Have you ever lodged a complaint and felt like no one was really listening? Or maybe worse – Have you taken a moment to compliment a service and then felt like an inconvenience for taking up their time? On this episode of Let’s Talk Service, we dive into the cross-industry epidemic of customer service apathy, discussing what we think is the driving force behind this trending “no one cares” attitude.

This episode, we discuss:

[03:20] How a lack of listening can hinder proper customer service

Feeling like a complaint or compliment isn’t being given the proper attention can make a customer feel like an inconvenience, potentially turning a great experience into a poor one. In a recent personal experience, I contacted a bank from overseas. After discussing my location and issue for a period of time, they suggested I go into a branch. I had already informed the representative that I was located in the U.S., so the suggestion made me feel like I was a major inconvenience that they were looking to hand off to the next person and that I hadn’t been heard at all.

[04:08] What is causing customers to feel disempowered and disenfranchised

When we’re speaking to people about this podcast and listening to their stories regarding customer service, a lot of the feedback we receive is that they feel disempowered and disenfranchised. They feel that their complaints aren’t being considered as valuable feedback and are essentially being told they can be easily replaced.

[05:46] The impact of status and familiarity on customer service

So much of service these days is related to status, how much you pay, or how often you frequent a business. If this is a driving force in the level of customer service you provide, know that your customers feel the difference in treatment. 

[06:56] The disconnect between the customer and the service provider

The “no one cares” attitude that we’re seeing sweep across the customer service world begs the question, “What’s the disconnect?” As we seem to have left the era of “the customer is always right” behind us, it’s time we take a look at our behaviors as customers and service providers to identify how we can shift our focus from simply completing the transaction to the softer skills required to provide an enjoyable service.

[08:29] What to expect on future episodes

We want to thank all of our listeners for their tremendous feedback on this topic. As we move forward with the podcast, we will be addressing this issue within specific industries. We encourage you to take on the role of active observers in your customer service experiences and to join us in the discussion of identifying changes we need to make within the customer service industry today.

Thank you for listening! I’d love you to join me for a new episode every other Tuesday and hear from our guests and their perspective on fabulous customer service. If you’re interested in more information, check out Bond and Des Voeux on Instagram!