|
Sep 29
2010
|
CUSTOMER SERVICE: WHO MAKES YOU SMILE?Posted by Steve Cocheo in Pass the Aspirin The Blog   |
|
The Headache: Everyone is doing more with less. Everyone has pressure. Everyone needs to keep customers happy.
Our Question: What examples of stellar service have you seen as a customer? And what can banks adapt and learn from those companies—national, local, or even a competitor?
Come see what other bankers think, and add your own views
Customer Service: Who out there has made you smile lately?
| Tell us about
a good example of customer service that you've experienced yourself at
another company—from the local diner to a major airline. Tell us about
the experience, including: the company name; why you were impressed;
and if you think a bank could adapt the idea. And if you personally in
your work, or your bank officially, have adapted that idea, tell us
about that too. |
 |
Let's hear your views and ideas below! (Editorial Note: Contributions to Pass the Aspirin may also appear in our print edition. While we will ask for your e-mail address, this is only as an aid to verifying identity and will not be used for any marketing or promotional purpose. The e-mail address will not be published.)
To suggest new topics for Pass the Aspirin both in print and in this blog, please e-mail scocheo@sbpub.com
For vintage Aspirin columns, go to www.passtheaspirinplus.com
Set as favorite
Bookmark
Email This
Trackback(0)
TrackBack URI for this entryComments (9)
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Paul Jarosz, SVP and Director of Government Compliance, Oxford Bank & Trust, Oak Brook, Ill.
said:
|
A few years ago I went to rent a minivan for the weekend. (We jettisoned ours about five years ago.) Anyway, I went to the local Enterprise to pick it up on a Saturday. The place was jammed with folks waiting for their cars, and as I recall there was only one young guy working the desk. (There may have been another person, but I don't recall for sure.) Anyway, folks were very irritated and this guy was doing all he could do to move product. I just remember how calm and polite he was. Didn't seem hassled and treated everyone nicely. I was so impressed with his efforts/sorry for his predicament, that I didn't get too aggravated waiting for the van. In fact, I was so impressed with his grace under pressure that I was actually thinking of asking for his card to see if he would be interested in working at our bank. (We are really, really big on customer service and I figured that even if he didn't know banking, he would be such a great asset that we would teach him.) |
|
|
report abuse
vote down
vote up
|
Jake Caraway
said:
|
The Sewell Companies, a group of automobile dealerships, out of Dallas is the best at customer service. In fact their owner, Carl Sewell wrote the book "Customers For Life". Anyone in retail should read it. My wife and I have purchased 6 cars from his dealerships. Each time the sales staff are very friendly and glad to see you. I have never felt pressured to buy a car. Their service department staff is the best. You are greeted immediately when you drive up by someone who asks what you need and gets you a service writer. Mr. Sewells beliefs have been communicated to each and every member of the staff and they follow through. All businesses can take a lessons from this business on how to treat your customers. |
|
|
report abuse
vote down
vote up
|
Tiffany M Perry
said:
|
Just a few weeks ago, my grandmother was transferred to a nursing home. She wanted a chair, the PT at Sunrise Manor Nursing Home went out of his way by helping me shop for a chair that would fit her needs. I called around first for prices for chairs and found a lady by the name of Debbie @ Furniture Liquidators and she also went out of her way to find the perfect match for my grandmothers needs. I only went to the furniture store one time (which was 20 miles from my home), but the PT went 3 times and Debbie worked with me over the phone and coordinated everything with the PT at the nursing home. After I purchased it over the phone, I told her that my husband would pick it up and arrange to take it to my grandmother - she said, oh that is ok - Mark (PT) and I have have already made those arrangements - we will deliver it for you next week after they have a chance to rearrange the room. WOW - for both of them! |
|
|
report abuse
vote down
vote up
|
Frank Carson, president and CEO, Carson Bank, Mulvane, Kansas
said:
|
The annual CEO conference for the Kansas Bankers Association is held at Colorado Springs, Colorado at the Broadmoor Hotel. It is a great time to see so many peers and friends and have the opportunity to discuss banking issues and just "catch up" with good friends. The Broadmoor has excelled year after year at great customer service and this past year was no different. At a time that so many businesses are cutting costs I am pleased that they have not lost their great customer service ?edge.? Every employee greets every guest and is most responsive to that guest?s needs. We all wish to achieve this level of excellence with our customers. In community banking we must remember it is not just teaching our employees how to give great service, it is equally important that we constantly monitor and coach them to achieve the best customer service. A most difficult task, but more importantly a task that we must constantly strive to conquer. The Broadmoor makes me smile. the Indeed, what impresses me most is the staff's desire to help with any problem with a smile. |
|
|
report abuse
vote down
vote up
|
Jeff Smith, chairman and CEO, Ohio Valley Bank Company, Gallipolis, Ohio
said:
|
