What's Wrong with Customer Service

I was employed by a large corporate owned company a few years ago as a service tech. I had outstanding customer ratings I earned by doing my job well. I had good relations and great favor with my boss and his boss as well. My department was a proven asset to the business but ultimately it got dumped because it looked like a good idea on paper to the corporate pin heads in regards to boosting new sales and saving more money.

Now sales are down because their service is nonexistent locally and the local store as a whole is worse off too. Customer service got traded in for something that looked good on paper even though the people involved knew other wise.

Not all bad service comes from the service department. Some comes from the top down actions of the upper level executive types and bean counters.

The department that has the least profit may be the one that holds the customers to the company by being highest in satisfaction. When customers leave companies loose.

Consumer good are made to go to the dump as fast as possible.

The need for Business to pay interest on loans means they must turn over sales as fast as possible.

With the central banking system they can create the money for loans but the money to pay the interet has to be taken from the pool of existing money. Combine that with the new economic thoery of the Israeli Ecomomist who teaches people not to carry any extra inventory and only produce products you have orders for so you can have price control in your market. With all companys doing this it becomes a back door approach to price fixing and spending money on customer service is not in the program. That is why they hire lawyers ~

Enjoy this video-- your kids might like it too mine did.

Consumer good are made to go to the dump as fast as possible.

This is true to an extent. A company that makes a quality product and wants to retain it's image as a quality manufacturer, wants their product to last a long time; maybe not as long as ten years, but more than it's competition. You have all heard "it failed just after the warranty period was up". That takes real engineering to determine when a product will fail; Reverse engineering at it's finest.

tcmtech, how do you define customer service? There must be a limit. For instance I think it includes product support but not application support. Some customers expect the venders to do the application too when they buy the product.

I have no idea what dadw5boys comments are off topic since he is talking about consumer goods and not industrial goods.

Many business are using the same thoery's in producing items for business now when ordering low cost items from overseas suppliers. Little or no customer service with the cost so low just order a new one !

"Many business are using the same thoery's in producing items for business now when ordering low cost items from overseas suppliers." That may apply to small motors and I don't see why it shouldn't. You wire it up, power it and it goes. What more do you want? Do you need someone to wire it for you? That will cost extra. I don't see how one can justify repairing a small motor. If it is low cost there should be spares. The question is what is customer service? I mentioned product support and application support. A third critical area is delivery and rush orders. We handle rush orders but we tack on a small fee. I think my view is a little different because you are thinking smaller. We sell our product in to big mills. One time a saw mill in north Ontario had a fire or electrical strike and they lost one of our motion controllers. They needed it ASAP. That meant hand carrying it the Toronto air port where the sawmill had a plane waiting. They probably were waiting for other parts too. It cost almost as much to deliver the part as the part itself but that is nothing compared to what the down time costs. One of our employees got in about 8 hours of flying time and had a long day but the mill was grateful even though it cost big $$$ for the delivery. That is service but it still must be paid for.

I think you missed the MOSt critical portion of customer support. What to do when the product doesn't perform as EXPECTED. Not as designed but as expected. Customer support starts BEFORE the product is purchased, it is explaining what the right product is for a given application. Unfortunatley what happens is most sales are looking for what has the highest profit margin and most consumers have learned that the companies initial customer support (sales) is not really supporting the customer. the next step is when something does not work as expected what does the comapnay do? Is is a long telephone wait to hear someone say they cannot help you? is it a myriad of reasons why it is the consumers fault the object doesn't work as promised? Finally even if the manufacturer admits the mistake is theirs (a faulty piece of equipment) how long does it take to rectify the situation? So what haqs happened to customer support? Simple it is cheaper to risk losing one customer (but if most companies are doing it you really do not lose that customer) than to pay people to actually provide the support most customers need. After all most consumers are NOT experts on what they are buying they are trying to but what they need and hope the supplier is the expert to help them get the right object. TAHT is REAL customer support and if done properly eliminates most of the other problems.

To me support is what ever they will willingly and justifiably pay for.

If I sell a machine to a customer and they do not know how to operate it or use it properly then customer training is part of product support.

