A few months ago I was in a very large retail chain store that everyone has heard of a few minutes before closing time. I got into a relatively short line and waiting for the one cashier to help the two customers in front of me. As I waited, it became apparent that the cashier was having difficulty handling the first customer's purchase and that I wasn't going to be checked out anytime soon. I returned my items back to the shelf and left the store. In the time I waited in line the cashier made no call for help and the line had filled up behind me. As I left the store I noticed that there were at least 15 other customer service employees who were stocking shelves, cleaning up or just talking to each other.

I highly doubt that this large retail chain wants customers giving up and leaving or waiting in line for a long period of time, but in this instance that's exactly what happened. Either policies weren't followed or the current policies needed to be updated. Customer service policies need to be constantly updated and revised for a company-wide customer service plan to be successful and there are several helpful ways to make sure this is done effectively.

A suggestion box for customers in the store and online should be implemented. Finding out what is needed directly from the customer is powerful. For every single complaint, you can bet there are ten others who thought the same thing and didn't take the time to write about it. You will find a treasure chest of new ideas and problems that you didn't even know about.

Make it a mandatory policy for every customer service employee to write down every complaint or suggestion that a customer has immediately after talking to them or during the conversation. There should be a specific form for this so that the information is complete and useful to management. This way you never miss anything! Customer service employees are busy and if they aren't required to write anything down it will most likely never be reported.

Once a week, you should solicit suggestions from your customer service employees. This can be done in an anonymous manner so that they will write exactly what they think. Customer service reps will be invaluable to improving customer service. They are on the front lines and see every customer interaction first hand. They can tell you what is really happening better than any consultant or manager.

If the large retail chain I was in had the policies mentioned here, maybe they would have discovered that large lines always form in the 15 minutes before closing and that a second cashier should be assigned during this time. Through their research they would have found that the customer service benefit outweighed the other labor needs in the store. They would have gotten my sale that night and maybe more of my business in the future and probably the business of hundreds of others just like me. When it comes to customer service, problems are never isolated.