In the Name of Customer Service

In the Name of Customer Service

Vincent Ivan Phipps, M.A.
Contributing Writer
Communication Coach, Author, Business Owner

Did you know that you are 33{938cd9e8dae860e800efc538277d4f7684e6f6981618ba70d1c34357a53c2e1f} more likely to increase someone’s customer service experience by simply saying their name? Like most people, I enjoy hearing someone use my name. It makes me feel appreciated and respected. This is the same feeling I want to give to my customers.

Here are two occurrences when my name was used in both good and bad customer service experiences.

The good experience

I arrived at my gym at 6 a.m. to go swimming. I get to the front desk and forgot my membership card at home. Then I realized I forgot my towel. I didn’t want to go back home. I thought, maybe the front desk representative will give me a break. I can pull up my website from my mobile phone then show them my picture. They can then cross reference my membership ID along with my User name by looking up my social security number with my mailing address as long as I remembered the name of my favorite pet (which I never had) or my favorite teacher. Wow! Typing that just gave me another workout!

I had already justified doing all of this because that 15 minutes I figured it would take would be faster than the 30 minute round trip back home and to the gym. As I proceeded to the gym’s front desk, I was pleasantly surprised. I pulled out my phone getting ready to spring into “It’s really me” mode! The front desk attendant said, “Good morning Vincent. We just put out some fresh warm towels. Have a good swim.” I forgot the gym provided towels because I always brought my own due to the gym’s towels being a bit small, but today I was in no position to complain. The attendant knew my name and what I was there to do. I felt awesome the rest of the day. I will look for every opportunity to brag about the awesome customer service I experienced from Stephanie provided at Gold’s Gym.

The bad experience

My suit needed cleaning. There is a new place on the route to my office. They even open at 7 a.m.! I went in to drop off my suit. The lady did not smile, say hello, or ask me what I needed. I asked, “How much to have my suit cleaned and how soon will it be available for pick up?” I was a new customer to her. She gave the price and said, “3 days”. I thanked her and immediately missed the hospitality of my old cleaners. Here is where it gets worse.

Attendant: Name?
Me: Vincent
Attendant: Your last name is, Vincent?
Me: No Ma’am
Attendant: Then why did you say that?
Me: My apologies, you asked for my name.
Attendant: Last name?
Me: Phipps
Attendant: So, you want me to write your Phipps, Vincent?
Me: Vincent Phipps
Attendant: Well first or last?
Me: Excuse me?
Attendant: FIRST OR LAST?
Me: My full name is Vincent Ivan Phipps
Attendant: Look, I’ll just write “Phipps, Ivan
Me: Ok.
Attendant: When do you want it back?
Me: Thursday will be great!
Attendant: You can’t have it that soon.
Me: That is 3 days from now.
Attendant: Today doesn’t count.

This went on for 11 minutes (yes I was timing it!). I went back 3 (or 4) days later. The attendant was there. It took almost 20 minutes to find my suit. She misspelled my name as, “Phillips, Ivon.”

I showed her my driver’s license, listing my name as “Vincent Ivan Phipps”. She looked at her clothing tag receipt and then at my I.D. and said, “Your name isn’t, Phillips Ivon!”

Our names are extensions of our individuality. Here are intriguing name statistics:

  •  27{938cd9e8dae860e800efc538277d4f7684e6f6981618ba70d1c34357a53c2e1f} of females between 30-60 have hyphenated names
  • 14{938cd9e8dae860e800efc538277d4f7684e6f6981618ba70d1c34357a53c2e1f} of the United States population will regularly use their middle name (I do!)
  • Most common misspelled names: John/Jon, Ann/Anne, Jessie/Jesse, Thom/Tom, and Tracey/Traci/Tracy
  • Remember the 90’s R&B group, Toni Toni Tone’!

Some names are hard to pronounce or understand. Some names have varying accents. Some names are symbols (Thank you Prince). In your next customer service opportunity, remember to be respectful, say names correctly and amplify your customer service.Vincent Ivan Phipps, M.A. “The Attitude Amplifier”

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