Employee Ownership Equals True Customer Service by Robert Spector (NAPSA)—“Employee empow- erment” has become a business clich—almost as big a clich as “customerservice.” But clichs become clichs because they are rooted in truth. As consumers, it that rep, who ensures the customer is completely satisfied before he or she hangsup. What a great idea! How many times have you had to resolve a problem with a company where you are bounced around from one is our responsibility person to another? How many times have you had to explain and to companies that empower their em- each person? Nordstrom is another example. to give our business ployees to take “ownership” of our transactions, ——_——-_ interactions, Spector problems and our complaints. our our We don’t care about the company’s process or bureaucracy or rules. We just want someone to listen to us and to takecareofus. re-explain your situation with At Nordstrom, your salespersonis empowered to take care of you in every department in the store. Let’s say you’re a man shopping in the suit department. After you’ve bought your suit, you remember that you need to buy your wife a birthday present in women’s sportswear. Your suit buyer can Is that too much to ask? I don’t think so. take you over to the women’s sportswear department and help youortell you “that’s just the way to present your credit card only Don’t let companies roll over things are done around here.” That’s not a satisfactory answer. Demand things. Make noise. Here’s another clich rooted in truth: the squeaky wheel gets the grease. you with your purchase. You need once, rather than every time in every department. If you boil the Nordstrom sys- tem downto its essence, it is that the concept of “owning the customer” are the ones who are going Nordstrom gives the people on the front lines—i.e., the salespeople— the freedom to make decisions. That’s taking ownership. Robert Spector is a bestselling only ones who shouldsurvive. Sprint, for example, has re- on world-class customer service in the New Economy. His latest book is Companies that understand to survive; indeed, they are the author and international speaker tooled its automated voice system to make it easier for customers to Anytime, Anywhere: How The Best representative. And once the caller connects to a customer-ser- Customers. Moreinformation is available at speak to a live customer-service vice rep, he or she is “owned” by Bricks-and-Clicks Businesses Deliver Seamless Service To Their www.robertspector.com.
