Rebranding Your Customer Service Department by Steve Parrish

Article originally appeared on Forbes.com on February 23, 2015.

Click here to read original article.

Do you ever feel like the concept of “customer service” needs a makeover? Sometimes when I hear this term bandied about I think of my local bank teller who always asks me in a robo-voice, “How’s your day going so far?” She then invariably mispronounces my name (the computer has her convinced my name is Stefan).

In all fairness, she handles my requests fine, but I just have this feeling someone has forced her to read a script instead of actually interacting with customers.

Perhaps a way to reenergize the customer service experience is to rebrand the department that handles this essential function. Here are some suggestions that may awaken and motivate service providers and their trainers.

The just-say-no department

OK, this is a tongue-in-cheek idea, but I think it’s a key tenet of customer service to be able to deliver a “no” to a customer.

Back when I taught employees how to work with life insurance agents, I told them I had a cardinal rule. Never say “maybe.” Agents love to hear “yes,” but can also handle a “no.” They are used to rejection, and though they may ask two or three times before giving up, they truly can accept a clear “no.”

A “maybe”, however, costs them time and takes money out of their wallet. I told these service providers that requests are either doable, not doable or something that can be checked out and responded to within a specified time frame. Which leads to my next idea.

The we’re-good-for-the-date-we-give-you department

In a recent sizeable transaction with my bank, I was upset with the number of days they planned to put a hold on a check I deposited. I protested, and they relented, assuring me they would release the funds several days earlier.

They didn’t.

After 24 years with the same bank, I moved my money to a competitor.

Was it their hold-on-deposit policy that caused the change? No. I could live with that decision. It was the fact that they gave me a date in order to mollify me and then failed to make that date. Customer service is best when it makes a promise and sticks with it. And hey, if they get it done even sooner, it’s a bonus!

The technology-that-serves-the-customer department

I hear people complain about how customer service has been relegated to computers, and I’m mystified with their frustration. I believe technology has radically improved the consumer experience. It’s simply a matter of focus.

Companies should concentrate on using technology to help the customer and let the cost savings be a byproduct. Two positive examples come to mind. Amazon is known for its world-class, computer-based service. I actually look forward to interacting with them because I can easily find what I’m looking for and get an answer … all on my schedule.

I’ve done hundreds of transactions with them – actually – with their computers. On the one occasion when I really needed the help of a human, their customer service area answered my call and handled my question within seconds.

In other cases, the experience starts with a computer but is bounced to a human and then back to a computer again to wrap up.

I recently needed help from an insurance company with a billing change. When I called their customer service department, the call tree quickly got me to the person who could help. She captured the needed information, flooded a form with the required data, and emailed it to me within seconds. My needs were met, and I suspect it was cost-effective for them.

The we-make-it-right department

A TV ad for a rental company has a service rep stating, “But if there is ever a problem, we all have the power to make it right. I don’t have to find a manager. I don’t have to make a phone call.”

This truly embodies the ideal customer service experience. It’s not enough to just rebrand customer service. It’s even more important to empower customer service. Give representatives clear parameters of what they can do, and then let them do their job – serving the customer.

During the credits of the long-running NPR comedy call-in show “Car Talk,” they include a litany of play-on-words names for their staff. Their customer service representative? Haywood J. Bussoff. Get it? We associate a business and its brand with the customer service it provides. So, rather than teach customer service representatives cute greetings, let’s teach these key employees to understand just how far they can go to meet customer needs, leverage the technology provided them and serve as the proud, public faces of the company.