It seems like it should be so simple, but it's not.

Many organizations’ customers today are unhappy. Often, the companies only learn of the dissatisfaction when executives look at the numbers and discover financial evidence of customer defections – customer defections reduce revenue, increase expenses, and thereby dent profitability.

If you do not cover every base in customer service, your customers will jump ship because customer service trumps customer loyalty every day. You may be sitting pretty, right now, but is that only because your competition is weak, not well-positioned or non-existent? Is your service motto, “we’re no worse than anybody else?”

But, then, there’s always tomorrow.

Take one local newspaper as an example.

The management of this particular newspaper tried and tried for months to get it right, the process of getting a Sunday newspaper to its customers on a particular route -- while it was still Sunday morning. Staffing problems were rampant, but an even greater problem was that management did not understand the essentials of effective customer service. Let’s peek inside to see what happened in a particular exchange with a customer…

The customer called one Sunday morning because the newspaper was missing. He expressed dismay to the person answering the newspaper’s circulation phone line, mentioning that this was not the first time -- he had suffered prior delivery problems. The customer service representative expressed concern with the customer’s frustration, apologized on behalf of the newspaper and, within an hour, a newspaper was indeed delivered. The end result? The customer felt cared for. Sound silly? Bottom line: The customer did not cancel his subscription!

One of the modules in our “Achieving Excellence in Customer Service” training program focuses on how to handle an irate customer. This customer was unhappy, however, he was handled in a manner that kept his business. Now, let’s look at an unfortunate twist on customer service and the unhappy customer….

The next Sunday, the same customer called again and spoke to another customer service representative: His paper was again undelivered. The representative said that they were late delivering the paper because it was larger than usual. She did not know when it would be delivered. The customer called again an hour later, and once again the customer service representative who answered had no information. When the customer asked: “When can I reasonably expect to have my newspaper delivered on a Sunday morning?, “the representative had no answer.

There are at least two problems with this customer experience. First, is that the people answering the phone in this case, did not make the customer feel like his problem was important to them. Second, it was clear by the second call, that either there was no customer service standard, i.e. a newspaper must be delivered by X time on Sunday morning – no excuses or that standard had not been communicated to the front line. Also, an underlying problem that was being communicated to the customer – the newspaper did not plan ahead to ensure effective customer service, e.g. an extra large paper means that you make the special efforts necessary to ensure that the paper gets out on time.

The follow-up to this second scenario is that the customer complained to the Circulation Manager about his experience. (He never did receive a newspaper the second Sunday). The Circulation Manager told the customer that the phone responsiveness issue had been “handled”. Later the District Manager called the customer to apologize and describe numerous staffing problems as his cell phone cut off his apologies and he had to redial the customer several times.

The customer cancelled his subscription to the newspaper.

Is this an isolated incident, just one organization where the “gang can’t shoot straight”?

No, the story is entirely too familiar and doubly troubling with the newspaper example because everyone knows that the newspaper industry is in decline already without any help from management and the employees! Bad service in a mature or declining industry here is like stepping on the air hose supplying oxygen to a dying patient!

What’s the take out message for you and your organization?

Make certain that your customers are happy. How do your customers perceive the service that they receive from your organization? Do what it takes to find out directly from your customers that they are satisfied with your service. Don’t take somebody else’s word for it. A periodic customer service survey, focus groups are among the ways that you can find out what is really going on.

Having a link for concerns or complaints on the first page of your website is a GREAT way of finding out the truth. It is amazing how many large companies do not have a clearly visible link on their website for a customer to register a complaint! Could it be they don’t want to know?!

Establish customer service standards that everyone from managers to the front line understand and can describe, e.g. The Sunday newspaper should be on the customer’s doorstep by 7 AM Sunday – no excuses.

Train your staff how to handle an irate customer. This means sweating the details such as tone of voice; what to offer the customer in what circumstance, whether it be a quick delivery of a replacement newspaper or a gift certificate to a future purchase.

Show your customers you care. Overall, impart to each person within your organization that it is their job to make each interaction with a customer, a positive one – a Moment of Magic.

… their jobs and your business depend on it!

Jennifer Thompson, strategic planning and marketing consultant, specializes in marketing management issues and strategic planning for businesses. Strategic Futures® is located in Alexandria, Virginia (voice: 703/836-8383; fax: 703/836-9192).