I start every day by reading my emails within 5-minutes of waking up.  I don’t treat emails any different than text, they deserve just as much attention as a text or a phone call because it’s all communication.  Everyone communicates using a method they are comfortable with and it’s my job to be at the other end of that request no matter how it gets to me.  It’s not uncommon to have to sort and delete the first ten or so emails that came in during the wee hours of the morning labeled, “Salesbeast”, “Advanced Marketing”, etc.,  to get to what I’m looking for. I’m focused on identifying the emails that are asking for my help, whether they’re internal from my team, requests from longtime clients, or emails such as these recent examples:

 

 

email #1. I am interested in a quote for fire alarm inspections, fire alarm monitoring, and fire extinguisher services for my business.  Currently, we are using “company X” who recently merged with “company Y”.  I am not very happy with all the changes from them. Contacting them has become complicated. It is all centralized into national call centers.

email #2. I would like to speak with you about fire alarm services for a multi-building property in Portland. We are terminating our contract with “company X”.  We can not ever get a hold of them. The fire marshal has told us we are past due and must comply within 30 days.

 

If communication is so important, why is the competition not communicating? My answer is, I don’t know and I have to be honest here, I don’t care. Our focus is on our customers and not our competition. This brings me to the subject of customer service. The foundation of customer service is to provide service to the customer. If this is true, then how can you be in a service business if you’re not providing service? Isn’t customer service is supposed to be, “The Thing” that makes any company successful?   Let me pose it this way… If you had the choice of going to a restaurant that had great food but horrible customer service or going to a restaurant that had great food and the best customer service experience EVER, which one would you choose?  You chose the best customer service experience, didn’t you?  Of course, you did, because as consumers we all want to be treated well, as a matter of fact, we should expect it.  Did you notice that I didn’t make cost part of the equation?  Does it matter? I suppose to some degree it does but the cost is secondary to a great experience.  As it pertains to customer service there’s  really no difference whether it’s restaurant business, the hotel business or the fire/ Life safety business because the level of service you experience does matter. Your experience determines many things such as; will you go back to that restaurant again?  Will you tell your friends about your experience at that hotel and will that influence their future choices? Did the fire/ life safety service provider respond to your needs and provide a solution to your problem?

 

I want you to share your experience with Signaling System Solutions with your friends and colleagues. I want you to talk about the kind of customer service experience you receive with each and every interaction you have with any of our employees. I will also challenge you to pay attention and rate the customer service of every place you visit today and then ask yourself, what is the value here?