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NOVEMBER 9, 2018
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Is there anything else I can(‘t) help you with? HAL BECKER Halbecker.com
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ometimes people have the right intention, but the wrong execution. We try to do the right things, but either stupidity or a really bad management decision gets in the way. What I am going to describe has happened to all of us and what amazes me, is it still continues. You go into a retail store or you call a business from your home telephone. For sake of argument, let’s just say it was a cellular company named “Horizon.” You were pushed into a lake and your cellphone was in your pocket and isn’t working due to it being soaked with pond water. You ask the nice person on the phone or in person if you can get another phone and naturally pay some sort of charge or fee for the accident that just happened to you. The person says, “No, there is nothing we can do, unless you have the insurance policy, and a new phone is $299.” The customer service rep did not look at your records and see that you have been a loyal customer since 1988 or didn’t even try to help you by talking to a supervisor. They just gave you a plain flat out “no.”
The next thing said was, “Is there anything else that I can assist you with today?” Now, I just want to strangle them. Your inside voice is saying, “Hey Sparky, you did not help me with my reason for calling or stopping in, and now you are asking me this ridiculous question.” Your outside voice says, “whatever,” and now you hang up or leave the store even more frustrated. I do not blame the employee or the customer service rep. I am angered at management. Someone has trained them to recite this idiotic phrase after they think they might have helped a customer. What a stupid thing to say to a customer after you haven’t done what they have asked for, or even helped them with respect to their problem or concern. Sometimes upper management is too
far removed from the situation and this type of decision to utter that insane phrase came from a lower or middle management associate trainer or supervisor that should be fired for having zero common sense. I will never forget the time when I was conducting a workshop in Florida for a utility company and the CEO was telling me how great their customer service department was. I asked him when was the last time he called in as a customer with a problem or a question so he can really have a true reality check of his company. He said he has never done that. I proceeded to have him call in on his cellphone to the main number and then to customer service. After he was on hold for close to 22 minutes, I thought he was going to have a stroke. He was not only embarrassed, but also frustrated at the situation he was never aware of in the first place. I guarantee you that if he called the Horizon store and I was the CEO of that
company, and the typical response was, “No, but is there anything else I can do for you,” the department would have a new supervisor, new training manual and a computer screen that would not have those words pop up for the customer service rep to blurt out to you. Great companies have policies, procedures and follow-up training that encompasses good old-fashioned common sense, and once in a while, a really good reality check. Hal Becker is a nationally known speaker on sales and customer service. He is the author of numerous business books including two national best sellers “Can I Have 5 Minutes Of Your Time?” and “Lip Service.” Hal’s newest book on sales is titled “Ultimate Sales Book.”