“The Customer is always right” This is a phrase you hear all the time, in banks, hospitals, and customer based services and generally. This practice is one that is held supreme abroad especially in places like the U.K.,U.S.A and other places. Bringing it back home, customer service is a myth. I can authoritatively say that at least 80% of Nigerians have one or two horror stories about a terrible customer service they’ve once received.
What is Customer Service? According to the dictionary, customer service is the assistance and advice provided by a company to those people who buy or use its products or services. To break it down, if you offer a service based product or run a business where you will need to interact with people who need your services, you are a customer service business.
Why then do some front desk staff, people who pick phones for companies, sellers online treat their customers like trash? Not all establishments, that’s for sure but like earlier stated, we all have one or two negative stories to tell.
Last week, STAR TIMES, a cable service provider here in Nigeria, tweeted out to their followers that their social media handler was on site that afternoon and people should ask any question they wanted to ask. Now this was a great initiative and would have gone a long way to endear them to their customers but what followed agitated the minds of Nigerians.
Have you ever had a nurse in a hospital be rude to you? Either as a patient or as someone staying with a patient or visiting? As much as we don’t want to stereotype, but nurses in Nigeria always take it to the zenith! A few or many more than a few bad eggs gave the entire profession a bad name that has stuck. A nurse in a Federal Hospital once told a woman whose daughter was admitted when she asked for a mattress to sleep on that she should be ready to sit and sleep as that’s the norm there! Now even if they didn’t have mattresses, I believe there’s a way she could have phrased it better.. Needless to say after that experience not only did she swear never to go there again, she made it a point of duty to warn whoever cared to listen not to as well.
It’s time companies even small time business woke up to the fact that if whoever handles your calls does not understand how to treat customers like kings they will find the terrain a bit more difficult. The most baffling one is when small businesses without an established customer base employ staff who does not know how to handle customers!
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In this day a lot of buying and selling is going on Instagram, a social media platform. A friend once bought a bag from a seller whom she felt like supporting. The bag was lovely but she said she won’t tag the seller when she uses it. If you are familiar with the social media site, you will know getting your business tagged by a customer is the NUMBER ONE surest way to grow your customer base! Her reason for not tagging the seller? She sold a bag that had a malfunctioning strap and when she asked for it to be changed; the seller was rude and said the cost of the second delivery will be on her, the buyer! This is not rocket science: You sold a product that had a problem; you should bear the cost of delivery. Even if you don’t want to you can at least ask nicely if your customer will help..
This is just one example of the so many we got during interaction for this story. The entire Customer Service Outlook needs to be changed. Staff needs to be retrained and shuffled. Unless that staff would have absolutely no contact with a customer, that staff needs to KNOW what “The customer is always right” means. ALL STAFF need to undergo the training again, that is if companies and businesses even do such training.
The customers have a part to play as well. As a customer, be sure you read instructions on a product before you call to complain. These people have feelings as well so no matter how agitated you are, try not to lead with insults. Do your part even as you expect good service.
The dangers for bad customer service are numerous and have a trickle-down effect on the overall overview of the company. Word of mouth remains one of the best ways to sell, market or promote anything. So you need your customers to have only good things to say about you. If you work for a company or a small business in this capacity, even if there’s no training take it upon yourself to treat customers as king. Sometimes even when they are obviously wrong! Their insults will not affect your salary, be quiet and keep apologizing. People are not monsters, after their anger is done they will rationalize that you did your job. Even if they don’t, they won’t go tarnishing the name of the brand, especially when they were wrong.
Nigerian Customer Service needs a revamp. The days were customers are yelling with sellers should be long gone. This is something we can all change individually and we shouldn’t wait for a divine sign.
Please leave a comment below and let us know about a bad service you received. Please refrain from mentioning names if possible as the aim is not to tarnish images any further, thanks.
