Sorry, I’m On Break

One weekend I went to a local retail store to purchase some items. I was unfamiliar with location of the items that I needed so I began searching for a person wearing a smock. The smock usually indicates that the person is working for the store. I asked the person for assistance and she told me that she was on break. I was astounded by her response and wished I had been mystery shopping her! I wondered how she would feel if she was being mugged or robbed and a nearby police officer told her that he was on break.

What sort of customer service would I be giving if I were to give this response to our customers? The question is rhetorical but the answer is obvious…I would not be offering ANY customer service.

When I am on a break and if I notice that our light is flashing (which is letting us know that there is more calls waiting than there are reps on the phone), I will stop my break and take the call and resume my break when the calls are cleared. A few moments of my time to assist a caller with storage is worth more than the few moments that I missed from the break. It is easy to make up the break time but not as easy to make up for a dissatisfied caller that had to wait or hang the phone up in frustration. I try to put myself in the shoes of the storage customer and ask myself how would I want to be treated? The answer is; the way that I precede with the customer.