PEOPLE REMEMBER HOW YOU TREATED THEM
Customer service is not a department.
It is the character of the business showing itself.
Treat people right and they return.
Treat them poorly and they tell others why they won’t.
CUSTOMER SERVICE WORKS
PEOPLE REMEMBER HOW YOU TREATED THEM
Customer service is no small thing.
It is not an add-on.
It is not a slogan.
It is not something you print on a sign and then ignore when the customer walks in.
Customer service is the living proof that your business understands people.
And people are the business.
If you are selling goods, services, products, counsel, repairs, food, real estate, books, or ideas, the order remains the same:
People first.
Then business.
THE CUSTOMER IS THE MARKET
Today, customer service is an integral and responsible part of any business plan.
Why?
Because word of mouth can reward you.
And word of mouth can poison you.
One satisfied customer may tell ten people.
One angry customer may tell everyone.
And today, with phones, reviews, posts, texts, screenshots, and online comments, “everyone” means a lot more than it used to.
A complaint mishandled is not merely a complaint.
It is advertising.
The wrong kind.
ANYONE WHO ARGUES WITH A CUSTOMER GETS KISSED
The Kiss of Death, that is.
Anyone arguing with a customer today is out of their mind.
I have always believed the customer may not always be right…
But they are never wrong.
Think about that before dismissing it.
The customer may have bad facts.
The customer may misunderstand.
The customer may exaggerate.
The customer may even be unreasonable.
But their experience is their experience.
And if you are wise, you will want to understand it before defending yourself against it.
The moment you argue, you stop serving.
The moment you stop serving, the customer starts leaving.
CUSTOMER SERVICE WAS NOT ALWAYS KING
Years ago, all you needed was a product that worked.
Medicine did not need a parade.
If it cured the cough, people bought it.
If the shoe fit, people wore it.
If the gas station had gas, people filled up.
Then came the next question:
How do we sell more?
That is when promotions arrived.
Movie theaters offered cutlery sets.
Gas stations gave away dishes and drinking glasses.
Green stamps and Blue Chip stamps turned shopping into a treasure hunt.
Stores created games, prizes, bonuses, and reasons for people to come back.
Some of it worked.
Some of it was fun.
Some of it was gimmick.
But eventually the real truth returned:
The best promotion is still how you treat people.
THE CUSTOMER IS KING
At some point businesses remembered something simple.
If you make the customer feel respected, heard, protected, and appreciated, the customer will do your advertising for you.
That is not theory.
That is human nature.
People talk about where they were treated well.
They also talk about where they were treated badly.
The Pearls Series says it plainly in another context:
“What we like, and the way we like to be treated, others like too.” It then names the virtues people hope to receive and must demonstrate: courtesy, respect, kindness, communication, patience, loyalty, honesty, commitment, professionalism, service, and truthfulness.
That is customer service.
That is also life.
THE HUMBLE BUSINESS OWNER
In Pearls for Girls, I shared about a very wealthy man who would race to answer the phone when it rang. When people insisted on speaking to the boss, he would say, “him speaking, how can I help you?” The lesson was simple: “The humility of being available when others are not, is attractive and never forgotten.”
That is the whole thing right there.
He was not too important to answer.
He was important because he answered.
He did not hide behind staff.
He did not outsource his concern.
He did not let the machine become the face of the business.
He picked up the phone.
He listened.
He solved problems.
That is leadership.
That is customer service.
WHEN SALES ARE EASY, SERVICE GETS LAZY
When business is booming, some companies forget manners.
They put you on hold.
They make machines answer.
They pass you from person to person.
They give excuses.
They hide behind policy.
They act as if they are doing you a favor by taking your money.
That works only while people feel they have no choice.
But markets change.
Money tightens.
Competition shows up.
Then guess who comes back in vogue?
Customer service.
GUESS WHO IS BACK?
The customer.
The human being.
The person who wants to be thanked.
The person who wants the product to work.
The person who wants the promise kept.
The person who wants a professional response when something goes wrong.
I do not want to argue with a machine.
I do not want fake apologies.
I do not want to be ignored.
I want a reasonable, fair, professional exchange.
Give me that, and I may return.
Give me more than that, and I may bring others.
THE PEARLS CONNECTION
This post belongs directly to the Pearls pillars of LIFE, INTIMACY, and PURPOSE.
LIFE, because business is part of daily living.
INTIMACY, because good service means knowing people beyond the transaction.
PURPOSE, because a business without service has lost its reason for existing.
In Epilogue of Ebenezer Scrooge, one family business was remembered for “exceptional customer service,” and Tiny Tim grew into a man who “loved life and everything in it” and became “a blessing to anyone who knew him.”
That is the Pearls business model.
Make people better for having dealt with you.
Let the transaction end, but let the good feeling remain.
PearlsForTheSoul.com exists for this same reason.
The books support the posts.
The posts support the books.
And all of it points back to the reader, the customer, the seeker, the human being.
You found me…
Now let’s find you.
WHAT THEN?
Answer the phone.
Return the call.
Fix the mistake.
Honor the promise.
Thank the customer.
Listen before defending.
Serve before selling.
Be humble enough to help.
Because customer service works.
Not because it is clever.
Because it is right.
And doing right by people still remains the best business plan ever written.
— Richie
Pearls for the Soul
when you feed the soul, you feed everything.
https://pearlsforthesoul.com
Been expecting you