035 | Transcending Customer Service
October 19, 2020
Minute of Transparency: Crazy couple weeks
Cool website with information on a variety of personality inventories:
Specific to the Enneagram: https://www.crystalknows.com/enneagram-test
Today’s Topic: Transcending Customer Service
In this episode:
The 2 Types of Customer Service
Who Is Your Customer?
How Will You Treat Them?
// 1. THE 2 TYPES OF CUSTOMER SERVICE
If I were to ask you, “What is the first thing that comes to your mind when I mention the words customer service?” What would you say?
My guess is I would get a variety of results, but the most common would probably be, “The customer is always right.”
Was that yours? If so, I’m with you:
At some point in my life I was taught that the customer is always right
I can’t remember if it was my parents who introduced me to the idea, or if I heard it on TV
But at some point this idea became part of my belief system - a core value
In my head it was just the way things worked
Until I ran up against scenarios where it didn’t seem to work that way:
And this happened on both sides of the aisle - at least to me:
There were times when I was the customer and felt like I was being treated horribly - like the person thought they were right and were unwilling to hear me out
And there were times where I was providing the customer service, and felt like it would be crazy to admit the customer was right based on their obvious attempt to “work the system”
But after a few of these scenarios, I was forced to rethink my core belief that the customer is always right…
And in this conversation I started to have with myself I realized a very important element of customer service. The truth that not all customer service is the same.
In fact, there are two very distinct types of customer service. And depending on what type it is, the behavior exhibited could be completely different.
So what are these two types of Customer Service? I’m going to call them:
Required Customer Service
Provided Customer Service
Now I just made these up - they aren’t from some book or article I can share with you - at least not that I’m aware of…
I’m sure there are highly intelligent people who have written books on customer service that are way above my head. But I like to keep things simple.
And to me, this concept makes a lot of sense:
Required Customer Service:
A service the company or organization is required to provide
The customer is also required to interface with the company or organization
Examples: Post Office, DMV and the court system
People working in these positions are required to help the people who walk through the door
Similarly, people are required to walk through the door if they want to send mail, drive a car or take someone to court
Provided Customer Service:
A company or organization that provides customer service
Customers are typically not required to interface with these companies or organizations
Examples: Car dealerships, restaurants, stores, etc.
The company or organization wants to provide customer service in order to help customers have a good experience
They know that the customer has options - and could choose a competitor
So they view customer service as an extension of the sales and retention arm of their business
Since the customer doesn’t have to choose this company or organization, the experience they have with customer service could make or break future interactions
In this scenario, there is an element of “wooing” that takes place with customer service:
Example, “Sir, we’re so sorry for the wait - this cup of coffee is on the house."
Can you imagine this happening at the DMV? “Sir, we’re so sorry for the wait, this license plate is on the house."
Bah! It will never happen. Or at least I don’t think it will...
So these are two big buckets that I believe customer service falls into, and depending on which one you are interfacing with - your experience might be totally different.
But! It’s also important to understand this about yourself. If you work in customer service - it’s important for you to understand which bucket you’re in - as it will most likely impact the way you provide the customer service as well:
Stereotypically, provided customer service tends toward the concept that the customer is always right
And stereotypically, required customer service tends toward the concept that the customer is rarely right
Now I know, those are harsh assessments, and thank goodness they aren’t true 100% of the time.
But we’ve all experienced customer service at a store - where they are apologetic, smiling, and go out of their way to help rectify a bad situation. And conversely, we’ve all been in a DMV where nobody is smiling, and you leave wondering why the universe went out if its way to provide that level of torture to the average person…
// 2. WHO IS YOUR CUSTOMER?
As I describer earlier - we are often on both sides of the customer service equation:
There are times when we’re the ones providing the customer service
And there are times when we get to experience customer service from others
But there is only one of the two that we have any control over - only one where we get to decide the outcome. And that’s when we’re the ones providing the customer service…
So let’s focus on that for the rest of the episode.
Who is your customer? Who is my customer?
If we work in the customer service industry it should be pretty easy to figure out right?
If I wait tables at a restaurant - my customer are the patrons of the restaurant
If I work at the DMV my customers are the people coming in to get their licenses, or take care of other automobile related things
If I work at a clothing store my customer is someone purchasing or returning clothes to my store
If I’m a clinician, my customers are the people coming to see me for therapy
And the list goes on...
