Customer service and the economy

My employer is going through some tough times due to our struggling economy and some past business decisions. This has resulted in a number of departments being lost and many people taking advantage of the buyout offer. Good for them but not so good for those left behind which means less people to service our clients. Times are tough for most businesses these days but the knee-jerk reaction by many businesses feeling the pinch is to reduce the number of employees and save money in as many ways as possible. That’s understandable but what does in mean for our customers? Our service levels have decreased as phone calls are now routed to a different part of the country, there’s less support and sales staff to offer basic levels of service by phone or email and our customers are becoming more frustrated as they try to do business with a company that’s cutting corners and reducing costs in any way possible.Customer Service
Most of my employer’s problems were caused by events that unfolded before the economic downturn but were exacerbated by our floundering economy and I’m hopeful they can find a way out. But our customers should come first. They pay the bills and deserve a level of service commensurate with the fees we charge for our service. To be fair, this is happening in businesses all over the country and my employer is doing what they need to do to survive but isn’t there a better way? Isn’t this the time to shine and go above and beyond for our customers? Hopefully the economy will recover before it’s too late to change.

  2Comments

  1. Francis Lemieux   •  

    Recently I have noticed the word “service” being used as a verb. Although looking at the dictionary, I am not sure if this is grammatically incorrect, but I think that the word “serve” would be a better choice here. The reason I say this is because when I see the word “service” as in “to service a customer” I always think of the veterinary connotation of the verb “service” as in the insemination service performed by a race horse or prize bull rather the service a customer might expect from a business.

    • admin   •     Author

      Well, I suppose I *did* ask for comments. 🙂

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