The Customer View

The Death of Customer Service?

This is sad, it really is.  As one who has dedicated his professional life to providing, teaching, and coaching customer service excellence, I was frustrated, but not surprised, to read that Customer Service is not getting any better.  It seems to be getting worse.  And most customers don't even hope for good service any more.

Forrester Research recently released a report based on a survey of more than 4,200 consumers in 10 different industries, such as apparel, banking, hotel, insurance, credit card, wireless phone plan, Internet service, and computers.  The crux of this report is that customers have come to expect lousy service as par for the course. Here are some of the highlights (or shall I say lowlights?):

• Of the industries involved, only in the apparel industry did a majority (a slim majority - 54%) of customers actually expect to receive good service.
• Only 30% of customers in the health insurance and in the computer industries expected to have a quality experience.
• Only 23% of seniors expected good service in the computer and Internet areas.

This blows me away, because I know for a fact that it is not that difficult to create a positive customer experience.  If you care about ANYONE in the world besides yourself, then you simply envision the customer as that person that you care about. And then you treat the customer the way you would treat him or her.  Or at very least, provide that level of effort.

When I see that fewer than a third of customers in major areas of business actually have an expectation of being treated well, of getting what they want when they want it, and having any questions answered, I think, what sinister parallel universe have I happened onto? 

It is 2010 - it is no longer open to debate as to whether it is worth the effort to provide good service.  It is the thing that differentiates business.  It is the thing that retains customers.  In this day and age, in an economy that is still sluggish, one would think that making the effort to provide a meaningful customer experience would be a business imperative.

But apparently, one would be wrong.

Businesses!  I know you can hear me!  Make some damn effort!  I don't care what industry you're in.  I don't care how long you've been in business. Make some real effort to provide a quality service experience for every one of your customers and prospects, and your bottom line will skyrocket.  I mean, what the hell else are you doing that's so important?

  -- Chuck Dennis

US Airways' Heroic Customer Service

*** This post was originally written in the fall of 2009, but for some reason (probably blogger error!) it did not appear on our blog.  Ummm... better late than never? ***

By now, everyone knows about the heroic efforts of the captain and crew of US Airways flight 1549, which had to make an emergency landing in the Hudson River after its engines had been immobilized by a flock of geese.  The captain, Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, and his crew became instant celebrities in the aftermath of this incredible event, and rightly so.  We read interviews, and we watched them on morning and late night television.  We saw them in parades and at ballgames.  These were true American heroes.

But one thing we did not hear so much about was the heroic efforts in customer service that the extended team of US Airways personnel to care for the passengers, all of whom survived, following the emergency landing.  This was practically as amazing as the flight crew's actions.

Recently, BusinessWeek ran an article on how the airline immediately put teams into play, to assist the passengers and their familes.  The article called the airline's performance "a model for crisis management."  After reading the article, I must agree.

Here are some of the things that US Airways did right:

• Activated a special 800 number for families of passengers and crew to call
• Scott Stewart, managing director for corporate finance, brought a bag of emergency cash for passengers and credit cards for employees to buy medicines, toiletries, or personal items that were needed
• Others arrived with suitcases full of prepaid cell phones and sweatsuits for any passengers who needed dry clothes
• Staffers escorted each passenger to a new flight or a local New York hotel, where it arranged for round-the-clock buffets
• Arranged train tickets and/or rental cars for those who did not wish to fly
• Some passengers lost their driver's licenses, so US Airways reached out to high-level executives at Hertz and Amtrak to ensure they had no trouble getting a rental or a ticket
• Retained the services of locksmiths to help passengers who had lost their keys get back into their cars and homes
• Sent three letters providing updates to customers, along with a ticket refund to each passenger and a $5,000 advance check to help cover the cost of replacing their possessions
• Employed claims adjusters to compensate passengers whose losses were higher
• Did NOT require recipients to waive their legal rights, "an unprecedented exception to the industry norm."

US Airways has not been known as a provider of world class service.  In fact, oftentimes, their service has left a lot to be desired.  But this time, during and after this crisis, they shined.  Their employees should be proud, the public should be aware of their efforts, and anyone who has anything to do with customer service should take note.  This is how you care for customers.

  -- Chuck Dennis