“Welcome to Good Burger. Home of the Good Burger. Can I take your order?” If you’re close to our age, then you remember this Nickelodeon special from the 90’s with Kenan and Kel. A comedic show about two friends who work at a burger joint that serve up terrible service on the side with their burgers. I think those of us who have worked in the service industry at some point in our lives are sometimes overly critical of service standards. That being said though, 96% of people say they leave a brand because of bad customer service (Tidio Research). With people cutting back on spending due to economic uncertainty, brands cannot afford to lose business because they fell short on customer service standards. However, a lot have. There has been a 19% decrease in customer service in 2022 and it hasn’t improved. We’ve noticed this within the service industry for sure. But why is it that people are lagging on customer service when WOM is the best kind of advertising? Well, one reason could be that people have had to take jobs that they are overqualified for and feel entitlement within their workspace. They think they’re too smart and too educated for such a job and perhaps their disdain is seeping out and they cannot relate to the customer experience. It’s important to hire people who want to be there. Perhaps the problem is that some got used to not having to work through living off of unemployment during the pandemic and don’t want to be working. Whatever it is, it’s crucial that your brand steer clear of these pitfalls and unfortunately, these types of employees. Another option is to strengthen customer service in the digital space through AI tech, such as chat bots. No matter which way you look at it you can’t afford to be a brand who loses their loyal audience due to bad customer service. Making sure that you communicate with your customer in an open and effective way will alleviate this stress. Communicate this to your employees as well in order to avoid this pitfall that so many others have.
