I have been in customer service for about thirty years now. The first 20 were spent working directly with the public, face to face and hands on, the last nine years have been here at Big Dot of Happiness an internet based retailer where all of my customer service contact has been via phone, email and live chat. Two totally different types of customer service, both very challenging and rewarding all at the same time. As you can imagine having dealt with customers that many years I have seen and heard just about every kind of customer service experience you could image. So what have I learned over the years? I have learned first and foremost how to be a customer. Yes that’s right, working in customer service has taught me a lot about how to be a better shopper and consumer. So today I thought I would share three of the things I’ve learned along the way.
1. Ask for it. Just because you don’t see what you’re looking for doesn’t mean they don’t have it or can’t get it. Here at Big Dot of Happiness our number one goal is customer satisfaction. If you’re looking for a particular item and you can’t find it on our website ask for it. Our expert experts in customer service will work with one of our designers or our purchasing agent to do what ever we can to get you what you want. A couple months ago I had a customer who was looking for just the insert on our lollipop stand for one of her customers. We normally don’t sell just that one piece, but I worked with our purchasing agent and we were not only able to get the customer the pieces she wanted, but we were able to ship them directly to her customer for her. Had she just looked around on our website she would not have found what she was looking for, but she asked for it and we were able to get it!
2. Read the description. While this pertains to website shopping probably more so than store shopping it still can make for a better shopping experience. You might have to scroll down a bit on the web page to find the description, but when you do you will find all kinds of helpful information such as size, color, weight, ingredients, and what’s all included. Here’s a perfect example of how reading the description can be helpful and time saving. We get numerous emails, phone calls and live chats each week asking if envelopes are included with our squiggle invitations (Don’t get me wrong we love to talk, email, and chat with our customers) but by reading the description they would have noticed that it states not once but three times that envelopes are included with every invite order. I realize most people are in a hurry and just want to get their order done, but in this case reading the description would actually have saved time by eliminating a phone call, live chat session or waiting for an email response.
3. Sign up for emails and promotions. In today’s fast paced world of social media and smartphones emails and text messages have become the way of communicating. It’s a great way to receive coupons, new product updates and vital information regarding your order. At Big Dot of Happiness we use emails as our number way of communicating with our customers. We send out exclusive email campaigns with special savings, introduce new products and themes and also send all invoices and order tracking information electronically. Want a quick answer send us an email. Now I’m not saying to give your email and phone number out to just anyone, use caution and ask to make sure that like Big Dot of Happiness your information is kept private and not sold to outside vendors.
Can’t find what your looking for? Didn’t see it in the description? Wish you had a coupon code? Our Expert Experts are always here to help!!
