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Greg MacSweeney
Greg MacSweeney
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Customer Service 101: Lessons from Honda, Apple and Bloomberg

To provide great customer service, an organization needs to be nimble, knowledgeable, available and empowered. Often, service representatives have one, two or even three of these traits, but they rarely exhibit all four.

Almost every company wants to provide great customer service. Many think they do, but few actually deliver. And it's not for a lack of trying. The truth is, outstanding customer service levels are very difficult to achieve.

In order to provide exemplary service, an organization needs to be nimble, knowledgeable, available and empowered. Often, service representatives have one, two or even three of these traits, but they rarely exhibit all four. Many companies offer 24-hour customer service, but when you talk to representatives, they lack product knowledge and can't answer your questions. Some companies have very knowledgable customer service reps, but they are available only during normal business hours.

Other companies' customer service organizations run off of scripts and can handle only specific situations. When something out of the ordinary happens, they literally have no idea what to do. And finally, many customer service representatives, although they can identify the problem, often lack the authority to solve it (such as ordering a replacement product).

We can all think of a few customer service horror stories. But can you recall a truly great customer service experience? Personally, Honda has impressed me, both at the local dealership and through Honda USA, the parent company. The company's customer service representatives are knowledgeable, responsive and empowered, and the systems at the dealership are integrated with the parent company's systems, making for a more seamless experience.

Apple is another company that has great customer service. Either on the phone, through the website or at a store's "Genius Bar," the "Geniuses" know how to solve problems, are empowered to make decisions and even have creative solutions to unusual problems.

In the financial services space, Bloomberg LP, the focus of a recent WS&T cover story, is known for its excellent customer service. I had the opportunity to experience this first-hand. When I began to use Bloomberg Professional service for the first time, Bloomberg told me it would send someone to my office to help me out. Being accustomed to "average" service from other companies, I thought this was strange and I told Bloomberg not to bother.

Despite my protests, not one, but two Bloomberg representatives were at my office within 20 minutes. They spent an hour with me, and they would have stayed even longer if I didn't have to rush to another meeting. Within the hour, they answered all of my questions, solved a few technical problems (I'm on a Mac) and gave me a pretty thorough primer on the terminal. That's how you do customer service.

Greg MacSweeney is editorial director of InformationWeek Financial Services, whose brands include Wall Street & Technology, Bank Systems & Technology, Advanced Trading, and Insurance & Technology. View Full Bio
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