Mark 12:31The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."
So for those of ya'll who haven't talked to me in a while. I work at Hobby Lobby. I am currently majoring in Marketing and Management at Arkansas Tech.
Today I worked at the Hot Springs Hobby Lobby. In a world where customer service is laughed at, or known as some calling center in India, I pride myself, and my managers in offering some of the best customer service around.
Now here I am, talking about customer service, and quoting a verse about loving your neighbor. If you don't see how these parallel, then I am here to show you.
There are two sides to customer service, the customer, and the service. (amazing right?)
These two people though they are in two completely different roles, are nearly the same.
There is both a good way, to go about being a customer, and a bad way.
There is also a good way, to go about being the "service" and a bad way.
The role as the customer: To find the item they are seeking, and purchase it.
The role as the "service" provider: To aide in finding said item, in order for the customer to purchase.
Simple right? Not quite, but you also have to key in several other factors, known to me as, "nonverbal communication" This would include, posture, facial expressions, and voice inflections.
So if a customer asks, with genuine sincerity, how to find something, then I am going to respond in the best way possible, going out of my way to help them get what they need.
If a customer asks, and sounds like they want to kill me cause they can't find something, or they're scowling at me when they ask, then I'm really not looking forward to helping them, because chances are things aren't going to end up too well.
But the key to my reaction is, I need to "Love them, like I love myself" Or in a round-about way, treat others, the way I want to be treated. If I am not responding with true customer service, doing everything in my realm of knowledge and expertise to help them out, then what will they want to do back to me?
Why is it that there is so negativity towards the thought of customer service today? It is because the service people, don't treat the customers the way they would want to be treated if they were in their shoes.
I needed to return something to Wal*Mart without a receipt a few weeks back. Now this item was an item that is stolen alot. It was over $100 and due to the fact that it is stolen alot, they could not return it for me. I understood completely. Just like if someone wanted to return sterling silver, furniture, or a custom frame to hobby lobby without a receipt, unless we knew the person on a first name basis, we couldn't do anything to help them.
I believe though, if Americans would get over their lazy selves, and began to treat their customers, like the way they would want to be treated if they were customers, we would see better customer service across the board. Then we wouldn't need to have all these call centers in other countries, because it would pay to have have the best customer service people here in America.
But instead, service people respond to the scowling, grumpy people, with a scowl and a grumpy reply and the circle continues.
Why not go out and have some real customer service today? Do you really want employees of the stores you shop at to scowl and grumpily answer your questions? I hope not!
(Title from Leaf by mewithoutYou)
Great thoughts on customer service. It is obvious that you are passionate about it. It works the same way with being a friend. I think that often times we don't realize that if we want to have friends and influence people, we must be constantly aware of treating others the way we want to be treated. I have a strong background in retail and understand a few things about customer service. I have often translated what I understood about customer service into my personal relationships with my friends. If my friends were customers shopping in my life for a friend, what would I do to help them find what they want?
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