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Commentary
THE LOWDOWN: Call us!
Published on: 6/19/2009.
BY RICHARD HOAD
VISITORS LEAVING OUR farm are often heard remarking: "What a nice, friendly old goat!" Such comments don't refer to me. On the contrary, departing females probably sigh: "Did'ja dig Lowdown's awesome abs? I mean, wouldn't you just love to nibble them till they writhe?"
The old goat on the farm is Amber, one of the few we kept from our first herd. Not because she was a great producer or anything special. Amber is just the friendliest goat ever.
The point here is that Amber is a survivor. She's now retired and living out her years in style.
"No one will ever stick a fork in her stew," as we farmers say about favourite animals.
In these "harsh economic times", workers need to make the connect between their performance, the success of the firm employing them and their chances of keeping their job.
And, as in Amber's case, attitude is as important as output. Especially so on the telephone where your tone of voice conveys welcome or otherwise to the potential customer.
Alexander Graham Bell's first telephone came out in 1875. Less than ten years later, we had a telephone service in Bridgetown! For over a century it was a top-class service with courteous, well-trained repairmen, pleasant and helpful operators. And sales personnel at businesses were usually friendly and eager to help.
Sadly those days are gone. Calls to businesses nowadays are exercises in futility and frustration. The first turn-off is those "Press 1, Press 2 . . ." recordings. Dial the Pine Hill Dairy's number, for instance, and a voice will thank you for calling the "Banks Holdings Group of Companies". And then rattle off a list of options, neither of which is Pine Hill Dairy. So you take a random stab and hope for the best.
Or you may get a mumbler. "Mumblemumble." "Hello, is this Soandso Ltd?" "Mumblemumble."
"Okay, don't worry. I'll try somewhere else."
Then there is the salesperson who answers with Attitude. Her terminology is okay but you can't miss the unfriendly tone. Recently I forgot the exact window size a saleslady had quoted.
"The window is 32 x 38, SIR!"
That "SIR" said it all. She meant it to convey: "I'm not going to repeat myself for some senile jackass when Tony Marshall is on Brass Tacks!"
Instead it convinced me never to buy a window from that firm unless it was a magic one that I could look through and see any woman who came to mind soaping herself in the bath. And going at less than $40.
There's more of course. Some firms don't answer the phone, period. Others direct you to voice mail but never call back. And the whole cellphone scenario is a nightmare in itself. Too often a cashier or salesperson breaks off to carry on a personal conversation while you wait. And wait.
However, the decline of our phone company hurts the most for it was once up there with Light & Power in terms of service. A few weeks back, a friend, Tony Green, waited 25 minutes without anyone answering. I tried myself and also gave up after 25 minutes.
Recently I called the number listed for the Speightstown retail store to find out if Internet filters were in stock. A foreign-voice woman answered in St Lucia and required my name so she could ask: "May I call you 'Richard'?" But she couldn't connect me to the store. Apparently it does not have a phone! Although their shopping bags say: "Call us!"
Most insulting of all, however, is a letter from credit manager Katherine Payne (May I call her Kathy?) which says: "You (the valued customer) will not be relieved from making a prompt payment to us because you have not received a bill showing the amount owed on your account. You should call us immediately if you have not received your monthly bill to obtain your current account balance."
That one takes the cake, Kath. You fail to get your bills out on time, so we must call (wasting 25 minutes or more?) to do your work for you?
Right now Kathy, your company has the land line monopoly. So you can afford to play big bully. But things can change. Ask Amber, the old goat. And someday you may wish you had been a lot more customer-friendly.
13 comment found!
Just liming : 6/25/2009
With a name like Lime what do you expect?
