The Importance of Customer Service

I was inspired to write this blog post because I flew on Delta on August 9th, or at least I was supposed to fly on Delta on August 9th.

The Delta systems had gone down on August 8th and instead of flying home, I spent the night on the terminal floor in Atlanta’s international airport with thousands of others in a similar situation. In fact, I had to wait over 20 hours to finally fly home. While this experience left me with many headaches (and some back aches as airport floors are pretty much the opposite of comfortable), it did get me thinking about all the small gestures of kindness and the many attempts at providing comfort during the chaos. I reflected on how we, at Insite, handle situations when technology hiccups and how we handle the sometimes unpleasant communication and repercussions.

Since joining Insite in 2014, I’ve worn many hats and dipped my toes into more than a few roles: operations administrator, ongoing services specialist, project coordinator, and now content developer. But no matter my role or title, Insite has always instilled in me the fact that everyone here should strive to uphold the highest level of customer service in everything we do, from answering the phones and replying to emails to leading presentations and guiding work sessions. Every interaction is an opportunity for transparent communication and to be seen as a trusted knowledge leader. Every interaction is an opportunity to let our clients know our appreciation for their business and their continued success.

This is especially important when things go sideways or when in crisis mode. Our team immediately focuses on troubleshooting, finding the fastest way to resolve the issue, and then putting measures in place to ensure that it won’t happen again, while at the same time communicating with the client so they feel they have the support in place and confidence in the team to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. Sitting on the airport floor, as a Delta customer, I felt very much in the dark. Would my flight get delayed again? Would it be cancelled altogether? Would I make it home in time for work the next day? The exhaustion, the stress, and the uncertainty of it all took their toll.

By simply communicating openly to our clients, we can provide valuable insight and resolution progress even while we are still working on a solution. We may not be able to immediately answer all their questions, but we can assure them of one thing—that you, our customer and partner, are our priority and we are working to make things right.

When Delta announced that they were cancelling my flight at 2am (which had already been delayed 4 times that night), I was not a happy camper. But even with this unfortunate situation, I appreciated the transparency in communication the Delta employees provided. The flight was cancelled. We would stay overnight at the airport. They would get us on the soonest available flight the next day. We would get a voucher to compensate. I was very frustrated but at least I wasn’t left wondering. There was a plan.

With ample time to sit and ponder, it was a humbling reminder that good customer service should be the first step towards any solution. As much as we may rely on technology, it’s the human touch that keeps us reassured and moving forward.

Photo Credit: My equally exhausted boyfriend.