Recently I accompanied my wife to purchase a gift at a Brighton store. The service provided by the clerk was, as usual, excellent. However, after she completed the two purchases and the clerk put the two items in separate and attractive gift bags and just before we left the store, she said, ?May I offer you some bottled water?? The offer was ?unexpected and such a surprise? both of us found ourselves talking about the impression it made on us and trying to see how we could do something equally as memorable at the bank. The second was somewhat similar and occurred when we arrived in French Lick, Indiana for the annual joint convention of the Ohio Bankers League & Illinois League of Financial Institutions. The day was dauntingly hot and when we stepped out of our car the bellman from a huge iced cooler offered each of us a cold bottle of water. I don?t know if they offer hot chocolate in the winter, but the cold bottled water made a lasting impression and is still one of the many positive experiences from the convention. It has been rightly said, ?You never get a second chance to make a first impression!? My first impression was positive and lasting. |
|
|
report abuse
vote down
vote up
|
Jeff Stephens
said:
|
On a recent flight with Frontier Airlines I experienced the surprisingly impressive way a flight attendant handled a common problem: multiple passengers with really tight connections. Typically a flight attendant simply says "please let people with tight connections deplane first." And of course, this doesn't work--all the passengers just deplane as they normally would. This flight attendant took charge of the situation and exhibited great leadership and an excellent attitude. She: 1) Announced all the cities with tight connections 2) Asked every passenger going to one of these cities to raise their hand 3) Asked every passenger on the plane to look around and identify these people with their hands raised 4) Explicitly said "if Denver is your final destination, please do not get up out of your seat." 5) Explicitly said "if your connecting flight leaves after 8 pm, please do not get up out of your seat" 6) She then pointed out the passenger with his hand raised who was at the very back of the plan, and told all the other passengers "Look at that guy--memorize what he looks like. Please do not get out of your seat until you see that guy, right there, with the purple shirt and glasses, walks past you." Needless to say, it worked like a charm, and I made my tight connection. With this take-charge leadership and the positive, friendly attitude she used, she exhibited what COULD happen every time a flight is running late. |
|
|
report abuse
vote down
vote up
|
Steve Cocheo, Executive Editor, ABA Banking Journal
said:
|
When I'm reporting ABA Banking Journal stories in the field, I don't usually go out of my way to travel in the pre-Thanksgiving Day period. But now and then it becomes unavoidable. I was flying home from Memphis, Tenn., and got up at 4:30 for a 7:10 AM flight, hoping to beat the craziness. We actually pushed back a few minutes early. We taxied out to the runway. And taxied. And taxied. At one point a fellow passenger asked, "Are we driving to Atlanta?," which was the transfer point for many of us. We wound up going back to the jetway and deplaning, for a two-hour "ground halt." In the event, many missed their connections. At the AirTran service counter, I found out that I was being put on a flight five hours later than my original, missed connection. Not happy. But I was philosophical and determined not to kvetch. Then the customer service representative pulled out a kit, which I'd noticed other passengers getting. It included a coupon for a meal in the airport or a beverage on the flight. And it also included a voucher for a free roundtrip air fare on AirTran, good for a year. All this was simply volunteered. I didn't have to "asset my rights" or anything like that. Indeed, given the weekend crush, I wouldn't have thought about anything but getting home, eventually. And many airlines keep mum about any benefits, etc., for delayed fliers. Most interesting was that this wasn't AirTran's doing, it was the FAA's decision. Yet they still extended these courtesies. I've flown AirTran before and found the service a cut above. This was yet one more notch in their favor. |
|
|
report abuse
vote down
vote up
|
Jane Haskin, president, First Bethany Bank, Bethany, Okla.
said:
| I am always amazed at the efficiency and customer service of Southwest Airlines. I had used another airline for 15 years and had accumulated a number of reward points; however, every time I used the points they treated me like a second-class passenger rather than one of their best customers. I now fly Southwest, not because it is more comfortable, but because they are efficient, friendly, and make me feel like a valued customer because I am a frequent flier. This is the type of customer service I hope we provide to our bank customers. | |
|
report abuse
vote down
vote up
|
Gregg Vandaveer, president and CEO, Sooner State Bank, Tuttle, Okla.
said:
| I always enjoy eating at a Chick-fil-A. Almost always when you thank them for your order, they respond, ?It?s my pleasure.? Their employees' attitudes make me believe them. It is hard sometimes with all the regulations; BSA, CIP, OFAC, fingerprinting, etc. to remember to treat your customer with kindness and respect. There?s a fine line between bankers' natural suspicions that we need to combat continually growing fraud, and cross-selling and making your customers feel like coming back to your bank. The thing all service-related people need to remember starts with the Golden Rule. We can all learn from that. | |
|
report abuse
vote down
vote up
|
Write comment
