The system [is] down, is the oldest trick used by the local customer service guys. No matter whether it is a simple public office, or a shiny marble-floored private building, the same phrase is repeated to dismiss customers. I do not want to sound harsh on them, the system could actually be down sometimes, like in 5 percent of the cases!
In the last week of Ramadan, I faced exactly the same response at three different locations on the same day — a public office and two banks — and I am quite confident that the banks were giving inaccurate information. I happen to know some staff working for these two banks, and they finished my transactions although they just dismissed tens of people reciting that lousy excuse, “the system is down.”
Trying to understand the reason behind such an attitude of customer service personnel is not as simple as it might seem to be. It is a deeply rooted problem. It makes it so easy for a service provider, whether in the public or private sector, to recite such an excuse without a second thought or any remorse.
Please do not be surprised to know that the reason overwhelmingly presented to justify such a response is, “we say so when we want to take a break, or when the branch is abnormally crowded and we want customers to try other branches!” This is not a guess or conjecture. It is a true statement. I heard different customer service agents usually saying this with a smile and without the slightest sign of remorse. The surprising thing is that they are doing it with the sanction of their supervisor or branch manager!
Customer service may sound good in advertising, “putting the customer first‚” and “the customer is always right‚” are nice slogans to highlight on your website. Having customer service accounts on social media platforms is a must because everyone else is having it, but customer service concept goes beyond that, it is a practice that stems from belief and not enforced processes, key performance indicators (KPIs) and tailored lines to tell customers.
For that, it is still a weak and pretentious practice in the local market. Organizations of different kinds are dealing with it in a wrong way. For most of them, it is a position that requires the minimum level of training and strictly enforced KPIs. They totally disregard motivation and empowering the staff to go beyond the prescribed actions to help customers. Daniel H. Pink, in his book, “Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us,” lists three elements of paramount importance in getting people to perform and give their best in the modern work environment — autonomy, mastery and purpose. All of these elements do not exist in a customer service environment in most of the local organizations.
Therefore, when you are not well prepared to work under pressure, when you are not trained to deal with people of different backgrounds and personalities, when you are not engaged with your job, deeply understanding your role in the organization, when you feel underpaid and overstressed, it is no surprise after all that you would jump at the first chance to recite the classical response, “the system is down.”
Also, there is another aspect of the problem. The fact that the customer service guys find it so easy to recite this phrase without fearing any consequences means that there is poor management in the organization.
Now imagine a hot line in a bank or a public office that receives customers’ complaints where the staff are actually bound to do something about them — I fail to understand how the staff working in such places would dare dismiss their customers for smoking or a coffee break if they are monitored by their supervisors and are accountable for their actions.
The bottom line is that we need to rethink our understanding of the concept of customer service first, maybe then we could prepare staff who truly believe in it and do well. After that, we can develop the regulations that preserve the customers’ right in receiving the service they are looking for.