Again not hard to determine this: You just have to look at the job you do, and the people who access your job, work, product, store, or service. These are most likely your customers…
But what if we thought bigger than that? What if we thought outside the box?
What if we started looking at everyone as our customer? Every single person we run into throughout our day? What might that look like?
Now I understand… you’re probably saying, “No, I don’t get it because it doesn’t work that way. The average Joe on the street isn’t coming to you for something, and you’re not helping them with a problem they have in relation to something you did for them. So because of this - they aren’t a customer - and there’s no point in looking at them this way…”
Agreed. But I’m reminded of that little story in the Bible…the one we just talked about a few episodes ago (Episode 029 if you’re interested in a more detailed explanation).
It’s called The Good Samaritan, and we won’t go through it again. But there is something unique about the interaction Jesus has with the lawyer that might just help us understand this customer concept…
Luke 10: 25-37
The lawyer asks Jesus what he needs to do to inherit eternal life.
Jesus explains there are two things:
Love God
Love your neighbor
The lawyer pushed Jesus on the second part and asked, “But who is my neighbor?”
Then Jesus proceeds to tell the parable…
And the summary, or the moral of the story He told was this:
The real “neighbor," was the man who stopped to help the victim:
Even though the two men didn’t know each other
Even though the two men were from different ethnic backgrounds
Even though the two should have hated each other based on the society they lived in
Interesting - right? Jesus was asking the lawyer to do something that didn’t make sense to him:
“He asked him to be a neighbor to someone that didn’t live in his neighborhood… ”
Sound familiar? Providing customer service to people that aren’t really our customers?
And there you have it! That’s what I’m talking about. What if we started viewing everyone out there as a customer?
What would that look like?
// 3. HOW WILL YOU TREAT THEM?
I guess that’s the big question right?
When the lawyer was done with Jesus, and he turned to walk home, I can just imagine what was racing through his mind:
Maybe he looked around with new eyes and saw people he never saw before
Maybe his mind went back to times when he ignored people because they were different and he realized how un-neighborly that had been
Maybe he had a few people pop into his mind - people he knew he needed to be a better neighbor to moving forward
Or maybe his mind was blown - and he just went home to try and make sense of this new concept
Regardless, we find ourselves in the same situation when we first hear this concept: The idea that everyone is our customer. That we should provide excellent customer service to everyone - regardless if we know them or not.
So what does this look like? Well, let’s start with our 2 Types of Customer Service:
Required Customer Service
Provided Customer Service
Like we described, Required Customer Service is typically not the most friendly… People are usually there because they have to be. They are the ones who hold the power - and you’ll get what they decide to give you as long as you jump through all the right hoops…
The other is more friendly - more wooing. Provided Customer Service leans more toward the concept that the customer is always right. They go out of their way to fix your problem, to understand your questions and to make things right. But typically with a hidden motive right? They want to keep you brand loyal. They don’t want you to leave and find another brand to take their place. Because they know you have options. It is in their best interest not to rock the boat, and to help you feel like you won.
But what if there was a third option?
What if there was something called Genuine Customer Service?
What would that look like?
Maybe providing care for no reason?
Maybe providing attention and help when there is nothing to gain from it?
Maybe it looks like being a neighbor to someone not in your neighborhood?
It looks like a smiling face, and a helping hand
Listening and meeting needs
Not judging, just choosing to be there for someone
What if this was possible? What if we could provide Genuine Customer Service to every person we run into each day?
Too big? Too much?
OK - then what if we started a bit smaller?
What if we started by providing Genuine Customer Service to our spouse?
Then, when we start getting the hang of it, our families?
Then extended family, friends, acquaintances?
Then the person on the street that looks down and out?
If we really need time to ramp up - how quickly could we make that happen?
How quickly could we go from our spouse to the homeless person in our neighborhood?
And become the Customer Service Provider Jesus described in the parable of The Good Samaritan?
Let’s Land the Plane: This week, ask yourself the following questions:
What do you believe about customer service?
Who are your customers?
Does anyone come to mind right away?
How have you been treating them?
With Required, Provided or Genuine Customer Service?
My prayer for us this week is that we will all take one step in the direction of Genuine Customer Service.
With our spouse, family, friend, acquaintance, or even someone we might consider an enemy…
Think what the world could be like if each of us viewed each other as customers - worthy of our best customer service.
As always, thanks for choosing to be here with us this morning. And until next time, keep Transcending Human!