I have put a bar chart below to show the different responses. [pick] As you can see from the graph, we did not have many responses. Of those who did respond many are yet to collect their equipment as agreed. As you can see from the picture below, we managed to free up a few spaces in the storage rack. We have now given our customers two weeks to respond Just in case some people are on holiday or away on business, however, as the majority of our customers did not respond I sent out a further email reiterating our requirement for them to collect their equipment.
This time I will follow the email up with a courtesy phone call this way I know for sure that the customer has received the message, or, likewise I will know if I indeed have the correct contact details for the customer in question. One of the responses I received was from one our notoriously hard to deal with customer Just as I was about to finish work at 1700. I was already running late for a personal appointment but knew that I had to deal with this customer the best that I could.
The customer in question is quite a domineering person with a strong personality. He is the sort of person that wants to get as much as he can and is always pushing for more. Our policy is that the customer brings his item of equipment to us for servicing and the customer collects. I asked him several questions to ascertain what the problem was. I used both open and closed questions like; is there a problem with collecting your helmet due to lack of time?
And how can I help you to make this situation easier for you? These are all standard questions that are laid out for us to ensure that we cover all possible issues. In the end it transpired that the customer is quite a high ranking officer and was not happy that someone of my rank was asking him to collect his equipment; his response on the phone was “if you are that busy and tight for space why don’t you deliver the equipment to me rather than wasting time sending emails”.
I had to explain to the customer that the email was sent to multiple customers and that no insult was meant. I also explained to him that our company policy was that the customer delivers and collects, this was due to the fact that we have to balance customer satisfaction and productivity rates to give everyone the best service possible. Throughout this conversation I was mindful that I was getting later and later for my personal appointment but could not let this effect the service I was giving.
This customer has had problems with dealing with my department on a previous occasion as there was some miscommunication with a revises equipment issue however once I had explained everything to the customer his was a little more understanding about the situation and agreed to collect his helmet at the next opportunity. The next day some of my colleagues asked me why I went to the trouble of making myself late for my appointment.
I used this opportunity to discus with them the benefits of good customer service and even the most hard to deal with customers are entitled to the best service possible. I also discussed with them the benefits of team work in customer service and how if we all work together towards a common goal hen not only will we work better for ourselves but it will also give the customer a far more friendly and all round better service.
One way I have improved this is by having regular customer service meetings where we can all get together and discuss any issues. We also use this time to give each other feedback on the customer feedback forms, this helps us improve our service as a team. Any improvements I do need to make have to be authorized by my line manager, the process for this is to decide with colleagues what it is that we need to do. Once we have done that we then come up with the solution, gathering any evidence / isolation as we go.
Before I can even go to my line manager I have to ensure that my idea isn’t breaking any regulations / Legislation such as the working time regulations 1998, the data protection act or the health and safety at work act 1974 Having done line manager he will email me with the approval and I can go ahead and implement the change. Another customer who is extremely helpful responded almost immediately by email, although unsure of the item of equipment. I explained to her that it was a flying helmet that had been found out of date upon checking the database.
Once the customer knew what it was she promptly responded and confirmed that she would collect the item. It was in fact collected by herself that very same day. The different options I have for contacting our customers are: Face to face, telephone call, post and email. The option I am most likely not to use is post as it is the slowest and most unreliable option. Email is a very good option as not only do you have the option of conformation of delivery and read by the customer but also it provides you with a written dubitable trail, however, the customer still has the option of not responding.
Telephone call and face to face a probably the best option when it comes to getting a quick, confirmed response, however the draw backs are the if the person isn’t in their place of work it can become very time consuming returning or calling back time after time until you reach them. As a whole this issue is getting sorted relatively quickly, I have discussed all of the issues I have been faced with and the solutions both with my colleagues and line management to ensure that if this issue ever happens again then we know the best course of action to take. I will also be implementing this as a work procedure.
