Do you know that Sears, Roebuck and Co., founded in 1893, evolved from a railroad station agent’s passion for watches which he started to sell through a mail order catalog? The History of Sears, as we know it today, is very interesting and impressive and I don’t have the time here to recount it all, but the one nugget that sticks in my head from my historical research is that by 1895, Sears had earned a reputation for offering quality products and great customer satisfaction. That passion and reputation is officially history. The Sears we know 115 years later is not the king of customer service that it might have once been. There are endless complaints on the internet and my own story tops it off.

Our refrigerator, washer, dryer, bed, vacuum, service repairs and other nominal household items and tools have come from Sears. Almost every purchase has been weighed down with complicated processing, third-party delivery vendors and the lovely 6-hour window assignments for deliveries or repairs where the rep finally stops by the 7^th hour! And why have I wasted my time again and again with them? I don’t know but I finally got smart this holiday season. In the hope of finding a good deal on Black Friday, I went to Sears for one final purchase—a much needed dishwasher. After 3 weeks of third-party hell and long holds with a bull-shit automated phone system, I still didn’t have my dishwasher installed!! In the end, I had Sears credit my account one week before Christmas and I took my money elsewhere. See-yah Sears!

Ironically, my frustration with Sears and decision to skip them for good was exacerbated by the many “end of the year” doctor appointments I experienced in December. Why do doctors finally see you an hour after your scheduled appointment? Do they think we all have time to spare from work and our busy lives to hang out for a 2-hour window as if we’re having furniture delivered? Do they think their years of practice, degrees and life-saving abilities make them exempt from providing customer service? Doctors in general probably don’t realize they’re providing bad service. They just forget that patients are customers. They have become complacent.

The #1 lesson for doctors, service providers, and especially large companies like Sears who have long histories, is to NOT “forget” the customer. To avoid complacency in your customer service, don’t forget to:

• Tighten “windows of time”. If you think your scheduled time with a customer is going to go over or get delayed, communicate this in advance and sympathize with the inconvenience this poses on your customer.
• Make sure your customer knows you are going out of your way to make a first mishap never happen again.
• Follow up with customers when they are unhappy.
• Be flexible with scheduling. Not everyone can “jump” to your timeline; service providers need to accommodate customers’ schedules when they can.
• Thank your customers for their business…every time.
• Find one way at the end of the day how you can serve better tomorrow.

Curiosity killed the cat, but it’s complacency that killed the customer.

Please send me a customer service story you would like to share.  If I use it for this column, we will send you a free copy of 10 Simple Secrets of the World’s Greatest Business Communicators, Carmine Gallo’s first book featuring several inspiring executives, professionals and other leaders who are extraordinary spokespeople.