Some rules are put in place to improve customer service policy. If they don’t work, however, they can leave customers baffled and even angry.
A case of a failed attempt to improve customer service quality comes from a friend of mine. In Australia, Matt and two friends went to a fast-food drive-through for lunch. They wanted three separate orders as there were three in the car and no one had exact change.
The order-taker replied, “I’m sorry sir, but we are only allowed to process two drive-through orders at a time.”
“But there’s no-one behind us,” they replied.
The order taker repeated, “I’m sorry sir, but we are only allowed to process two drive-through orders at a time.”
The driver asked, “You mean I can place two orders now, drive through and pick them up, then drive through again to get my last order?”
“That’s right,” the order-taker said. “If you want more than two orders please come inside or drive through again.”
So Matt and his friends drove around the building to place their third order. In the time it took them to drive around the building, not one other car appeared. It was a pretty small building.
Matt spoke to the manager on duty who repeated the same comments: “Our owner wants a maximum of two orders per car so we don’t slow down other customers.” A noble decision, perhaps, but with one big flaw: there were no other customers waiting. In short, the rule did nothing to improve customer service quality.
Key Learning Point To Improve Customer Service Quality
Policies implemented for the good of the customers must be good for the customers, too. If they’re not, they won’t improve customer service quality. They might harm it instead.
Action Steps To Improve Customer Service Quality
Check your current policies in all areas of customer contact and concern. Look for lunacy, lost logic and loopholes that don’t improve customer service quality. Make the changes required to improve customer service quality. A few alterations can make a very big difference in how a business operates and what kind of customer satisfaction it can deliver.
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Copyright, Ron Kaufman. Used with permission. Ron Kaufman is the world’s leading educator and motivator for upgrading customer service and uplifting service culture. He is author of the bestselling “Uplifting Service” book and founder of Uplifting Service. To enjoy more customer service training and service culture articles, visit www.RonKaufman.com.
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