Customer Service Secret

Do you play card games?

Typically a good card player has a strategy or approach to playing the game. After all, the purpose of the game is to come out a winner. The card player realizes that you can shape the odds of winning by playing the game wisely.

In Customer Service you too want to play to win!

If you are a winner you too want to play the trump card. A trump card is a surprise play that "trumps" or beats the other cards played. In business the trump card is "Customer Service."

Wise business leaders realize that all their investments in equipment, in partnerships, in distribution channels; all can fall apart when your employee fails to pay attention to the customer or worse, does not provide service.

Basically business is the consistent building of trust. Some think that trust is reliability. Reliability is different from trust. When you are reliable you can disappoint and perhaps your customer will not leave. But if your customer loses trust you lose the account. In my industry my sales staff love to appear when the potential customer is having a "bad day" receiving service from the competition. It is the moment when the customer is most likely to change providers.

Don't forget that you are the agent of your employer and your trump card is "Service"!

Government workers and customer service

Are there differences between the public and government job sectors? Yes, there is a big difference. On the tongue of government workers we constantly hear that working for the government sector is 'public service'. We hear that they are making a sacrifice. We hear that they could make more money in the 'private sector'. If indeed they are 'servants' would you not expect that customer service would be bright and visible at governmental entities?

You would think that a visit to a governmental service would be a happy customer focused event. In most cases your visit to the county or to your local city office involves waiting and when you do get to the desk the clerk is ready to give you an instruction about what you need to access their service. I am reminded of the Wizard of the Emerald City instructing 'Judy Garland' to go get the broom stick of the wicked witch in order to access governmental service.

The tax payer as the provider of the taxes that pay the wages of government servants is a forgotten person. Instead of being treated with appreciation and the source of gainful employment you are a number in a line.

It is interesting to note the above average membership of government employees in unions. It turns out that the union collects the dues and then bankrolls the campaign coffers of the politicians. It appears to be a vicious circle that encourages politicians to favor union causes, such as generous pension programs. In Illinois the bloated budgets of the state fails to meet the pension obligations and the unions call out for an increase in taxes. Again the tax payer is expected to pay the tab.

It appears that there is no respect for the tax payer as a customer and no respect for the tax payer as the source of livelihood for government workers.