I question Shep Hyken in a recent podcast, Hyken on Customer Service, about my own expectations of service.
Related Podcast and Transcription: Amazing Customer Service
Excerpt from Podcast:
Joe: It all sounds good, but I still pick up the phone and feel like 50% of the time I receive less than average service.
Shep: Wow, and that may or may not be true but I’m going to tell you what is true, it’s your perception and sometimes, even if it’s 10% of the time, it seems like 50% of the time because that squeaky wheel gets heard and that’s what needs the oil whether it gets the oil. So, you know, it’s like any relationship that you have, if you think about any relationship, you’re mad at that person in front of you for something that went wrong but then you think, “Gosh, it seems like I’m always mad at that person.” Well, you’re probably not always mad at the person. It’s just once in a while; these things are magnified. They’re much bigger. Same thing in customer service, somebody drops the ball, doesn’t do something right, it’s magnified. It’s intensified, and the reason is it’s because you’re no longer comparing the service that you had the last time you did business with them or even to a competitor. You’re comparing it to any company that you’ve done business with.
If I go to a fancy hotel, and I’m treated great, and then I go out to a restaurant, and I’m not treated so well. Now, you can argue there’s a tie between a hospitality of a hotel and maybe the hospitality of a restaurant. But then, the next day I go to work, and I call my manufacturer’s rep to order cleaning supplies and this guy doesn’t call me back quickly. When he does call me he’s not that appreciative of my business. I’m now comparing him or her to the experience I had at that fancy hotel earlier in the week or the nice dinner I had the night before and the way I was treated. So, expectations are higher, and I kind of started to allude to this earlier in our conversation. I think that the companies create that expectation. They brag about how good their service is. They talk about the awards that they win. I’m from Missouri. Missouri is the show me state. So, guess what, “Show me and then I’ll believe you.”
About Shep Hyken: Shep Hyken is a customer service expert, professional speaker and bestselling author who works with companies and organizations who want to build loyal relationships with their customers and employees and this week’s Business901 Podcast guest.
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