Rude, unfriendly, unpleasant, insulting, these are just a few of the words used by consumers to describe their interaction with customer service representatives. But how rude is rude and how unfriendly was that representative exactly? After all what may seem acceptable to one may be totally outrageous to another. That is typically a debatable subject between customers and customer service management. Indeed, Customer Satisfaction is said to be arguably relative.
The point is Customer Service has a quality issue and consequently a negative image it cannot rid itself from. The question is, is it from lack of understanding or lack of willingness?
In other fields, aerospace for instance, failing to provide quality could lead to severe or even fatal consequences and the theory is not even tested. Quality has nothing to do with the level of engineering, product price or customer segment. Quality is about meeting customer expectations and continuously improving. A Boeing client expects a plane built according to specifications and seeing from the numerous certifications and accreditations to various aerospace quality management standards there is no question of deviation.
So why is this so different in airline, banking or Telecom customer service? Are customer expectations unclear or undefined? Is the impact of non-quality unimportant?
In the last 15 years, tools and methodologies have seen the light to help improve the quality of customer service but not only is dissatisfaction persisting, it is getting worse. Most organizations have considerably invested in quality measures through call recording, call coaching, and individual customer satisfaction scores and implementing incentive schemes to promote good behavior. As an ISO 9001 auditor I can say that these are valid measuring, monitoring and training ways but this is only a fraction of what is required to satisfy a quality standard. Any organization serious about quality will not forget to control, correct and prevent failures and to continually improve meeting customer expectations. Meeting these expectations is what delivers total customer satisfaction.
When discussing quality with customer service managers, I often encounter defensiveness and denial but the facts speak for themselves.
To demonstrate the point that poor quality customer service is not subjective but tangible, measurable and actionable, below are 2 transcripts of recent conversations:
Example Bank 1
Customer: Hello, I would like to cancel my overdraft option.
Bank: You have to request this change in writing sir.
Customer: You have just asked me 4 security questions so can't you handle my request by phone? I am not overdrawn and I do not wish to ever use this service so in effect I would like to cancel something I do not use. Surely you should be able to arrange this.
Bank: How unfortunate that you do not understand!
Customer: Excuse me? That is no way to speak to a customer!
Bank: I can't help it if you don't understand why your request is not possible!
Example Bank 2
Customer: Hello, I am calling to check whether my inheritance has been transferred from my mother's account to mine. I need to pay the funeral.
Bank: These cases are not top priority because the person is already deceased but let me put you through to my supervisor who will give you the status.
Supervisor: I am sorry sir I am not sure to handle your request today because we are too busy and in any case I cannot transfer the funds without any signed documents.
Customer: But I personally delivered the required documents to your branch office last week. Can't you ask for the documents to be faxed?
Supervisor: I am sorry sir, we need the original documents.
Customer: Well how about sending a courier to pick them up?
Supervisor: Am sorry we don't do that for such a small amount!
Customer: But we are talking about 45,000 Euro!
Supervisor: Let me see what I can do, I will call you back later.
...
Supervisor: Well sir, after searching through the mess, I found your mother's papers! Maybe I can process your request today and if not I will do that tomorrow or the day after!
You don't have to be a quality expert to recognize that customer expectations were not met in both cases. There is no benefit in being partially committed to quality. Investing in quality management tools and stopping half way is a total waste. An organization either commits to customer service quality or it doesn't. If it does, it needs control, correct and prevent customer service employees addressing customers the way these banks have done. This would show the willingness to do what is right for the customer and demonstrate understanding of customer expectations.