"call us" customer service : 6/25/2009
I must admit that the level of customer service experience in Barbadian firms is one of the worse in the world. When ever I travel and return home I feel it most. Overseas the service personnel do not like you but some how they can provide a high level of efficient service without sounding indifferent or having to say darling/sweetheart can I help you while chewing gum or snorting on one of those small inhalers. Some how, good morning/evening how may I help you is foreign to some persons in the service industry here. I recently experienced two cases. The first one occurred when I was entering a warehouse store. On entering this store I observed a caucasian lady in a white shirt who seemed to be looking for an item, almost immediately after I made this observation I over heard the attendant say these words “ waaite shuurt… waaite shuurt” alas she was trying to gain the attention of the lady dressed in a white shirt presumably to redirect her to some item. I am Bajan but I have never heard an attendant address anyone like that. I was so outraged that I told the attendant that she should say “excuse me mam” boy you should see the look that I got. I quickly left the place, but on leaving the said attendant was at the door looking at me as viciously as she good. Do not get me wrong I do not care if the person is white, black or blue the customer service is very poor here in this country. The second one occurred when I made a call to our phone company to ask for some assistance. Firstly, I called the 1800 number and reach a foreign voice after waiting for some time. I wanted to reach a manager in Barbados so I asked if she had a number for him. I was directed to call 114 which I did I again reached a foreign voice after waiting for some time and I again made my request she next directed me to a 292 number which I called and I reach a bajan voice I was relieved but this was short lived. The voice was very soft so I asked her to speak-up, now I could not hear her before but she manage to speak up enough to say if she spoke any louder she would be screaming into the phone, then she dropped her voice again so I gave up in frustration. This poor service has reached a crisis and management seem to be at a lost regarding how to handle it. In some cases management is just as ill-mannered as their staff.
Customer Service : 6/24/2009
The guy who works in a downtown store and could not care less when a customer walks in,especially if he is in deep conversation with a colleague, is the same guy who during his lunch hour rushes up to the bank or some other business and complain bitterly about the slow service. Many of us expect good service, but do not dish it out ourselves.
Still even Poorer Customer Service : 6/20/2009
I wish someone would go around with a mike and camera and record some of the fantastic customer service in Barbados; most especially the civil servants. But alas, the local media will never go for airing the results. Most Bajans apparently have lifetime jobs, can treat people as they wish without any recourse. It is a scary thing contemplating returning to these shores and having to deal with this. I suspect it is partially responsible for so many of us going to an early grave or psyche ward after returning to reside in our beloved home. Paradise indeed.
Go where? : 6/20/2009
Everyone believes that customers will go elsewhere if customer service is poor. That applies to countries where people have REAL choices. In island or rural communities, citizens are stuck. Even if the customer was to find another more customer friendly establishment, traffic is so crazy, people will settle for the bad service rather than fight traffic. This issue needs national leadership; the success of the NISE campaign may be an illusion as it may not have addressed the real issue which is pride in oneself and ones work. I find it ironic that a black man in rural south USA (where tourism is not the economic engine) gets better customer service than when he is in Barbados.
oh yeah! : 6/19/2009
LIME'S (in)ability to answer the phone has me remaining with my ISP - I don't dare change! right now I can get a tech support answer to my ADSL questions in about 5 minutes. I don't understand how they keep their customers when there are other options!
: 6/19/2009
Mr. Hoad you are right on the money. Unfortunately for Barbados most companies does not have clear customer service policies. I have experienced more rude service persons in Barbados than anywhere else I have visited.Business owners need to institute customer service training for its employees and have customer service complaint forms for their customers.I am always happy to compliment excellent customer service when given, and speak highly about the establishment to others. however, I will not hesitate to warn others about using any establishment with poor service standards. Being courteous to customers does not cost a cent to the employee, only the owners who have no way of knowing how much business is lost when customers choose not to return to, or walk out of their establishment. Bajanjoy,N.Y.
Too True : 6/19/2009
What a lovely and simple comparison. You have to remind people that they businesses are expendable and at the end of the day poor quality service will be taken into account. If some of these customer oriented companies cannot learn from an old goat then there is no hope for them. The moral of the story is to give milk and without being ill tempered.
Commentary : 6/19/2009
The best!!! I called C&W, bmobile, LIME or whatever it is called and like you I was put on hold for 25 minutes but fortunately I took the name of the person on the other end of the phone. After a lengthy waiting period I decided to use my mobile and call a friend who was employed there and asked her to transfer me to the person who had me on hold...guess what, he answered the phone!!! Wasn't he unpleasantly surprised!!!
Call us! : 6/19/2009
Good to highlight this NA problem. Companies that recognize the need for good sevice to Customers will survive. TJ.
Call Us : 6/19/2009
Love the article Lowdown!!! The services of the telephone company sucks....
: 6/19/2009
You are the man Mr.Hoad. They are sickening. And don't forget the fake accents that come out of their mouths. Give me a break.
CALL U : 6/19/2009
Ditto Mr Hoad , or may I call you Richard - Lime has surely got us all sucking limes !!
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