Why More Customers Aren't Complaining About Shameful Service

I earn a living training service folks and their managers to be better in their occupations, so you might expect me to not bite the hand that feeds me; to be respectfully silent about corporate miscues.

Recently, I?ve written some articles blasting customer service units that don?t provide service. I chronicle how I haven?t been able to get a capable service technician out to repair a brand new clothes dryer, and we?re going on three weeks, two missed appointments, and about eight loads of laundry that had to be transported and then retrieved several miles away, just so I could use them. I mentioned that there are ten major LIES that service folks tell, ranging from ?Your call is important to us,? to ?I?m the supervisor.?

I earn a living training service folks and their managers to be better in their occupations, so you might expect me to not bite the hand that feeds me; to be respectfully silent about corporate miscues.

But I?m not, because I?m an observant and vocal CONSUMER, as well, and I never forget this fact. I?m the one who not only trains the mutual fund financial reps to sound better, to make calls more succinct, to answer more calls in less time and to be more helpful and efficient.

I am the one who calls in for my account balances, asks about distributions, and requests missing statements for my accountant.

I?m acutely aware of my dual roles, but why aren?t others, consultants or not, more vocal about the shameful service they?re getting?

One answer dawned on me.

They feel they have no moral ground upon which to complain when other companies are no better at the game than they believe their people are. You?ve heard the adage that residents in glass houses shouldn?t throw stones, right?

A conspiracy of silence is promoted by this glass-house paranoia. If I flame your company?s terrible service, who knows, you might torch mine, and then where would we be?

Frankly, I think we?d be better off, because then we?d bring into open discussion the fact that today?s standard of service is inversely correlated with the boasting that companies do about its alleged quality.

Shakespeare said we should doubt the truthfulness of those who ?protest too much? about their virtue, who overstate their capabilities.

In an increasingly competitive world, we?re kidding ourselves if we believe claiming the name is the equivalent of being good at the game.

Let?s get on with the challenge of truly improving service productivity, and this will serve everyone?s interests.

Best-selling author of 12 books and more than 1,000 articles, Dr. Gary S. Goodman is considered "The Gold Standard" in negotiation, sales development, customer service, and telephone effectiveness. Top-rated as a speaker, seminar leader, and consultant, his clients extend across the globe and the organizational spectrum, from the Fortune 1000 to small businesses. He can be reached at: [e-mail].