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In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast Todd Adkins, Barnabas Piper, and Kevin Spratt talk about how organizations, and even churches, can offer the best customer service. They cover everything from what attitude and outlook it takes to how leaders can deal with unruly customers (or church members).
- Is the customer always right?
- If a customer is wrong, how should a customer service rep respond?
- How should a customer service rep help if they don’t know the answer to customer’s question or can’t give them the answer they want?
- What do you do when a customer doesn’t want help and they just want to air grievances?
- What is the over all effect of good customer service?
BEST QUOTES
“The posture you have should be one of empathy.”
“The customer is not always right, but the customer always deserves respect.”
“A customer’s perception is their reality.”
“Nobody reads the fine print.”
“You can apologize for someone’s frustration without apologizing for doing anything wrong.”
“Give people an out, a gracious exit.”
“As a business or ministry it’s really important how you respond when you’re wrong.”
“Every leader should practice saying ‘I don’t know, but I will find out and get back to you.’”
“Explaining yourself is ok, but that needs to be followed immediately by an apology and a solution.”
“A customer service rep needs to be empowered to solve people’s problems.”
“Customers want the weight of what they are saying to be heard by someone who can make a decision.”
“Telling someone to calm down is like putting gasoline on a fire.”
“It is ok to politely and firmly deny crazy requests.”
“As a manager or leader it is crucial to back up your employees.”
“The reason customers think they are always right is because organizations allow them to think they are always right.”
“Customer service is probably the best way to stand out as a business.”
“In the ministry world it’s a shift from customer loyalty to relationship and trust.”
“If you target effective customer service for the good of the business and not the customer you will miss your target.”
“Have the heart of someone serving, not someone trying to improve the bottom line.”
RECOMMENDED RESOURCES
The Nordstrom Way to Customer Service Excellence by Robert Spector
We’d like to thank our sponsor, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. SEBTS is always asking the question, “Where are you going?” They want to equip pastors, missionaries, theologians, scholars and more to obey the commands of Jesus to make disciples anywhere and everywhere God calls them to go. Wherever students are going, Southeastern can help them get there. Southeastern Seminary has a wide range of degrees at many levels and all M.Div. programs now have a stronger core curriculum to better equip students biblically, theologically and practically for their current and future ministries. In addition to a stronger core, the total number of hours required to complete an M.Div. has been reduced to 81-84. They even offer distance education options for those who cannot relocate to North Carolina to study.
Apply now to begin your theological education at Southeastern. Use the code 5LQ to receive a discount on your application for any degree.
Vist SEBTS.edu/5LQ.
