Do 'Captive Customers' Deserve Great Service?
Don't take `captive customers' for granted. They deserve the best service you can provide..
A government employee questioned whether my service
teaching had any value for his department.
After all, he reasoned, why bother giving a high level of service to
‘captive customers’ who have no choice?
I’ve got many answers to this loaded question. These three pack a punch:
First, captive customers may have no choice about whether or not to work
with an internal department or government agency, but they have plenty of
choice about the attitude they bring to the interactions.
The Department of Motor Vehicles in Connecticut, United States has made a
profound effort to increase speed of service, upgrade office atmosphere and
improve attitudes of the staff.
What’s the result? Customers wait in line with appreciation rather than
frustration. They speak on the phone with patience instead of displeasure.
And they approach the counter with a smile instead of a frown.
Who wins from this effort to upgrade civil service? The customers and the
staff.
Second, how do government agencies attract and retain good people? It’s not
by profit sharing, and stock options don’t exist.
In government service (and many private organizations) extraordinary staff
build long-term careers when the organization is ambitious and attractive.
People want to stay when the organization is aiming for better performance,
working for better results, making it easier for people to do a good job and
feel fulfilled when the job gets done.
This means creating a culture where service is a top priority, where
continuous improvement becomes a passion.
Dead organizations collect only dead wood.
Third, I am always surprised when government employees think they have no
competition. Don’t they understand that every country and city must compete
for investment, for tourism, for immigration and retention of best talent,
for improving the quality of life?
Where would you rather build your factory, open your regional office, launch
or expand your career, or settle and grow your family? Would you prefer
somewhere with a dynamic and progressive civil service, or some place with a
government bureaucracy that’s stuck in the ancient past?
Government employees who think customer service is only for the private
sector have their heads buried in the sand. Quicksand.
Key Learning Point
Don't take `captive customers' for granted. They deserve the best service
you can provide. Your payoff may not be in profits, but in the pride and
pleasure you give, and receive.
Action Steps
Examine the attitudes and standards you use when serving customers who
`don't have a choice'. Be sure they are up the same level you would apply if
your job or career was on the line.
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