How to do Customer Service

I grew up in a setting where I have constantly seen my Dad work hard for his customers every single day. He is almost 75 years old today and still continues persisting and practicing what he believes in and that’s Psychiatry. To him his customers are his patients. I have fondly heard him say several times “Never turn around a customer. Don’t make them wait, service them as best as you can”. Throughout my career, I have been fortunate to work with some great leaders who have showcased their excellence in doing what’s right for their customers. Naturally, having been nurtured in such a setting, I have bar-raising expectations around how to do customer service.

My motivation to write this post was a series of frustrating telephonic conversations I had with a financial company over the past month. A story that highlights how not to do customer service and uses this story to outline a framework to keep in mind when working with customers.

The Story

I have been holding a bank account with a financial company A since 2003. In fact, this was one of the very first accounts I opened in the USA as a student and a company that has a global presence. In late 2021, company A decided to transfer our account to company B that was more a national institution and not global. Company B does not even have a local presence in the state of Washington and the closest branch is approximately 300 miles away. When I got a notice in the mail, I decided to stop all transactions on the related account with company A and before I could act any further, the account was transferred to company B. Then began an ordeal of long telephonic conversation with the customer service team of company B with a simple end-goal of closing my account.

Call#1, Week#1 - Called in to company B’s customer service. I came to know that there was no way to speak to a live agent, so I had to wait until all the automated options were done and game the system to not respond with any input to be transferred to an agent. I waited for nearly 20 minutes before speaking to an agent. An agent responded stating that there was an associated line of credit that had a balance and had to be paid off before they could fulfill closing the account. I hung up as I had to transfer money into the company B account to accrue enough balance to pay the line of credit. The agent also was trying to convince me that I should walk in to a local branch where they could assist with all of these activities in one shot. I responded and educated the agent on why that’s not a choice with their closest branch being roughly 300 miles out.

Call#2, Week#2 - I called in to customer service and this time I was given an option for a callback. I received a callback from a live agent who filled in the paperwork on their side to submit a request to close the line of credit. This agent then assured me that they would notate on the account to close the associated checking account once the line of credit was closed out. I thanked them, trusted them and dropped off.

Call#3, Week#2 - I checked my company B’s online profile only to realize the accounts (and line of credit) were still active. Naturally I was extremely upset and called the customer service line. Note that the time of call was almost the same as my previous call and this time I had to wait another 25 minutes before I could talk to an agent. The agent responded that a technical glitch on their side had happened and that they needed to re-submit the request to close the line of credit. And not only that there was an associated interest charge on the line of credit in the amount of ~$14. I had to challenge the agent on why they would push the cost down to the customer when it was a problem on their side to which the agent said that they had no paper trail nor audit trail of the previous request. This agent re-submitted the request and this time I ensured to get a confirmation number for tracking the request along with the agent's name because by now this company and their team of agents had broken my trust.

Call#4, Week#3 - I called in again, having to wait another 25 mins with no option for callback. The agent was able to confirm my line of credit had been closed out. I asked them to close out my account fully and that I don’t want to deal with this company anymore. The agent responded that there was a balance of ~$50 in my checking account and that I had to do a transaction to bring the balance down to $0. I got a little furious but controlled my temper and educated the agent on why sending me a check as a part of closing the account is not an option. The agent concurred that it was an option and filled up the paperwork on their side to close out the account. I also asked for a written mail confirmation that my account has been closed out with a $0 balance.

And so it continues .... I am yet to see the final statement letter in my mail that the account has been closed out and I am hopeful I don't need to call them again. But one fact doesn't change and that is that they LOST A CUSTOMER.

I wanted to use this story to reflect back on factors to consider when you are in the business of serving customers.

1. Make it easy for your customers to do business with you.
2. Profile your customer and know what to expect when you speak to them. Do not give them options that don't match their profile.
3. Be emphatic. Never inflict pain on your customer and pass down costs to them.
4. Be trustworthy. Don’t make a commitment to a customer that you cannot keep up. A commitment once made is stronger than a promise.
5. When you make a commitment to a customer, also set an expectation on next steps and follow-ups.
6. Always ask your customer for feedback.
7. Finally, never break trust with your customer. Trust once broken can rarely be repaired or regained.

If you are in the business of serving customers, then please share your feedback. There is always so much to learn when you are in the context of serving your customers as best as you can.