If they change the application of a machine being able to help them adapt it to the new application or help find a different machine to do the job is also customer support.

If they continually miss use and abuse a machine and will not change their ways of doing things then just continually fixing it and or replacing on a regular basis is customer support as well.

Customer support is what you as a business put into it. If you don't give customer support for your products you are limiting why and how much they will depend on you.

Buy my product and piss off until you need another one does not bring in repeat customers. I know because I have seen and worked with those types of businesses. They think its a good way because the profit is high and the output to get it is low. But in reality supporting their customers would bring in far more profit with only a little increase in company costs. If someone else starts a businees to fix your stuff then your loosing money because they are not bringing your products back to you for service.

There are many products that are by design and application throw away devices that do not need customer support to any real degree. Low cost mass produced items are in this category. Items that equate to fair percentages of the customers financial status are items that need fair support behind them.

If I scratch a CD I just toss it and burn a new one. If I get a crack in my vehicles windshield I will not go out and buy another vehicle but I will go and find a repair shop to get it fixed.

Thinking that if you stop providing all service and support to your customers will get them to buy a new vehicle from you every time their windshield gets a crack or they get a flat tire is going to bring your sales down fast! But then it will open up markets to others that will pick up your customers just because for them getting a little money for fixing your products is better than not getting any at all. Plus it will keep them from buying a new one from you also!

This consumer expects good service on everything we buy. It doesn't matter if it is a cheap throw-away item or an expensive electronics gadget. I worked hard for my money and I'm not going to give it away on items that don't satisfy me. Most everything has a warranty. A warranty usually states "this product is warranted for a period of (90 days, 1 year, etc) from date of purchase against defects in manufacturing and material". If an item I buy fails within the warranty period, I will either seek to have it repaired or replaced or I will not deal with that company again and that depends on the level of service I receive. That is the only sure way the consumer has to deal with big corporations. As far as the consumer is concerned, he looks at the overall, broad picture. What is the reputation of that product? How does service respond to the customer? It is not the cost of the item in question. We do the same when shopping for groceries. If a piece of meat smells bad after bring it home, refrigerating it properly and not keeping it too long before cooking, back to the store it goes for either replacement or refund. Companies try to discourage consumers from returning goods. That's why warranties are always printed in the smallest lettering possible. I think the consumer should use a little common sense when dealing with warranties, but the warranty is there for one purpose and that is to protect the consumer.

"This consumer expects good service on everything we buy." What kind of customer service do you expect when you buy an encoder? What do you expect to happen when the encoder breaks because it wasn't rated to take the shock in your system?

I wpould expect BEFORE I buy it that the vendor asks me a few questions to help determine if this product will work with my applications/meet my need. THAT is good customer service. If I decide to buy it, against the advise of the expert (ie vendor) than I would expect nothing when it fails. If I buy it WITH the endorsement of the vendor and it fails I would expect either a replacement in kind, an offer to upgrade for the price difference to the proper equipment, or a full refund since it was their advise that caused me to buy it. In other words I expect a vendor to stand behind their product before and after the sale.

" What kind of customer service do you expect when you buy an encoder?"

I apologize. I went off track somewhat. I was addressing the question as an everyday consumer of goods (toasters, TV's, appliances, food, clothing, etc), when the question was originally intended to be for commercial customer service. (motion control)

Most customer service is non existent and non technical..it consists of some muppet saying 'Take the unit to an authorised service agent'.

I have a Dyson vacuum cleaner, the mains lead had broken internally (predictable with a retract mechanism), I had to get the wheels off, but they wouldn't even tell me how to do it depite my assurance that I was suitably qualified.

I eventually worked it out and responded telling them how to do it (You prize out the centre yellow 'button' and then lever the wheel off) adding 'Now it wouldn't have been difficult to tell me that, now would it?'

There often is NO service...it is just a miasma, a will-o-the-whisp, the impression of 'service', a triumph of presentation over content.
Hmmm is it Microsoft we're discussing?

