by Dawn Hawkins

Created on: February 26, 2009   Last Updated: June 22, 2009

Customer service is the key to every business that relies on it's patrons for their survival. You can have the best products available on the market with the lowest prices and that won't mean a thing without great customer service. People love a great deal. In fact, on Black Friday, that day after Thanksgiving, they line up in front of the store so they can get in to get the best deals of the year. People have been trampled to death over televisions and Tickle Me Elmo.

Barring our attempt at getting the best price in town, we still want one thing. We want top rated customer service. If your business isn't willing to go the extra mile for your customers, you can kiss them goodbye. Customer service truly does make or break your business.

Here is a prime example of what can happen if you do not strive to give your patrons the care that they deserve:

Personal Calls While Attending To Your Customer

A lady and her mother walked into a store to buy a very expensive gift for a man that lost his son. This was the woman's stepson. The two women want to quickly enter the store, get the gift and have it wrapped. The woman who lost her stepson was very distraught and simply wanted to go home.

Her mother quickly picks up the gift and heads toward the check out counter. The woman behind the counter was on a personal call talking about her date the previous night. The mother was attempting to get the employees attention. She instructed the girl to please hurry because there had been a death in the family and we needed to leave as soon as possible. The girl held up her finger as in motioning the mother to wait a second. This continued on for what seemed like hours to the woman who had lost her stepson.

The mother proceeded to grab the wrapping paper and box from the girl and began to wrap the gift. The employee never stopped her personal call. The woman who had lost her stepson generally loved the store they were in that day. She had bought many items there because she appreciated their beauty. The store is rather pricy but that was okay, until that day.

That incident took place over eight years ago. The woman who had lost her stepson never forgot the rude behavior of that employee. Neither she or her mother has returned to that store since. They also told their friends and family about the rudeness of the employee.

This one seemingly small action of a single employee has cost that store hundreds of dollars over the years. That number could possibly have reached thousands because of word of mouth. Rude employees have no place in positions that require them to work with the public.

It doesn't take much to be polite. It isn't hard to say hello when a customer enters or goodbye when they leave. It never broke anyone's mouth to say thank you, have a good day. Business' have gone into the practice of leaving out the most elementary part of what keeps money in their pockets.

Dealing with the public is often a difficult position to hold. We can be far too demanding at times. We can be rude and down right nasty towards others when we are in a bad mood. It isn't our job to be nice, although we should be. We don't get paid to be nice though. Your employee's do.

Great customer service is an art that seems to be long lost. The business' that we patronize feel no need to tighten down on those that can't seem to catch the basics of the job. As for me and my home, we would rather travel a hundred miles to get great customer service than to travel two miles down the road to get treated as though we weren't even there. Business' are beginning to realize this again. They see how many business' are closing their doors. Part of the reason is poor customer relations. Business owners, it's time to make it right.

Learn more about this author, Dawn Hawkins.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.