It is National Customer Service Week and we want to take this opportunity to extend our heartfelt appreciation to all genuine Customer Service agents everywhere. It just so happens that here at CES we have what could very well be the best Customer Service Department in this industry!
So it’s with great pleasure we take this week, October 7 – 11 and truly celebrate our CES Customer Service Department.
The official National Customer Service theme this year is THE MAGIC OF SERVICE.™ According to the “Customer Service Week Frequently Asked Questions” page “It’s magical because good service can turn an unhappy customer into a satisfied long-term customer. It can turn ANY customer into your biggest fan and advocate.”
We all know what pleasure it is to reach out to a company for help with an issue and have a live, competent, understanding person actually answer the phone. Unfortunately, it seems to be the exception rather than the rule to have all three of those qualities: live, competent and understanding! So as a customer, when you have the pleasure of working with someone with those qualities it is no small thing! It can make your day! It can restore your faith in humanity! It can make you feel like you have a new BFF! Our own Karen and Heather do all these things routinely. But there is nothing routine about their quality of service.
Here’s one recent example from our Customer Service Department:
A customer in New Jersey recently sold her business. Through all the chaos of selling the business she forgot that she had a supplier contract. In order for her to avoid penalty fees for breaking her contract Karen assisted her to work with the new owner to see the benefits of having a supplier versus paying the utility rates for electricity. It was a win, win situation! The owner who sold the business avoided penalty fees from the supplier, and the new owner was able to take advantage of the lower rates we, CES, helped her to obtain. Everyone was happy!
I talked with Karen and Heather about this and how they do it. Karen explained that they build very close relationships with our suppliers. When a customer calls or emails with a problem with a supplier, we are able to handle these problems quickly without our customers having to sit on HOLD for help.
We answer the phone.
We answer our emails.
Heather explained how she was able to save a non-profit organization in Illinois over $8,000 in termination fees. A new person at the non-profit came on the line and signed a contract with a different supplier—not realizing they already had a contract. Breaking the original contract was going to cost over $8,000 in fees. We were able to sort this out for them. Now the customer calls whenever he gets a call that confuses him and asks, “What should I do?” We always help them out and they are so relieved. “Okay, Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! That’s why I call you. You always answer my questions!”
A service-oriented employee can really make the difference between ho hum business as usual and the wonderful customer reactions that occur when you go a bit above and beyond! It results in priceless “Word of Mouth” advertising that just can’t be bought—it must be earned with great service.
So a big THANK YOU to our own Karen and Heather and to live, competent, understanding Customer Service Agents everywhere!
Need help with a supplier issue? Give Karen or Heather a call at 1-866-263-7808.
