Great customer service starts with great staff

The Home Depot in Clayton, Georgia has, without a doubt, some of the best customer service I have experienced.

I have had to go there numerous times for all sorts of things for our new vacation home up there. On one occasion, we went in there to get a new grill. We found a great one in the store, but it came fully assembled so I knew it would not fit in my SUV.

When I told the very friendly clerk Jenae about my concerns, she said they would make it work. She asked me to pull my car into a space near the exit door and disappeared with the grill.

When she and the grill reappeared after about two minutes, she was with another employee. Together, they removed just four bolts from the grill, and it separated into two pieces that fit so nicely in my SUV.

Another time, I wanted to replace the toilets in the house with some of those elevated ones with water-saving features, but I was concerned with how they would fit in my house. Willie, who had helped me on prior occasions, said he was not an expert but they had a plumber on staff. He brought the plumber over along with two additional people to help me make a decision.

After numerous experiences like this, it is obvious to me that every employee at this Home Depot cares about the customer. Clearly management really understands the importance of customer service and instills that value in its staff. They are also friendly and knowledgeable about the products and services they carry.

As important as all these things are, there is one thing more critical. That is hiring great people.

Too often hiring decisions are based solely on the candidate’s knowledge. They forget that the real key is finding people who genuinely want to help others. This management team understands it can train anyone about the products they offer, but first and foremost, they have to hire great people who really enjoy working with the public.

So how do you know who is going to be great at working with customers? One way is to see them in action. Whenever you hear about an employee demonstrating great customer service, get them to interview with you. It is so important to see how people perform in a real-life setting before you hire them if you can.

Another thing you can do is find people who really enjoy interacting with others. An introvert simply is not going to be great at customer service. It is just not in their nature to enjoy interacting with customers on a regular basis. Conversely, a strong extravert is not going to be too great either. They tend to make their interactions about them and not the customer.

The real secret of great customer service is to find employees who truly enjoy helping others. That is, each staff member understands, accepts and wants to help every customer solve the problems they are dealing with.

Now go out and make sure you find the best employees you can to work with your customers.

You can do this!

Dr. Osteryoung has directly has assisted over 3,000 firms. He is the Jim Moran Professor of Entrepreneurship (Emeritus) and Professor of Finance (Emeritus) at Florida State University. He was the founding Executive Director of The Jim Moran Institute and served in that position from 1995 through 2008. His newest book co-authored with Tim O'Brien, "If You Have Employees, You Really Need This Book," is a bestseller on Amazon.com. He can be reached by e-mail at jerry.osteryoung@gmail.com.

Tags: Florida Small Business