Close
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Applications
    • Applications
    • Networking
    • PC Hardware

    It’s Time to Cut the Slack from Customer Service

    By
    Dan Berthiaume
    -
    May 28, 2008
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      Having been born in 1970, I cannot escape the fact that I squarely land in the demographic known as “Generation X.” As much disdain as I held in the early 1990s for the then-new buzzwords like “Gen X” and “slacker,” I have to confess that I did exhibit a number of stereotypical slacker behaviors.

      I held a series of dead-end jobs at second-rate companies, explaining away my seeming lack of career path by saying I wanted to “be a writer.” I whiled away countless hours that could have been otherwise spent productively arguing the relative merits of Nirvana vs. Pearl Jam. I hung out in “colorful” dive bars. I reserved the bulk of my closet space for plaid flannel shirts. I crashed on friends’ couches from coast to coast. I even engaged in a regrettable two-week flirtation with growing a goatee (though, thankfully, I was smart enough not to pose for any photos during the latter half of March 1995).

      Then something happened. I turned 25 and realized it was time to finally grow up. I took my first career-type job, as a reporter for a small weekly newspaper, and poured my heart and soul into it. I moved out of my mom’s house and into my own apartment. I started my weekends on Fridays (okay, sometimes I held a sneak preview on Thursday nights) and ended them on Sundays. I started shaving regularly.

      Although grunge has been out of style long enough to be poised for its second comeback, many retailers are still in the slacker phase when it comes to their support of customer service.

      Most egregiously, they don’t bother investing in heavy-duty security systems to protect customer data, relying strictly on third-party standards or pure luck to protect their customers from fraud and identity theft. They don’t look into advanced merchandising and supply chain systems, settling for stock-outs and delivery errors that prevent shoppers from getting the products they need. They let in-store customer service levels descend to all-time lows, despite the availability of self-service devices and automated training tools that can vastly improve the entire customer shopping experience.

      Like a post-college wanderer who sullies his friends’ mismatched living room sets while gaining the “life experience” needed to be a writer (all without hardly putting a pen to paper), all too many retailers are satisfied with maintaining the status quo while “investigating” new systems and processes that could improve their customer service levels. This generalization does not apply to all, or even most retailers, but it applies to more than a few, and a few is too many.

      To all you slacking retailers, I say the time has come to step out of the early ’90s and into the early ’00s. Move the old flannel shirts off your shelves and give your customers the products they want and need. Weekends and holidays are not one big party, but when your customers are most apt to frequent your stores, so make sure you are providing the technical and staff support necessary to keep things flowing smoothly during peak shopping periods.

      Reality doesn’t bite anywhere nearly as bad as advertised. The time to be dazed and confused is over, so unleash your natural-born killer instinct and build a reservoir of customer service-enhancing systems that will keep your business from going to the dogs (all lame references to early ’90s movies are fully intentional, and no, I won’t apologize for them).

      Dan Berthiaume covers the retail space for eWEEK. For more industry news, check out eWEEK.com’s Retail Site.

      Dan Berthiaume

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Cybersecurity

      Visa’s Michael Jabbara on Cybersecurity and Digital...

      James Maguire - May 17, 2022 0
      I spoke with Michael Jabbara, VP and Global Head of Fraud Services at Visa, about the cybersecurity technology used to ensure the safe transfer...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Yotascale CEO Asim Razzaq on Controlling Multicloud...

      James Maguire - May 5, 2022 0
      Asim Razzaq, CEO of Yotascale, provides guidance on understanding—and containing—the complex cost structure of multicloud computing. Among the topics we covered:  As you survey the...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      GoodData CEO Roman Stanek on Business Intelligence...

      James Maguire - May 4, 2022 0
      I spoke with Roman Stanek, CEO of GoodData, about business intelligence, data as a service, and the frustration that many executives have with data...
      Read more
      IT Management

      Intuit’s Nhung Ho on AI for the...

      James Maguire - May 13, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nhung Ho, Vice President of AI at Intuit, about adoption of AI in the small and medium-sized business market, and how...
      Read more
      Applications

      Cisco’s Thimaya Subaiya on Customer Experience in...

      James Maguire - May 10, 2022 0
      I spoke with Thimaya Subaiya, SVP and GM of Global Customer Experience at Cisco, about the factors that create good customer experience – and...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2021 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×