Customer Service; I’ll trade you my Cat’s Eye for your Tiger.
I remember when I was a kid, I used to love playing with marbles. Looking at each design, each was unique. Many kids would trade marbles, in fact today, it’s a collector’s market for those rare early century glass toys. And today, when you trade a marble for another one, you always wanted a ‘fair’ trade. If not, then the trade was off and you essentially took your marbles and left.
In modern business, I often catch myself reflecting on what customer service is about. Isn’t it just like trading marbles, I have this and you have that. Now here’s where the tricky part comes in. Finding Value. And how do we find value if we don’t feel good about the trade. In our industry, we work in a field that is 100% all about people. Our clients invest in us so we can in turn invest our skills, talent, and passion into their memories.
Some would say that customer service is, being polite, returning emails, answering the phone on the third ring and numerous other index card instructions. And those things are important. But what make my marble worth your marble is what can’t be written on an index card; customer ‘service’. Essentially, we serve customers. The key to success is in the name itself. I’m often annoyed working with people who don’t have the same passion for our customers as we do. It’s like eating dry toast.
