Location, Location, Location blah blah blah – Customer Service is key to winning

My dad called me today and asked if I can come by his house. I arrived there an hour later, and we were off to Lowes building supply store. He said he was given a project for the house, and little did I know that we would spend 2 hours at Lowes while we searched for his supplies, measured them and purchased everything he needed for this “little” project.

What astonished me where two things. One, the store was extremely clean and tidy. This was a shock to me since I was expecting clutter, tools, supplies, dust, and other items to dominate the aisles. On the contrary, there were associates cleaning, rearranging, and making sure everything was nice and neat. This made for a pleasing aesthetic atmosphere and invited customers to stay longer and walk the aisle ways looking for what they need and any possible impulse buys. Two, during the two hour excursion there were no less than six associates that stopped by to check on us and asking us if we have found everything we needed or if there is anything else we might need.

Having an employee ask you if you need help is always a good sign, having that same employee follow you around and badger is annoying. However, this was not the case at Lowes. Those six associates that asked us if we needed help were all different employees. This tells me that this particular store has created an atmosphere of friendly customer service throughout the entire store and with every employee. This is a key component in creating an organization that truly does cater to the customer.

Customer service is just as important, if not more important, then any computer network, product carried, leadership team, or other business asset when it comes to a customer’s point of view. Not to say those things are not important, and a business can or cannot function with or without them, it’s just that customer service is the first thing a customer evaluates. All other aspects of a business or organization come secondary. If your customers don’t like dealing with you, they will not return and purchase products or utilize services.

Location, location, location is no longer the most important aspect a business any more In fact, customer service will carry a business further than any other asset a company owns. Customer service should always maintain a top priority with any organization and enough resources allotted to hire the right people and continue improving their skill sets. I will agree if customers cannot find you, customer service will not save you alone, no matter if you’re a brick and mortar, home based business, or totally ecommerce.

Bottom line, if you want to succeed you need to make sure you have the right people who buy in to the customer service vision for the organization. You need a leadership team committed to always improving the level of customer service provided, and you need an atmosphere that promotes a positive energy to allow for a positive interaction with the customer that allows for a very satisfying experience.

Customer Service Court

Hi my name is David and I'm more like the Court Jester than I am the King (of Customer Service). You have to have a passion for helping other people to work in Customer Service. I don’t care what industry you work in, there is a really strong need for people that care and want to resolve other peoples problems.

This blog will highlight the brighter side and the darker side of customer service. I will identify the winners and the losers. More importantly, I want to start a community of experts that can help others improve one's customer service skills.

I also intend to have a comical corner called “Court’s Jester” or “Court’s Fool”. This area will showcase some comical stories of both the representatives and the customers that we deal with on a daily basis. In addition, I hope to find and inrtoduce the “Knights of Customer Service” and those are the people that have gone above and beyond to satisfy a customer's need. This may include invidual stories or stories about companies as a whole.