Bring the Enthusiasm and We’ll Teach You the Rest of What You Need

I just read an advertisement for employment from HSBC in the UK. They placed help wanted advertisement for a customer service representative. Part of the ad read:

“What’s most important is your passion for delivering top-notch customer service. Bring us enthusiasm, and we’ll provide you with all the additional training and mentoring you might need.”

There it is - the old theory that we can hire the attitude and train the skill. HSBC gets it. They are hiring people to be on the front line, taking phone calls from customers. The employee has to have the attitude or no matter how knowledgeable he/she is, the customer is not going to have a high-end pleasant experience.

Most customers want what they ask for and need, and they also want the experience to be positive. The best companies know it takes both sides to create an excellent experience that can eventually lead to loyalty.

Shep Hyken, CSP is a professional speaker and author who works with companies who want to develop loyal relationships with their customers and employees. For more information on Shep's speaking programs, books, tapes and learning programs please contact (314) 692-2200. Email: shep@hyken.com – Web: www.hyken.com – Click here for information on The Customer Focus™ customer service training programs (www.TheCustomerFocus.com).

Customer Inertia Is Not Customer Loyalty

Does your customer really want to do business with you?

An audience member came up to me after one of my speaking programs and made a very smart comment. She said, “Don’t confuse customer inertia with customer loyalty.”

I wasn’t sure what she meant by customer inertia. She explained that in her industry it is sometimes easier for customers to put up with a mediocre vendor rather than go to the difficulty of switching to another. Customers just tend to put up with poor service and results, as long as it doesn’t get too bad. They just keep “rolling” along. That’s the inertia she was talking about.

Yet in most businesses it is easy to switch to a new vendor/supplier. The customer just disappears. No complaints. Just one day someone notices (or not) that a customer isn’t doing business with them anymore. The customer may have left for a number of reasons from competitive issues, such as pricing, to customer service issues, such as indifference.

You don’t want customers to stay with you just because it is easier. You want them to stay because they want to. Because you are that good!

Shep Hyken, CSP is a professional speaker and author who works with companies who want to develop loyal relationships with their customers and employees. For more information on Shep's speaking programs, books, tapes and learning programs please contact (314) 692-2200. Email: shep@hyken.com – Web: www.hyken.com – Click here for information on The Customer Focus™ customer service training programs (www.TheCustomerFocus.com).