basictraining
straight talk about customer service
EVERYBODY’S GOT A CUSTOMER SERVICE STORY,
and it’s rarely a happy one. The surly or inattentive
clerk. Pressing “ 1” on the handset over and over again
in search of a human voice—with a recorded voice
telling you just how important your business is to rub
salt in the wounds.
Those homely daily experiences illustrate that there
aren’t many players in business today who really get
what customer service is about—or how it can translate into competitive advantage.
But why is customer service important in the context of supply chain management? It’s simple. The
supply chain doesn’t really begin with sourcing and
procurement, as some would have it. It begins with
customers—their demands and those of their customers, their profiles, their locations, and their buying
habits. Customer service dictates where we locate facilities, how we design distribution networks, and what
processes and technologies we deploy and employ.
As for who these customers are, from the standpoint
of supply chain operations, it can be just about anyone. We may be dealing with end-consumers. Or
maybe our customers are other businesses—
manufacturers, distributors, retailers, etc. At minimum, other
departments inside our company—and the people in
them—are our individual or functional customers.
We’ll focus here on some consumer examples, but the
concepts and principles apply to customer relationships throughout the supply chain.
What is customer service, really? If you ask a group
of people, you’ll find there are a number of thoughts
on the topic. But only once in our lives has anyone
spontaneously come up with the answer that makes
the most sense to us. A guy attending our Supply
Chain Short Course at Georgia Tech stood up and
simply said, “Everything.” And he meant it.
Everything. Everything that a customer might see,
touch, or hear, before, during, and after a transaction
is part of customer service.
At the retail level, for example, that would mean the
look, feel, and smell—and location—of the store, the
availability and display of goods, and the knowledge,
helpfulness, and attitude of associates. On a Web site,
it would include the site’s appearance and ease of use
by customers, whether they’re placing orders or seeking answers to questions. And for call centers, it would
encompass telephone service clarity and speed, complaint resolution, and staff knowledge.
What should customer service be about?
What do customers want? It might seem that they want
the sun, the moon, and the stars, but research has shown
that they really have only a few basic expectations:
Quick response/recognition. Whether it’s in the
store or on the telephone, no one wants to wait to be
acknowledged or recognized, and no one wants to wait
(five minutes tests the
upper limit) for a response
following recognition.
Human contact. The
fact remains that people
like the social experience—
and flexibility—of dealing
with other people, especially when there’s a problem.
One-call problem resolution. This may be the
gold standard for both
“fixes” and information,
but it’s certainly not
unachievable. And remember, costs go up—and customer confidence drops—with each succeeding call.
Expeditious solutions. That doesn’t necessarily
mean same- or next-day service, but it does mean a reasonably timely—and reliable—response. You’re better
off hitting a consistent three-day commitment than
promising something in one day and delivering in two.
Positive attitudes. A smile in the voice goes a long
way toward disarming an irate customer.
Technical knowledge. That means knowledge not just
about products and how they work, but also of customer
service processes and how they work. A representative
who can lead a customer through the company’s internal resolution process can make a business friend for life.
Much of the above refers to the service department’s
daily interactions with customers. But true service leaders build customer service into the fabric of the company in ways that make doing right by the customer nearly automatic. They anticipate what customers might
