We readily accept advances in technology, auto manufacturing
and the production of widgets from countries who were once considered no threat
to the financial stability of the economy of the U.S.. In a global market
place, we must recognize several critical and highly relevant factors as we
expose our customers and employees to a workforce that may not comply with the
standards of performance and level of excellence we experienced in the past.
As North America
transitioned from the industrial age to the knowledge age, the jobs our parents
and grandparents held in the past have been replaced by technology and
innovation. For example, the emergence of online companies such as Legal Zoom
who provide a vast array of easy to use legal documents for people who
previously were unable to afford the services of an attorney, have changed the
landscape of the legal community.
In organizations large and small, the first client-facing
presence – the receptionist has been replaced by an auto-attendant, and
pressing “0” only leads to a generic voicemail. One cannot help but ask, what
happened to all the live people – the workers? The answer; in many cases their
jobs have been outsourced!
When I think of outstanding customer service, GEICO is an
example of a company that is high on my list. Branding a company with a little
green gecko was brilliant. In my experience over the past 5 years, the model of
business at GEICO Insurance has been to ensure total customer satisfaction. I
call it the Happiness Factor. When training their employees, they kept the
importance of treating employees, prospects and customers with respect and
dignity in mind and it shows.
The lack of excellence in customer service in North America
is two-fold. Companies placed a higher value on profits and made that more
important than the resource for those profits. Standards were lowered to
generate greater profits. In many cases, the poor customer service is what the
client will remember and that is not the direction that companies in the U.S.
should be heading.
Another example is
Dell Computer Corporation, who chose to outsource its customer service and
technical support to countries who were unable to understand the needs of their
customers, along with an inability to
effectively communicate in English. Having reaped sour grapes as a result of
this decision, Dell quickly realized that putting profits over their clients
and prospects had created a negative effect on a once aspiring and highly
successful company.
The time for change in how the business community values and
embraces its customers is about to emerge. History has become a wonderful
teacher, and unfortunately as intelligent as we are, we often fail to learn the lessons of our
past.
The next revolution is not only imminent, in some cases it’s
already happening. When the founders of America revolted from the aristocratic
oppression of King George III, the founding era was a unique moment that was
both “post-aristocratic” and “pre-democratic. Regardless of the conditions
which precipitated the revolution, and not unlike the conditions in America
today, a radical change was birthed as a result of social unrest.
Changing our circumstances requires that we change how we
think, thereby alternating our actions. The single vital ingredient to long
term sustainable growth and prosperity is deeply rooted in our values and vision. When we value
our customer enough to give excellent customer service consistently, we all
have a good experience.
