Comments on: Customer Service Mindset

By: Hugh

Hugh — Sat, 23 May 2009 00:28:51 +0000

I agree with the value of being the trusted value.

I find it interesting when I sometimes see well intentioned salesmen focus their efforts on building that relationship at the expense of being true to the product they are selling.

Thanks for providing the information.

By: Andrew Bryant

Andrew Bryant — Sat, 23 May 2009 00:09:59 +0000

Then to answer the theoretical question from my perception:

The best position to be in for customer service or sales is to be a ‘trusted advisor’ as this allows you to understand the client’s need and provide them with a solution to fit.

Trust is earned and to tell a lie, despite the moral implications, does not benefit the sales person’s cause.

By: Hugh

Hugh — Fri, 22 May 2009 23:50:12 +0000

My use of the word “lie” was a poor choice. I apologize. I was actually moving on past the hardware example to a more theoretical question.

By: Andrew Bryant

Andrew Bryant — Fri, 22 May 2009 23:21:32 +0000

In the hardware example, my father didn’t lie to the customer but confirmed his perception.

Customer service and sales are about delivering perceived value. If the customer had come to the store and wanted to buy knowledge about the agreed ‘correct’ term for the item my father would have been at fault and I would have been right – but the customer didn’t, they came to purchase an item with a name they perceived as correct.

Trust this answers your question.

By: Hugh

Hugh — Fri, 22 May 2009 12:01:37 +0000

I wanted to comment on your hardware example. It does make a good point that customers often value how well they are treated more than the product. However, the example presents an interesting dilemma. To what extent is it okay to lie to your customer?

By: Marta

Marta — Fri, 22 May 2009 01:53:00 +0000

Worst customer service I experience is consistently from Singapore Airlines. That’s right, the top ranked airline in the world. There are almost too many stories to share. One remarkable one was when I was flying the new A380 Business Class on an overnight to Delhi. While boarding, they stopped and asked if I would mind changing my seat so that a couple could sit together. I said, sure. Sat alone, my first time on the A380, within 15 minutes a stewardess came by to take my “post take off drink order,” and addressed me as “Mr. Johnson.” (Um, I tend to think I still look somewhat like a woman and it should have been clear to her that I was not a Mister, for starters.) I looked at her. She asked me what I was doing on the plane. I told her that my seat had been changed by SA staff while I was boarding. It went on all night – with various members of the crew interrupting my meal (which was not the Indian vegetarian meal I have in my PPS profile), movie (which was broken – on a brand new plane), work and sleep (they literally shook me until I woke up just for this) to ask me who I was and what I was doing there. Apart from the annoyance, I felt completely unsafe with this crew.