The behaviors associated with a cold customer service attitude can range from merely brisk to unfriendly, harsh – even hostile. If your party is not on our registry, you’ll have to leave. The startled customer responds, Oh! No… I didn’t know I needed one. Excuse me, does your party have an appointment? she asks skeptically. One moves to intercept the customer as she starts looking at a rack of bridesmaid gowns. This attitude leaves customers baffled, frustrated, and ready to take their business to the competition.Ī customer and her friend enter a bridal store and are greeted by looks of surprise from several employees. When the service person makes no effort to connect with or help the customer, it sends a clear message that they are uninterested in the customer as a person – or as anything other than a nuisance interrupting their day. The brush-off is an effort by a service person to rebuff the customer and to avoid engaging with their question or problem.
He then walks away from the frustrated customer without offering any further guidance or assistance. “Excuse me,a retail customer says, Can you help me find this? The floor rep shakes his head. Given the option, customers who encounter this attitude are unlikely to return for a second helping. Any of these apathetic behaviors clearly communicate to the customer that the representative simply doesn’t care about the customer or their needs. A very apathetic customer service person might avoid eye contact, and respond to customer concerns or questions by shrugging, or simply responding I don’t know. Apathy may be reflected by the representative showing no actual interest in the customer, by a lack of speed or energy devoted to the customer’s issue, or by body language that communicates only extreme boredom. I’m going on my coffee break.”Īpathetic customer service is characterized by slow, unresponsive, or inattentive behavior toward the customer. Yeah, but you’ll have to wait for a minute. Ah…͟ falters the customer, Is this where I should turn in this form? Still getting no response, she finally ventures, Excuse me, can you help me?The clerk finally shifts her gaze to the window, and stares without speaking. After a moment, the customer clears her throat. The clerk doesn’t look up, but keeps typing. The clerk’s fingernails are tapping at the keyboard as the customer approaches her window. Let’s take a closer look at the types of attitudes and behaviors these terms describe.
These sins, as expressed by Albrecht, are: Apathy, Brush-off, Coldness, Condescension, Robotism, Rulebook, and Runaround. Karl Albrecht identified a number of attitudes and behaviors that he referred to as the 7 Sins of Service.These are the ways that customer-facing employees often drive customers away. “ If you’re not serving the customer, you’d better be serving someone who is.” – Karl Albrecht