And yet call centers still seem not to have learned the lesson of giving the customer what they want when it doesn't cost the company much. In the video, Bob Farrell (founder of Farrell's Ice Cream Parlors) tells of a food server who tried to tell a customer that pickles were no longer free. Bob Farrell's advice was to forget about the policy - give them the pickle. Many managers seems to believe that their main purpose is be a dam against the flood. If their customer service representatives were allowed to show generosity or flexibility, they seem to feel, it might mean the end of their corporation as we know it.
But the goal of a company is to make money, not to save it. One goal of a call center is to save time in order to save money. Yet I've talked with many call center managers, from many companies, who are willing to spend time stonewalling my attempts to show the customer that, deep down, they really care about them and their business. Instead of asking what they can do for the customer, they begin with enforcing what they are not allowed to do for the customer. With that attitude, soon they won't have to do anything for the customer. The customer will have moved on to buy from another company.
What is your experience? Has flexibility with customers increased their loyalty? Or has it hurt your profits?
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