Tips for Getting Satisfactory Service

Here are a few suggestions based on experience (mine & several friends) in various customer service jobs. I didn't conduct an exhaustive study or interview any "experts," but the people I polled had a number of similar comments & ideas:

• If you're calling or going in person in order to resolve a problem, gather any necessary papers, invoices, documentation, membership cards or account numbers before calling/coming. Some places can't look your record up without a member or account number.
• If the history of the problem is complicated, jot down the steps you've already taken, with dates if possible. If you're dealing with a large institution, you might never get the same customer service rep twice. Even if everyone with whom you speak has taken meticulous notes, you might still have to repeat information you've already given.
• Realize that customer service professionals want to help you resolve problems or issues. A satisfactory resolution is win-win. It helps to approach staff with an expectation that a mutually acceptable solution will be reached, rather than in a me-versus-them frame of mind. This might sound obvious but everywhere I've worked, it has always surprised me how often customers seem to be in fighting mode when they enter a dialogue.
  
• This applies to all of us - staff and customers: develop the habit of seeing people as individuals, not primarily as parts of an organization. This prevents the us-versus-them mindset that gets in the way of good relationships and transactions.