Devoted to customer service and the principles of exceptional customer services

If Enterprise made a huge boo-boo, it was in hiring the wrong employee. I disagree with the contention that, if one employee lies to a customer, then the entire company is a liar.

Maria, you know that I share the same beliefs about customer service that you do, but I think it was unfair for Laurie to brand a business a "liar" because of the actions of one employee.

We don't know "the rest of the story." We don't know why the employee was the only one at her location, but I'm betting it wasn't by her choice. (You know how much fun scheduling employees is in retail.) We don't know if Enterprise followed up with a phone call to the customer as they frequently do and what Laurie's friend told them. If she did talk with them, we don't know how the company responded.

I'm a regular customer of Enterprise and yes, you can call me a customer evangelist for them. My experience with employees in several cities is totally different that what Laurie writes about. You can also read about the emphasis Enterprise places on customer service in Fred Reicheld's book, The Ultimate Question.

I believe this was an isolated example.

Regards,

Glenn

The biggest lie in customer service is that the agent has any real power to help you. So often I have been told something by one service rep and later that decision is disregarded for one reason or another. I never blame the rep through, always the company for not honoring the agent's on the fly thinking to help the customer. There are always unforeseen circumstances and from a customer's standpoint, all situations are unique.In this case I think the company was absolutely at fault to have one person working the store whether corporate knew about it or not. Someone hired the wrong person but it was not the lone worker at the Enterprise office. There are plenty of questions we may never have the answer to, but if the company does not learn from this incident it might not remain isolated.

Kim,

It sounds to me like the agents you are describing are violating company policy. When that happens the business should coach or discipline the employee.

Enterprise could have been at fault because it deliberately short-staffed its offices. (That hasn't been the experience in my case.) Or, as I've learned after 30 years in management in both inside and outside sales, they were understaffed because a) someone called in sick that morning b)someone had quit and they hadn't filled the position, or c)the store's manager or district manager screwed up the schedule. Sometimes mistakes are made due to inexperience, sometimes they are made due to incompetence, but the senior management may be just as upset as you, the customer, are.

You say "the biggest lie in customer service is that the agent has any real power to help you." After our van was wrecked, we rented from Enterprise for nearly 3 weeks. We had 3 different vehicles. The first my wife didn't like, and the second had mechanical difficulties. In each case the agents exceeded our needs in such a manner that I became an evangelist for Enterprise.

I think you were referring to businesses in general, but even so, in those companies where the senior management has empowered their front-line staff to fix problems, the agend DOES have the power to help you.

Unfortunately, not enough businesses empower their employees in this way. Enterprise, however, is one of them.

Regards,

Glenn