Service should be seemless and transparent.

My people want to help. That’s what they’re there for and I make a point of hiring people-pleasers. We make a practice of going out of our way for the customers who treat us like humans. But we’re not there to be berated and sworn at and all my team members have permission to terminate a phone call if the caller becomes abusive.

I believe in reinforcing the kind of behavior that I want to see in our customers, both internal and external. I also believe that responding to abuse by rewarding it (giving the abusive customer priority over everyone else who was there first and is waiting) teaches this customer that, at my company, he can get ahead by screaming, belittling and swearing at the employees. When dealing with an obnoxious customer, I’ve trained my associates to ask themselves, “Is this the kind of behavior that I want to reinforce?” If the answer is no, we politely hold the hard line.

Even as a manager, I very, very rarely give a rude customer priority over everyone else simply because he demanded to speak with me. But if he explains to me reasonably what his situation is and how I can help him, I will bend over backward to get him what he needs. My people have this same latitude and appreciate being enlisted as part of finding and implementing the customer’s solution.

Too many people go through life thinking everything is supposed to be perfect. They’re on the wrong planet.

Okay, that’s a good quote. That should be in a book or on a newspaper or something.

I spent just over 2 years in an industry that relied very heavily on excellent customer service levels. Since those days I’ve been a stickler for good service. Perhaps your product isn’t the best, but if you’ve got incredible back-up and support, it makes it so much better in the long run.

Granted, its sometimes tough to keep your cool, but you’re right, being pleasant is a whole lot better than throwing your toys out the cot and being condescending.

Nicely put.