Like It Or Not, You Work in Customer Service!

Early in my career, I had the opportunity to work for Vanguard Investments, the mutual fund company located in Valley Forge, PA. Outside of retail, it was my second office job. Like many people, I started in the ranks of customer service, supporting customers with investment decisions. Vanguard is a unique company, owned by the funds (or the clients invested in the funds). It is the only mutual fund company that I am aware of with such a structure. Due to this ownership structure they have a unique culture in which everyone, including the CEO, serve in the customer service department, helping Customers on the phone. They call this service Swiss Army.

I did not realize until after I left the company how unique it was for every employee to serve customers directly. In other companies I have worked for, customer service was looked down upon. Often thought of as a cost center, or low skilled employees. Not at Vanguard, where most of their employees started on the phones supporting customers. It helps provide leaders with unique insights as they grow in their career.

I remember recommending customer service people at my next job for marketing roles only to hear that their experience would not fit. Wow, understanding customers does not fit into marketing? Often I hear from many companies that people in other business units do not want to even walk through their call centers either because the employees of that call center or the customers themselves are complaining. If you have an issue with the people serving your customers, who is to blame for that? In my view, it would be the company not the individuals. If you do not like complaining customers, why not listen to them and change what they are complaining about? It is all of our responsibilities to get the customer experience right, but if you want to accomplish this, get rid of the attitude people have with your customers or your customer service departments!

The fact is the world around us is changing. Customer experience is becoming paramount for most brands. We are seeing a renewed interest in building the right experience through all communications channels, but doing that does not start with a mission or message, it starts with the culture throughout your business.

The key to also understanding the shifting world, information is now everywhere. We have access to all kinds of information, including how to contact virtually anyone within a company (or everyone if we decide an email carpet bomb is necessary, read more about this on the Consumerist). Over the past month I have had trouble with a home appliance. Like many people I first tried to Google the problem, but I had little luck. My next step was email, which is my preferred method of contact. Luckily the company provided an email address. Now the product itself I would describe as a premium product, where one would expect premium service (although hoping never to need it). Reviews online about the product are strong, but there is negative comments about the service if there is a problem. I am sure reading this did not help my perspective for the company. I sent the email and waited two days for a responds. I did not even receive an acknowledgement in that time. So I simply Googled the company to determine the format of their email address and sent an email to two leaders based in the US. I exchanged emails with an executive who was obviously dedicated to creating the right experience for their customers. He assured me it would get resolved quickly. Today, every level of your organization is part of your customer service team, whether they interact with Customers via surprise email, social media, or at that cocktail party. Hopefully every member of your team has the right attitude toward your customers.

Photo: EvansDist / Flickr