Where did customer service go?

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 20 May 2015 10:22:46 -0400

I was taught by one of my bosses that at higher levels we are all about customer service. We work for our downtrace to help them. I have noticed that is not the mentality of a lot of people put there. Comments like "that sounds like a mayor cell issue", "whatever, you will get your food when you get it", and simply no response at all is common day practice now. Am I the only one noticing this? Where has all of the customer service gone? How do we get it back?

Response by LT Garth Young (Ret) made May 20 at 2015 10:33 AM

LT Garth Young (Ret) — Wed, 20 May 2015 10:33:10 -0400

Just my 2 cents....Unfortunately Customer Service has been out-sourced to countries outside of the U.S. For 2 reasons: 1) Cost of labor, and 2) Few want to work in the customer service business in the U.S. (It's a thankless job that doesn't pay well).
The sad part of it, companies don't realize how much business they lose due to poor service. The other sad piece is that many companies have become too big and have lost control of the customer picture.

Response by Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS made May 20 at 2015 8:57 PM

Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS — Wed, 20 May 2015 20:57:50 -0400

To put it bluntly, the reason that customer service is in decline is because the average customer is in decline.

Watch how the average customer treats the average sales person. You can only be abused so long... Now that doesn't mean this isn't a negative feedback loop...with many causes, and symptoms.

I am a firm believer that most people are inherently good. They are. However, when we aren't actively thinking about it, "as customers" we can be downright nasty, rude, etc.

Retail employees are generally abused, not well paid, given what can only called crap hours, and generally dis-incentived from providing good customer service.

From a very micro level. In a single man store, a customer is the owners paycheck. It's as simple as that. Every customer is the owners next meal, therefore customer service is great. "Ownership" is a real thing. Each employee past that is being "paid to care." They don't have the same level of ownership that the real owner does, but their paycheck, and their next meal is supposed to be close to it.

If the hassle they go through is greater than the reward they receive... the "paid to care" equation doesn't balance out, and customer service fails.

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made May 20 at 2015 9:58 PM

MAJ Ken Landgren — Wed, 20 May 2015 21:58:05 -0400

I was a Finance Commander once, and I told the Detachment we will give world class service, because we don't know if they will ever come back from a deployment. I was very proud of the soldiers for smiling and saying, "How can I help you?"

Response by A1C Medrick "Rick" DeVaney made Feb 10 at 2023 5:14 PM

A1C Medrick "Rick" DeVaney — Fri, 10 Feb 2023 17:14:23 -0500

Here's One Reason....The More The Public Insist Upon LOWER PRICES,
The More Product Quality & Services Has & To Be Reduced To PAY For It...
Then Higher The Demands The Higher The Costs... It's Basic Business Economics.