On a scale of one to five, five being absolutely yes, and one being absolutely no, would you hire the Delta Service Representative you spoke with to work as a customer service representative for your company?
I was asked this question after I returned a call to Delta Airlines about a change in itinerary for an upcoming trip. Turns out the itinerary was only changed by a few minutes departure time on either end of the trip, but it did give them the opportunity to ask me if I’d like to rent a car or reserve a hotel room. Or perhaps I’d like a Delta American Express Card?
No thank you.
But back to the original question.
I wanted to be mad. I spent 25 minutes on hold. I had to listen to their selection of on-hold music instead of the play-by-play of the NCAA basketball tournament. I was solicited for three things I did not need.
But I couldn’t be mad.
You see, Kathy the Service Agent was exactly the kind of person I would want working as a customer service representative for my company.
Why?
She was polite.
She had a nice, easily heard and understood vocal quality.
She patiently repeated information when asked.
She answered my questions easily and eagerly, without false enthusiasm.
She was respectful of my time, even though her employer had given several tasks to accomplish.
I gave her a 5.
The question was asked brilliantly, wasn’t it? Had they asked me about my over all experience, my score would have been much lower. Had they asked me a series of questions, I would have become annoyed and hung up.
That one question, about Kathy, yielded the highest possible response, even from this slightly irritated customer.
They must have a lot of faith in their customer service representatives to ask that question.
I wonder; do you?
P.S. Sometimes two questions are even more effective than one!