What customer service really means

Recently the Wall Street Journal published a review of Bill Price and David Jaffe's new book, "The Best Service is No Service." (Link here to book on Amazon.com.) In short, the book argues that most conventional thinking on how to run customer service departments falls short. It mentions some of the flawed metrics and incentives used by companies. (One of the best, and most commonly heard, example is the one about call center employees hurrying up calls or hanging up on customers because the customer service rep is about to run over the recommended time for an average call.)

I am no expert on customer service metrics and incentives but my sense has always been that the companies that truly excel are ones that really believe it's important. Weber Grills and JetBlue are two that come to mind. In both cases I've had extraordinary experiences that were based on several simple premises:

• The company representative cared or at least they seemed to care.



• They took the time needed to solve the problem.



• They followed up.

None of these are hard to do but if you've set up a system that measures you against the clock it's bound to fail. Of if you have a process in place that is merely that, a process, then the company is bound to fail in understanding the customer's needs. I've seen some of the work done behind call centers and it is incredibly fascinating and scary. There's a lot of smart minds involved in setting up call centers and decision trees and what not. But I contend that it's pointless until there's a desire to help the customer, not get rid of him. (I've always believed the main purpose of most call centers is to get rid of bothersome customers, not help them.)

In addition, I think in companies with bad customer service there's a huge disconnect between what the executives think and what the customers experience. Do all the focus groups and testing you want. Until the executives use the company's product or service, nothing will change.