As you may know, PhaseWare was on IWearYourShirt yesterday, and we had a blast! Thank you to everyone who participated on Twitter, Facebook, etc. We had great discussions about excellent and poor customer service. Our main question, that you had to answer to be entered to win the Kindle Fire, was “What does customer service FIRE mean to you?” The answers we received told me a lot.
There were plenty of customer service horror stories and also stories that showed that customer service reps can be helpful people too. One definition of FIRE really stuck out to me, and it was from one of our amazing customers. Christopher Reddekopp, of Tullahoma Utilities Board, told us, “FIRE is an acronym for First Impressions Require Excellence. Customer service serves as an identity for a company and is half of the product/service they receive.” He could not be more accurate. First impressions are everything to customers. If you fumble on an initial phone call, or don’t correct something right away, they’re going to remember that. Good customer service is one of the easiest things to provide your clients with if you have the right tools. I absolutely loved Mr. Reddekopp’s answer. This is why businesses are successful— great customer service. As a business, we try to provide our customers with the tools needed to produce excellent customer service and it seems our customers have the right mindset to give their clients the best customer service and support possible!
If you didn’t tell us what customer service FIRE means to you, you may do so in the comments section below. I’d love to hear more amazing answers.