By
Erica Marois
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Date Published: May 08, 2013 - Last Updated August 22, 2018
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Comments
Have you ever had a customer service experience so awesome that you just had to tell everyone you know?
Especially in this age of mobile and social media, we hear and see about plenty of negative customer service experiences on a daily basis, but what about the positive ones?
I can think of a few personal experiences, but the most recent in my mind is a stressful situation my bank handled.
A couple of weeks ago, I logged into my online banking app to transfer some money into my savings. (I LOVE that I can now do that right from my phone!) Unfortunately, I was panicked to find hundreds of dollars missing from my account due to fraudulent charges made in Arkansas (by the way, I’ve never even been to Arkansas). I was admittedly pretty upset, and a little discouraged when I called the customer service hotline and found that it might take 10 business days to recover the missing funds. At the same I was incredibly thankful for their mobile app. If not for that, I might not have caught the error so quickly!
After my call to the hotline, I decided to give my local branch a call. The customer service representative I spoke with was so friendly and reassuring! She had me come in and sign a few documents and immediately faxed my paperwork to the national fraud department and got the missing money back in my account the next business day. I was so thankful for her prompt and friendly assistance, and so impressed by the level of customer service. Since then, I’ve shared the story with many of my friends.
When you’re blown away by great service, you want to share the story. On that note, our Speaker of the Week, ACCE keynote speaker, Ann Tardy, shared one of her favorite customer service stories with me this week.
Her blog post Mentoring: Then and Now was featured on Monday, but I’d like to take this time to more properly introduce her and help you get to know her a little better. Check out her awesome customer service story below, along with her answers to a few other questions. If you’re attending ACCE, you don’t want to miss her presentation!
ICMI: What excites you most about presenting at ACCE this year?
Ann: Having been the keynote speaker at the ICMI Conference in Dallas in 2012, I am an enormous fan of the team at ICMI. The team treats its speakers like its best customers, thereby allowing us to deliver our best to the audience. It is an absolute pleasure to be involved with such a high caliber team.
ICMI: What quirky customer service fact would you like our ICMI community to know about you?
Ann: As research for my fourth book, a new keynote speech, and a documentary, I rode a bicycle from San Francisco to New Jersey and from Key West to Bar Harbor Maine in 2011 and 2012, respectively, to reach our customers at their jobs in their communities. I pedaled a total of 6,889 miles to connect with people I never would have met otherwise and hear insights that would otherwise not have been revealed.
ICMI: What is the one takeaway you hope to give your audience?
Ann: We all succeed on the shoulders of others. Through strategic mentoring, we can take this concept and intentionally progress organizational strategies and individual success simultaneously.
ICMI: What is the one question YOU hope to get an answer to while at ACCE?
Ann: How are you currently leveraging mentoring to elevate the effectiveness of your customer service teams?
ICMI: What is the best customer experience you’ve had where you’ve been on the customer side?
Ann: I flew to Indianapolis one night after minor surgery on my leg that morning. After checking into the hotel at midnight and going right to bed, I woke at 3am with terrible pain. The ACE bandage had cut into my ankle from the swelling as a result of flying. The burn was deep and painfully throbbing. I could barely walk. I called down to the front desk to ask for burn ointment, but the overnight front desk clerk said they only had Band-Aids. Upon hearing the lump in my throat and the tears welling in my eyes, she said she to give her 10 minutes. She then walked across the street to another hotel and obtained some ointment for me. I was blown away by her commitment to take care of a hotel guest as if I were a close friend.