WHERE IS CUSTOMER SERVICE?
by
Monica M. Burns
Can someone please find our friend “Customer Service” and hurry to bring it back? It seems lately that there is a “test my patience all week long” sign posted on my forehead or something. We know that people can’t (or they just choose not to), be happy and bubbly all of the time on their Customer Service Jobs. I mean after all, the “Customers” are only the little people who keep these “Customer Service Workers” employed......so why wouldn’t they want to be nice and respectable to their “Customers?” Should we as their Customers be subjected to such rudeness? Absolutely not...... There are other options!
Usually, most of the very, very rude Customer Service Workers I encounter are those who are cashiers (at a very large and dominant mass retailer), pharmacy clerks (at a very large national fine drugstore retailer), and maybe some fast-food workers. At first, before I started to place blame on any of the Customer Service Workers, I looked at myself to see if there was anything negative that I was projecting and was unaware of; however, after a thorough investigation of my own demeanor by others I took along to observe, such as my facial expressions and my body language, I found that it was not me at all. These Customer Service Workers are just mean and miserable. Note: I am not writing about “all” Customer Service Workers and the Industry itself, I am writing about “some or most” who are employed in the Customer Service Industry. So keep your negative comments to yourself. The only negativity that will come from this article, will be from those who fit the description of Rude, Miserable, Lazy, and Mean Customer Service Workers. You know who you are!
Memo To All Customer Service Workers: I’m quite certain that when you started your job as a Customer Service Person, you knew what your job description was, along with your most important job function: “Satisfying Your Customers.” Your job duty is placed conveniently in your job title so that you’ll never “forget” what it is that you do exactly. You are a Customer Service Worker and whether you like it or not, the Customers are keeping you employed. So...when you are nasty to your customers, why would they want to keep coming to the place in which you are employed, only to leave feeling angry and upset! You as the Customer Service Worker don’t care, you are just there collecting a paycheck. Allow me to let you rude Customer Service Workers in on a big secret: “Customer Service means to provide above and beyond service to your prospected Customers to gain and retain their business and, to ensure that your Repeat Customers remain Repeat Customers. It is quite easy to keep your Repeat Customers than to gain one-hundred prospected new Customers-but you can, if you perform your required job duties. If you are rude to the prospected customers, they’ll tell others of your rudeness and incompetence, which may result in a negative image for the company because of a few misguided Customer Service Workers. If you are rude to the Repeat Customers, they’ll just find another place to shop, it’s quite simple. Life doesn’t come to a halt because you are having a bad day and want everyone around you to experience it. You are just a mean, miserable, and rude Customer Service Worker whose only contributing to their own demise. Sorry Sweetie, unfortunately you don’t have the luxury of going into your office and closing the door. You are in the spotlight with people all day long and why are you there......because you are a “Customer Service Worker!” If you find that you just can’t be nice to your Customers in your Customer Service Position, then maybe it’s time you left your job as a Customer Service Worker and found one that suits your personality type. Do the job you were hired for or you’ll be looking for another Customer Service Job to only get fired from.
Memo To Customers: If you are regularly subjected to rudeness by Customer Service Workers, here are a few tips to get you through your day:
> We tend to run towards the shorter lines in the store, but that usually result in a meeting with the rude Cashier. I tend to sense the tension from the Cashier in the shorter line, so I will gladly move to a longer line where the Cashier’s face is friendly. I would rather wait in a longer line and receive friendly and professional Customer Service, rather than be subjected to awful treatment by the Cashier in the shorter line. Try it!
> Another way to ensure yourself a pleasant day during rude treatment from a Customer Service Worker, is to just politely advise and insist that you would rather speak with someone else who can assist you because you have no time in your life or schedule to deal with their rudeness.
> If you are in a grocery store and the cashier proceeds to scan and throw your items all over the place, get your purse or wallet, talk to the Manager if you like, leave the groceries right where she threw them, and leave the store. There are other stores who’ll be glad to provide you with great groceries without the poor Customer Service. You didn’t deserve the negative treatment and you want your groceries in the shape they were in before you walked into the check-out line anyway. Thank you very much!
So, if you are a rude Customer Service Worker and you are reading this, someone has told you something wrong about yourself and you don’t understand your job title. You are definitely not a “people person” and you should confront whomever told you that lie! You should look up the definition of “Customer” and find yourself a job that fits your True Personality Type with the word “Customer” non-existent in the job title. With rude Customer Service Workers gone and out of the Industry, it will allow for a fantastic shopping experience and the Customers will be eager to continue to make the Customer Service Industry successful. After all, Customers are the reason you have a job as a Customer Service Worker!
Monica Burns-Capers
Copyright ©2007 Monica M. Burns Communications. All Rights Reserved.Monica Burns-Capers is President-CEO of Monica M. Burns Communications. She is a Self-Development and Fashion Writer & Consultant. www.monicamburnscommunications.mfbiz.com