Rant over...
Del

Our company now sells goods designed and built elswhere, these are not as well supported as the stuff designed and built in house.
Customers could phone in and talk to the guy who designed the equipment, that has been one of our great strengths...if an installer on site needs support, it's no good talking to someone who doesn't know the equipment or is unintelligible...time is money. Good support is vital if you are to get repeat business.
Often the real 'customer' is the installer, who may not be the purchaser or the end user...if you antagonise the installer, or the kit doesn't work, he will use another manufacturer.

My pet hate is 'technical sales' guys who talk the talk but can't actually walk the walk. All shiny shuit and sh*t.... They must lose more business than they bring in.
Come on, we've all met 'em....
Del

"I have a Dyson vacuum cleaner, the mains lead had broken internally (predictable with a retract mechanism)," I thought this blog was about motion control components. I see this at the top of the page. Home | Motion Control Components | What's Wrong with Customer Service. You guys are too vague and off topic talking about consumer products.

I myself will speak well of companies that serve me well.

From my experience companies that make good products, provide good service.

Everything breaks.

Some companies do actually make good products, but skimp right a lot on Customer Service.

Sharp is one that has soured me on buying even some of their best products, for their Customer Support is nil.

Microsoft is one that seems to not care at all how much money you spend on waiting times on the phone when you actually do need to speak with a human being.

So far my experiences with Macintosh have created in me a great regard for their operations.

P.S. The rule of thumb is that word of mouth will effect the decisions of 500 other people. Everything breaks, and if a company will not invest in Customer Relations and Product support, they will lose business in the long haul.

Of companies I have bought important electronics from, that I paid pretty good money for, Sharp has been the worst.

Customer Service is driven from the top. I recent year the folks at the top have been too busy working to stay in business. The focus on customer service has suffered.

In the 90s I worked for a company that was customer centric. Everyone in the company worked for customer service, no customers, no company. Customer service was a differentiator in building customer loyalty... then we were bought by a European company. The European company was focused on profits. The next 3 years we worked at maintaining our customer focus. We took pride in the service we offered and revelled in industry polls that showed our group was among the best in customer service in our industry. The European company had a branch on the east coast that was known for their poor customer service. We were closed down and east coast branch took over the show. Customers fled like rats on a sinking ship... business slowed to less than two thirds of what it had been.

The business climate is now in a survivor mode. Customer service is a "nice" not a necessity.

Nothing, if you can find it. Even less, if you can trust it.

Within the words themselves lies the primary problem (now as always) with poor customer service. Because renderers of poor service do not recognized it as such (only a good service renderer recognizes less that good service), they are oblivious to the fact that they are rendering poor service.

For this reason, poor service will always be with us. And, as customer and service provider become increasingly separated/disconnected/pick-your-phrase....the problem can only remain the same or get worse.

Another thing that compounds the problem? ...the ever-increasing concentration of business/industry....which is to say, the further one is from a having a vested interest in the success/profitability/competitiveness/etc of a product/service [think employee interests as opposed to businesses proprietor's or stakeholder's interests), the less tendency one has to regard "good service" as a necessary and/or essential part of work performance. Good service requires a personal investment of time and volition...something which (big company) "teams" are ill-equipped to provide.

5w 2h gets you the answer on the first W: Who, as in Who delivers the customer service. People do. These people are usually employees. Employees are usually motivated to get their wage, not over giving good service.

Entrepreneurs are motivated by their passion in what they do. They almost always give great service. ITS THEIR PASSION. How can we improve customer service??? Make our employees more entrepreneurial!

Our favorite kitty here is an excellent example of a person cat who by his entrepreneurial and professional motivation gives more than expected. HE ENJOYS WHAT he does.

Get rid of the drudgery. Show the meaning of the task, Give both Authority and responsibility, redesign the task so it has meaning, train and and reward accordingly and you will have great customer service. Because you will have turned mere wagearner into prideful professional.

anything else is just, well, I believe it was called Shuit and Sh*te by another poster...

milo

Dear Milo, Nice to see you too get cranky.

Hey.

Cranky? You saw a crank?

I Must be off my chocolate.

milo