only because you had no other choice and the company was guaranteed money as you needed what they offered. When a business has competition, they know they have to make an effort to take care of each customer or else they lose revenue, and only then do many seriously look at valuing their customers.

We do not speak up. As much as we are a vocal society, we have not been taught to speak up in a constructive manner. We have not been taught to demand better service for ourselves, as many people still see that as a waste of time and do not understand the power of speaking up. We jump and wave for everything else; well, it’s time to speak up as you are being taken for granted and completely ignored.

We curse instead of negotiate. Speaking up does not mean we have to curse and behave in an unprofessional manner. Managers and owners will always dismiss customers who are irate and behave in an unreasonable fashion, especially if it’s done publicly and is a profanity-laced episode. Speak professionally, say what your expectations are and outline your plan of action. When more than one person does this, businesses will listen.

We look down on service people. Many people still think it’s degrading to be in a customer service position. Therefore, those who take the position do it unwillingly, and since some owners do not respect the customer, no one ever teaches the value of customer service.

We do not know. Unfortunately, there are people who have never experienced exceptional customer service so they have no clue it exists or that they are entitled to it simply because they are the customer. People grow up receiving bad service so they learn to work around it by making friends to get what they want. As a result, we see people cutting lines and getting special favours from friends because that’s how they know to get things done. This then angers everyone with no connections who have to suffer through long lines and people ignoring their requests. That is not fair.

Too busy and worried to bother. Someone said we are too busy with the worries of life to care about something as trivial as customer service. Customer service should be especially intense when dealing with broken people. They, more than anyone, understand the value of a dollar, and a caring owner would know that the smile his/her employees give a valued customer could be the only one they get that week. That smile could build up a broken person, who will be a customer for life.

Customer service seems so simple, yet it has escaped us for so long. Enough!! It’s time we bring in a culture of service to SVG.

Next week we will discuss what excellent service should look like.

Karen Hinds is “The Workplace Success Expert.” For a FREE

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