Our LOSS (Lack-of-Service Society)

Wouldn’t you love to be a fly on the wall at the board meetings of some of the companies that provide products and services you use? You would likely observe a parade of well-dressed executives presenting dozens of colorful Power Point slides summarizing financial goals and results with various operations metrics and the like (basically doing their own quarterly performance reviews in front of the board). Discussions would follow about the need to operate more efficiently, and eventually someone would suggest “opportunities” to replace employees with technology or “more cost effective, global resources.”

It’s now commonplace—especially in the area of customer service—to call an 800 number, be directed to a long list of menu options, and when you have finally exhausted your patience trying to connect with a human and are ready to hang up, a person magically comes on the line. By now your call has been routed to a “customer service” center in a foreign country, where someone who can barely speak English reads scripted responses. The opening line always starts with, “We are sorry, Mr. Sheffert, that you are experiencing this problem, but we first need you to unplug all your phones, TVs, cable boxes, and flush your toilets . . . .”

I realize times are tough and that decisions to increase efficiency and cut costs have been necessary in order for many businesses to stay afloat. However, my concern is that the pendulum has swung so far that we have reached a point in the U.S. where the focus on efficiency is making us ineffective from our customers’ viewpoints. As a country, we have evolved into what’s often referred to as a “service society.” But given my experience, and the experience of many others, I would argue that we have regressed into a “lack of service society,” or something I refer to as LOSS.

Protecting the Reputation Asset

Most enlightened boards of directors and “C” level executives would agree that the most valuable asset their company possesses is its reputation with customers and clients. Yet, when they make efficiency decisions, they often relegate customer service, thus their customers, to the lowest-paid employees or subcontractors available globally. Why more business leaders don’t understand the dangerous game they play with their company’s reputation when they make these efficiency decisions is beyond my comprehension. It’s a gamble with very high stakes—as I often say, a company’s reputation is earned in inches, but it’s lost in miles. And that applies to every interaction that customers have with your company, especially with customer service.