Blog

Customer Service : Amplified

PSA TEC AMPLIFIED BLOG SERIES | CUSTOMER SERVICE

By: Ric McCullough, Vice President of Sales & Customer Service

When I think of the word “amplified,” I immediately think of sound and the Verizon technician innocently asking, “Can you hear me now?”  There’s a lot of ways to use and interpret that phrase and to use the word amplified but for me, the immediate thoughts all turn to sound.

Amplified. So, it’s all about the sound, right? ... Or is it?

Own it. Be accountable. Be focused. Be amplified.

I would like to turn the tables and suggest a new concept to consider - Customer Service: Amplified.  Could you use this phrase as a philosophy to set customer service goals for yourself and your company? What would “Amplified Customer Service” look like?

Well, first we would have to set the definition and expectation for an amplified customer service experience. How exactly would we define this and how does that experience compare to other customer service experiences, attitudes and traits?

Ric McCullough, Vice President of Sales & Customer Service

Customer Service: Amplified would be defined as the consistent focus on quickly and professionally understanding and resolving what your customer needs before, during and after a customer interaction or transaction.

A few examples come to mind.

Hypothetical John placed an order with you for a product he desperately needed. The next day, while reviewing his open issues, he realizes that he ordered the wrong product and he requested that the wrong product ship overnight!  OH NO!!!!!  You are the customer service rep that John placed an order with. When John calls you back to explain his dilemma, how do you react? Do you say that the manufacturer’s policy states that the product order has already been placed with the vendor and they have a no return/no exchange policy?  Or do you state that you will do everything in your power to contact the vendor and get the order changed and shipped?

Merry Mary calls you several times a week to place orders.  Over the last year, you have really developed a great working relationship with Mary. When she calls you today however, she asks you why you haven’t responded to her latest order request. She gives you the purchase order number and you discover that the order has never been placed. You have no idea who is at fault only that Mary is furious and desperate. She clearly feels this is your fault. Do you pout and think that you continually do a lot for Mary so what’s the problem? Do you react by stating to Mary that her company never placed the order but you can enter it now? Or do you state that it appears the order was never placed and while you don’t know why or how that happened - the most important thing is that you will drop everything you’re doing to get this product on order and shipped?

While none of the approaches used are wrong – the final resolution option used for both issues clearly points to an amplified approach to customer service.

Amplified = Improved, Magnified, Intensified, Focused, Strengthened and Improved.  It means always doing your best to improve and to earn the business you receive. Never assume, never expect, and never think that it is someone else’s issue.

Own it. Be accountable. Be focused. Be amplified.

Come to PSA TEC 2018. Let’s find some time to talk about how you and your company define customer service and what you are doing or can do to amplify it. The PSA customer service management team will be there for this kind of idea exchange as well and join us on Tuesday, March 13 when we present a few special awards to our vendor partners who themselves have amplified their service to PSA customers over the past year.