Despite the fact that I’m a computer geek, I have an anomalous streak of business/marketing/management interest that seems to be reviving of late. So, I’m going to allow this streak to vent by starting to write up a regulaer "customer service recommendation" — I don’t know how many there’s going to be, but I don’t think I’ll run out for awhile.
Why do I think I’m qualified to do this? I actually think that almost anyone who’s willing to give the matter a little thought is qualified to do it; if you live in modern society (and if you’re reading this on the internet, you probably are), you are a customer — you know how you like to be treated and how you don’t, what you consider good service and what you don’t. We don’t necessarily spend as much time considering who our customers are, and how our customer service rates — but there’s no reason we couldn’t.
So here’s my Customer Service #1: Never attempt to address a problem by saying, "It’s not my fault."…
Now, it may not be your fault, and I’m definitely not suggesting that you try to actively take the blame or responsibility for everything. But don’t let your first response to the customer be: It’s not my fault.
Why? Number one, the customer really doesn’t care whose fault it is, they just want something fixed. By you telling them that it isn’t your fault, you aren’t improving their perception of you, you’re only annoying them. Who cares whose fault it is — how can it (whatever "it" is) be fixed?
Number two, replying immediately that "it isn’t my fault" throws the ball back at the customer; they’ll feel intuitively that you are telling them they were wrong to complain about this to you. They might be, but then wouldn’t it be better to say, instead, "I know who can fix that for you!" That’s way better.
Again, I’m not saying you should (or even could) take the blame for everything — that’s not right. Nor am I saying you should or could try to do way more work than you can handle in an attempt to solve everyone’s problem — but let’s at least direct people, happily, to whoever can solve the problem.
I know that’s the sort of customer service I like.
