Friday, March 16, 2007
Two sides to a customer service story
Recently someone sent me this story, which he considered using in a classroom setting for an MBA program: "Suzanne" grew tired of retirement. She started part-time work at a greeting card Shop. One day a customer asked for something that was not in stock. The new part-time employee took the customer’s name and phone number and promised to let her know when the item became available. A few days later the item arrived. Suzanne phoned to let the customer know she could stop by the store and purchase the item. The phone call was made from the employee’s home because she had inadvertently taken the note with the customer’s name and phone number home in her jacket pocket. The next day the customer came to the store and not only purchased the item, but also purchased other items for a total of over $100. Upon learning about the employee’s actions, the store owner threatened to fire her if she ever again phoned a customer from her home. She stated, “This is company policy and you should have known it.” So what's the moral of the story? Is the store owner short-sighted and stupid? Sure, the owner appears stupid because she seems to emphasize policy over profits. But she's also considering liability. She's thinking, "OK, this time the employee called from home on a business call. What if Suzanne decides to start a home business? Will she take home a list of names and numbers? "And I assure my customers I respect their privacy. If my employees take numbers home, what kind of assurance can I give them? What if Suzanne's teenage son finds a list and decides to prank-call everybody? Suzanne won't be liable. I will." Not likely. But unfortunately many of us have learned to think this way. And even more unfortunately, I believe it's necessary. |
Labels: business owners, complaints, customer service, entrepreneurship
# posted by Cathy Goodwin @ 10:58 AM 
