Here three examples which we have encountered very recently:
1. Movistar – In other words Telefonica, the national service provider and a major (global) telecommunications company just can not seem to get their data right. We used Movistar as our primary phone and internet service provider for quite some time. Throughout our contractual period it was more than once to which we received an inaccurate bill, but that’s a side note I shake my head too and could care less about. The real problem goes deeper. Trying to cancel our contract took literally seven phone calls and four visits to an official Movistar store, but wait till you read the rest of this paragraph. No one seemed to know what to do over the phone and everyone advised us to do something different even calling the same number the minute after hanging up. In the end we ended going to a store where we were told we need to cancel our contract via phone to obtain a cancellation code where upon return to the store, we could present both this code, return our modem and cancel our subscription. After finally obtaining our cancellation code we brought everything back to the same employee and went through the cancellation process, got our document and we thought we were good to go. Wrong. We continue to receive bills and no one has information as per why. I understand that large companies may have a load of processes and procedures, but alignment on this level means some serious mismanagement throughout the company when it comes to customer service.
2. Peugeot Car Rental – We recently rented a car while travelling abroad (Peugeot 208 – Renata loved it) with no issues so we figured we would do the same in Barcelona – directly with a car manufacturer so we could get the same car or a 2008, perhaps even a 4008. We booked everything online, down payment and all. We received a phone call the next morning stating that it wouldn’t be possible. Fine, no issue, however the amount paid has already been booked off the account, not just placed on hold. We call customer service through a number that is listed directly on the website. We explain to the lady on the other end of the phone what the issue was and that the rental office mentioned we should call customer service. The lady tells us that is not her problem and we need to contact the car rental. Again, we call the rental office who forwards us back to customer service who, to sum it up, tells us to use the contact form on the webpage and they will get back to us as soon as possible. Now I don’t give a s*** about the cash, but what I do care about is the simple principle of decent customer service. Give me workable and usable information and Ill get off your back. Its that simple. Help me and hey, you know what – I just might book another round with you again. Now, dear Peugeot, considering your staff is incapable, could care less, or simply not trained enough about procedures – you won’t be seeing me as a customer anytime soon. Ah, and yes I am going to be annoying until the 480 Euros are back on our bank account. Don’t tell me you’ll credit the amount to my Peugeot account for my next great experience.
3. Deutsche Bank – DB is my house bank and I love my bank, honestly a great institution, however in some instances customer service just wont pass the benchmark. After booking some flights with a Star Alliance Airline, a few things went wrong which after calling towards the country were clarified immediately. Now here comes the catch. When you place online orders, businesses will immediately charge your account or credit institution however will not invoice the amount towards the credit institution until the service has been fully provided, say in the instance of a flight to which the airline carrier has not yet fulfilled its service by transporting you from A to your destination B. Typically, the amount is put on hold until fully released. In the case something goes wrong you clarify with the service provider (business), the credit institution (say Mastercard) and your house bank and “Ta-da” after a limited period the amount will be credited back towards your account. In this instance the carrier charged 3 instances of our flights due to a system error. All good, technology isnt always as solid as we think it is. Heading to my house bank with my statements in hand clearly showing the multiple charges I explain to the bank employee (not my asesora personal – she was on holidays), these amounts here, here and here need to be reversed. The credit institution and airline company have reverted the amount, so dear employee could you connect with the credit institution and release the amount as soon as you can. Straight forward and simple, but no, those amounts are charged to my account is the reply. I understand however these are my flight tickets and those are wrong charges. The conversation took 20 minutes to explain a simple mistake on behalf of an error within “the system”. In the end I closed my notepad I carry my notes and documents in, said thank you and left. The next day, during my travels I called my asesora personal and within 72 hrs the issue was cleared.
I have a truck load of other examples, whether it be on the phone or face to face and yes I am generalizing however the majority of customer service related incidences in this country take a toll on your patience. Ill be honest, I have had some great experiences and thanks to those employees , those companies will see us as customers again and again and again. It really isn’t rocket science.
Call To Action
To: All managers and executives of customer related operations for all businesses in Spain
Dear All,
Now despite the country not doing all to well (the latest stats show 26.7% unemployment), and you receiving your fat pay checks not giving a rats a** about proper customer service because you figure who else should all your customers run too – its the same everywhere and employees, well heck if they don’t like it they can leave – there are plenty of other unmotivated people who will do the same job for perhaps even less money, right? Well here is my call to action for all of you. If one of you gets customer service right, picture the effect it would have. More consumers would hear about the fact that you do give a s*** and everything works so i just might subscribe to your service. If that happens and everyone flocks to you, you would make a load of money!
A proper customer service culture needs to immerse throughout your entire organization. It must permeate everyone’s thinking regardless of the staff members function and once you have effectively established that culture and gotten everyone on board, you would drop your jaw on the aftereffect this would have. Here five simple tips that come to my mind that would delight your clients.
1. Day One – All your employees need a strong does of customer service culture from their first day of work. It needs to be embedded into them from the moment they start your orientation program. It is a top priority. Regardless of function – front line or back office, planting the right seeds (attitude) from the first day will nourish and help grow a culture that flourishes bottom up and top down. If the attitudes of employees are the same as your’s, well just read my examples up top.
2. Kill The Rules – Often this goes hand in hand with the type of culture a country has (“the boss is always right”, in this culture you never talk back, there its pure top down hierarchy, etc) however rigid rules don’t create a positive customer experience. If the customer faces problem A, turn to page 79 section 3 and ask them how their day was. Honestly, telling employees to put customers first and along with the giving them an invisible handbook around policies and procedures kills the creativity of customer satisfaction within employees. Its simply counter productive. Rather, empower your employees, guide them to which rules are steadfast and pass along that pinch of trust to clearly show their opinion matters to making that difference. Its not every man for themselves and its not my boss says its this way. Its a fine line but imagine, my dear friends at Movistar if your employees really gave a crap about their work – what difference would that make?
3. Expectations – Simply touting love for customer service and excellence and passion and desire is not enough to feed your customer service culture, believe me I know. Employees need to know what they need to tackle in order to serve your customers well. Setting clear and measurable expectations is half the formula in customer service for all employees and evaluating their performance based on those expectations. Going the extra mile and innovation from both employee and employer are another deep topic I might get into at some point, but lets leave it at this.
4. Make Service Visible – Signs, interactive events, review of service standards in staff meetings are some of the few ways to make it visible that service really matters. Employees will never forget why they show up to work day in and day out. Make it competitive, make it fun, make it meaningful. Management needs to stop all the phrasing and rephrasing, get out and drive customer interaction. If everyone, each individual begins demonstrating what top rate service looks like, than the rest of your employees will eat, breathe and sleep customer service. It needs to become natural, don’t force it.
5. Reward – Everyone wants to earn more to have more. Yes, lets not be naive however pay your employees just that significant amount more so they can afford a decent standard of living and you’ll see what happens. If you look at what the labor markets pays here – no wonder employees don’t care. Break the mindset of cheaper labor because everyone’s jobless anyway. I believe in positive reinforcement. Offer your employees the ability to progress especially if they have stellar service. Recognize them, reward them with whatever options you may have. Create the culture of success. Employees that get jealous or have the wrong expectations, kick them, let them go.
Sincerely,
HK