It never ceases to amaze me how some people seem to have forgotten the importance of good customer service. Even in tough economic times, customer service appears to be a far-fetched idea.

Case in point: My girlfriend’s laptop recently went on the fritz and was nearing the end of its life. We went to a local large electronics chain to find a replacement.

After looking at various computer models, she had questions about the differences between brands, performance, reliability and so forth. For nearly 20 minutes we unsuccessfully tried to make eye contact with an employee. Frustrated, I spent another five minutes locating a floor supervisor, who apologized and called over another employee to assist us.

Sadly, the employee lacked sufficient training and knowledge to be of any help. Eventually, several other staff members stepped in to “help,” but they actually made the situation worse by providing us with different responses to the same questions. To top things off, after my girlfriend decided on the laptop she wanted, we discovered the store was displaying a model it no longer had in stock.

After wasting nearly an hour of our time, all the employee could say was, “I’m very sorry.” In our eyes, sorry just wasn’t good enough.

I’ve had this experience before. I wanted to be assured the store valued my business, but clearly they don’t.

Too many people have come to know this type of service as status quo. CIs need to remember what’s important - our customers. If we maintain a high level of customer service, our businesses will thrive.

What has driven our industry is being able to move with the times. We are all innovators, get excited about the latest power amplifier, or perhaps the super-slick new touchscreen remote control. We love our jobs, it shows.

Relationship building, customer service, and showing you care is what sells. All the fancy marketing and sales power of a large retail giant cannot make up for their crummy customer service.

About the author

Jeffrey L. Miranda

Jeffrey L. Miranda is president of NeoLogic Sound, a commercial integrator specializing in high-performance audio systems. He has been a live sound engineer for theatrical performances, church worship services, in addition to indoor and outdoor concerts. Read more of NeoLogic Sound's blogs here .

View all posts by Jeffrey L. Miranda