Customer Service

Last night at work, we were given conversation starter cards.  We were told that this was because some people need to learn to talk to their customers.  I was puzzled.  How hard is it to just make basic conversation with people?  Have we moved too far into the technical age where people have no idea how to effectively communicate with people other than a text message or some sort of chat that can be done on your phone?

It's not that hard to put yourself in others shoes.  If you were the customer, what would you like someone to say to you?

Asking where you're from?  Asking how your vacation has been?  Asking what all have you enjoyed while you've been in town?

Seriously, this can't be that hard.  Most of the questions come out without even having to think.  At least for me they do.  And most of the time, you're customers make it easy to ask these questions.  

We have a limited amount of time with each person that comes through our line.  Learning the right questions and how to effectively ask them in a timely manner is pretty simple.

Should I engage my customers in facts that they could care less about?  Or should I find some common ground to have a meaningful conversation in just the few minutes (and in some instances, seconds) they are in front of me?

This got us all thinking last night.  And while we made fun of how crazy this idea was, we were encouraged by the fact simple conversation is easy!  And simple conversation is excellent customer service because it shows the customer that you actually care about them and not just the money they are spending!

My customer service tip for the day: