Being constantly on the receipt of both good and not so good customer service, I'm reminded of the importance of how good customer service can have an affect on our mental wellness and therefore the importance of Coaching in Customer Service.

Often people working in organisations don't understand that 'towing the party line' often has a detrimental effect on how the customer feels and that it actually means not providing what a customer expects.  From an organisational point of view it's very important that Leaders and Managers ensure that the product or service is fully understood by the workforce and that there is a clear understanding of the likely needs of the customer.

That being said organisations need to monitor their performance.  Here's an example of bad customer service.  I'm convinced that this kind of interaction can compound with other things happening in a person's life and easily lead to damaging a person's self-esteem or mental wellness.

A coachee of mine was going on holiday and therefore booking their holiday insurance online.  In the field which required her date of birth, she made an error that picked up her date incorrectly (one of those systems that reverses the dates and months).  She did her best to change the date, but the system locked it and she couldn't change it.  Before she bought the insurance cover she rang customer service at the company who said, 'don't worry, please complete the application and when you get your policy through by email ring me back and I will change your date of birth here from this end'.  My coachee asked if there would be any likely changes and she was reassured that there wouldn't be.  So, she completed the transaction and called customer service again and was informed that this change would cost her £4.51 because she was not completing online and any 'call centre' action cost £4.51.  Respectfully my coachee explained the previous conversation reasurring her of 'no changes'.  The reply was 'yes but you didn't ask about changes to the amount to pay'.

This was eventually sorted out with the help of a supervisor in the company.  However the time taken to resolve this and the lack of trust brought about by the interaction and the 'little white lie' told by the customer services person brought frustration to my coachee.  She is a woman with little time, she is a principled woman who does what she says and this 'harmless' yet 'frustrating' episode had an emotional effect because it cut to her core values.  This kind of example of bad customer service can begin to erode how a person sees the world.

How does coaching in customer service help?  Well aside from the obvious which involved spending a couple of minutes coaching her through her frustration, coaching involves seeing things from another person's point of view and this is so very important for organisations who will 'win' customers because they have the ability to step into the customers shoes.   Good leaders and managers understand the importance of building trust, communicating clearly and entering into the world of the customer.  So, let's do more of it and get customer care right.  Let's apply coaching in customer care and win more customers.  We here at Simply Changing, work with leaders and managers and share with them really simple and yet powerfully effective tools that make all the difference.

Join us on our journey and let us know of great customer service and what make it great!! Let's make the nation healthy for everyone!

See you soon

Louise x

louise@simplychanging.co.uk