In search of the fine art of good customer service today
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By Ron Ostroff

Is customer service dead?

No, it's merely sleeping.

With so many choices for just about everything and so many businesses offering the same product or service, how a customer is treated becomes the deciding factor. Treat me well and I'll come back. Treat me with contempt and not only will I never return, but I'll also

tell my friends about my rotten experience. Exceed expectations or do something wonderful, and I'll keep on talking about your business for months.

Customer service is not just something for managers and not just something for special occasions. Good customer is the responsibility of every employee all the time.

Every time an employee interacts with a customer, there's an opportunity to make an impression. When I go into a big box home improvement store, I'm usually baffled.

I'm far from Mr. Fix It. But sometimes I do minor things around my house. So I ask questions.

"Where can I find a surge protector with a very long cord?"

"Over there," the employee said, pointing to some far off region of the

store.

Wrong answer.

The right answer: "Follow me. I'll show you."

Once in a supermarket, in the middle of a rainstorm, more like a monsoon, I was searching for a replacement for my umbrella, which had blown inside out once too many times. Aisle after aisle, I found no umbrellas--and no employees. There were busy cashiers, but no one else. Finally, I found a young woman who was taking inventory. She could have easily said she was busy. She didn't. She stopped. After 15 minutes of walking the store, we found collapsible umbrellas.

I asked her to get her manager on the phone. I told him what an invaluable employee he had. And I meant it.

At a recent meal at a barbecue restaurant, the food was so bad it was memorable--for all the wrong reasons. A friend and I share barbecued beef, pulled chicken, pecan rice, and some very sad looking vegetables. By the time we'd given up on trying to eat our meal, there was a small mountain of fat by what remained of the beef. It is what we had cut off the beef we ate. The pulled chicken was a collection of dried out strips topped with some barbecue sauce rather than soaked in it. The rice turned into a game

of find-the-pecans. We couldn't find any, not even a sliver. When the waitress asked how the meal was, we told her. She was concerned and got the assistant manager on duty. She asked about our meal and we told her in detail.

"I'm not looking to avoid paying for the meal. Fair is fair. We ate most of it. But we thought you'd want to know how bad this food is."

She listened carefully, looking glum. "Thanks for taking the time to tell me. And you're right. It's not up to our standards. But it is a lot better than when I got here eight weeks

ago," she said.

To thank us for our efforts, she presented us with a slice of special chocolate, chocolate fudge, and more chocolate cake. The thought was great. The cake was dry and tasteless. But she tried.

The customer isn't always right. Sometimes the customer is an arrogant jerk. But, please, just listen to us.

Where does bad customer service come from? Arrogance. People who are sure they know it all. Lack of training, lack of concern for customers and a complete lack of interest in their job. Where does good customer service come from? Company executives who lead by example and put into place procedures that treat customers like guests. And letting employees know how vital it is to treat customers well. And having managers who hire people who want to do the job and do it well.

Within 24 hours, I saw vivid examples of both.

At the end of a long ride home, I stopped at a convenience store for a half-gallon of non-fat milk. On the shelf it was marked $2.19. I noticed the price had gone up a few cents. It was still cheap and probably fresher than anything else. So I took it to the counter where the clerk swiped the bar code. It registered $2.29.

"That price is wrong," I told the clerk.

"That's the price in the computer," he said.

"But on the shelf, it's $2.19."

Another employee walked with me to the shelf.

"See, it's $2.19," I said.

"I see," the clerk said. "But the price is $2.29.

"No. For me, right now, in this container, it's $2.19. It's what you advertised on the shelf."

"Didn't you ever make a mistake?" the clerk asked.

"Yes, plenty of times. But I corrected it immediately and made sure I justly compensated anyone injured by my error."

"Well, it's $2.29, take it or leave it," said the clerk.

I took the milk and asked for the number for the convenience store's corporate customer service office. As I was walking out, the clerks were still at the counter. No effort had been made to correct the price. The next morning, I called the convenience store's corporate office and told them my story. A lady listened and took notes. She agreed with me.

It was wrong. She said a manager would call me. A few days later, a customer service manager called me, asked for details and apologized. He sent me some coupons for some things I'd never buy or eat. But it was a nice gesture.

The next few times I went back to the store, the incorrect price was still on the shelf. Eventually, it was taken down. The last time I looked, it had not been replaced. The night I talked to customer service, I was at a supermarket near my house.

I did some light shopping. Up at the register, some whole-wheat pasta rang up as $2.99. I noticed it after I paid. I told the cashier the price was marked $2.69. So I went to customer service. They walked with me to the shelf and checked the price. The woman quietly filled out a form. She reached in her cash register and handed me $2.99. At that supermarket, when it rings up wrong, the item is free.

"I'm sorry for your trouble," she said.

"Thank you."

When it comes to economics, I vote with my dollars. The next time I need milk, I think I'll drive by the convenience store and go to the supermarket. It's a little more expensive. But I'd rather deal with people who know the importance of good customer service and have a respect for me and the other people who shop there.

Ron Ostroff is the former editor and publisher of The Jewish State (the newspaper for central New Jersey's Jewish communities), The Jewish Journal (the newspaper for Ocean County's Jewish communities) and The Speaker (the newspaper for the Jewish communities of Somerset, Hunterdon and Warren counties).