My philosophy about customer service is do try and do more than people expect you to do. Then they can never feel short changed. At the reference desk (where I work), it is very important to acknowledge patrons immediately when they come up to the desk. Even if you are working on a hard question with the patron in front of you, take a second to ask the new arrival if there is something you can do for them quickly.This really applies to any kind of customer service.
When I go to a restaurant, I am always impressed when the server almost immediately comes by the table even just to say they will be back in a few minutes. No body wants to be wondering if any staff has even noticed you.I was standing in line at the customer service desk at Kroger one day. There was someone in front of me. I believe there were several employees behind the desk. No one acklowledge my presence. The employees were not talking to the person in front of me. I am not sure what they were doing. I felt invisible. I wondered how long I would have to wait before the invisibility spell wore off. I got kind of ticked.
Eventually, I said something. I am not sure what I said, but I am sure I said it with irritation. It turns out there was a good reason they hadn't offered to wait on me, but nobody had told me.I am also really big on telling patrons how long something is going to take.
If I am printing out a PDF, I will tell the patron it is going to be a few minutes. I am sure they would rather know how long something will take instead of wondering why it is taking so long. I also tend to exaggerate how long something will take. If it is going to take 4 minutes for the copy machine to warm up, I tell the patron it is going to take 5. That way they are pleasantly surprised when it doesn't take as long as they think it will. More on this next time
Alan
What’s New
16 years ago
