i suspect many of the employees at epps feel phone and internet sales are merely "nuisance business" if epps has something i need in the future i will deal with them but i would expect zero to nil in customer service.
Phone and Internet sales account for more than 1/2 of our daily sales, Ottoshot. You could not be more mistaken when you claim that we consider such sales to be "nuisance business". However, after you deal with an endless barrage of telephone calls asking such mundane questions as "Are you open?" or "Is this the gun room?" or "Do you sell ammunition?", on top of answering more than 80 E-mails in a 9-hour day, and seeing several hundred customers in that same time span, patience levels can run thin.
It always amazes me how every single person on these boards seems to think that their idea of Customer Service should be something akin to indentured servitude where the person behind the counter must bend and flex to every single whim and fancy of each and every customer. There seems to have arisen an unreal expectation among society at large which insists that any person in a service position should be nothing short of a whipping-boy for every person that walks through the doors of their establishment -- whether that service person is a waiter or waitress, a receptionist at a medical office, or a retail sales individual. The Customer Is Always Right attitude has become The Customer Demands To Be Right At All Costs, when in reality the customer is only right when they are right, and sometimes they are wrong.
I know that that statement will fuel an endless stream of backlash and debate on that subject, but truly customers must realize that businesses -- ALL businesses -- are run on some sort of guidelines and principles that, while perhaps not as agreeable or flexible as any one individual might prefer, are the foundations of success for that business. Ellwood Epps is in the customer service industry, and our staff members do the very best that they can to provide a high level of service to each and every individual that steps through our doors. Are we perfect? Do we make mistakes or experience the occasional off day? No, Yes, and Yes. We are, after all, only human.
But then again, so are our customers. And as I stated previously, what are the chances that some of these issues don't actually begin on the other side of the counter, with customers wearing immense chips on their shoulders, or entering any given establishment with unreal expectations?
Visit our store on a Saturday afternoon, around 2.00 o'clock is the best time, and see just how insanely busy that place can be. And then gauge for yourself the level of customer service we are able to provide to the bodies in the store, the voices on the telephone, and the faceless contacts that filter through the Internet.
If you come in expecting 'zero to nil customer service', you have already made up your mind, haven't you? And there is little that we can do at that point to change that opinion. Why not try a fresh approach -- perhaps a little bit of appreciation for the effort we do put into our jobs so that you can enjoy the recreational sport you have chosen, and around which our store is centered.
