Help me develop good customer service skills!!

[Dirtrider216]

Quite frankly, you need an attitude adjustment. Get over yourself. Sorry, if you did that and i am your boss/supervisor, then i would fire your ass. Your coworkers should be commended.

I remind myself everyday that i need to be nice to everyone. We’re human. I have my bad days, but i get over it quickly as soon as i see my first customer. And if i reacted badly to one customer, then i make sure that i fix my attitude ASAP for the next one and not let it become a habit.

Your business is customer-driven. You don’t have a choice. Your employer needs customers. If you don’t service them correctly, then they have many other choices down the street. If your employer loses customers, then you will lose your job. Easy math.

So, with all due respect, get off your high horse and do your damn job. (Sorry)

I took this to heart and brought it into work with me these past few days and it seems to have made a difference in dealing with the more difficult customers. I think that since I’m 21 I still have a problem putting my ego and pride in check. I want to be better with the customers and while retail pharmacy isn’t my ideal career choice when compared to hospital I won’t rule it out completely.

 

[oljedi11950]

My 2 cents I'm in the tip business (to insure promptness) so my best foot forward MOST times ! When my son 1st started thinking girls i tried to tell him the golden rule "treat others how you would like to be treated" & he learned the hard way . You talk about dealing with D-heads :whipping2 a little empathy goes a long way but always try to remember how you would act ? Good days & bad as you get older it'll get better after dealing with all types you'll get it . :redbrick: My feeling is nothing over the top & brown nose stuff ! You'll have days when you're on top of it & bad ones just try to stay level . :thumb3: plus if it doesn't work there you still have a skill :cheers:

 

[mrblah]

I started working in a retail pharmacy as a technician this past summer for 1. A job and
2. To get ready for pharmacy school by getting some experience.
However I find that in general I have absolutely no drive for good customer service. The pleasant customers I’ll do whatever I can for them but the rude, argumentative customers I will do the bare minimum while my coworkers will still try to go above and beyond. I don’t understand this drive to help an *******.. while I haven’t caught any problems from a supervisor yet, I feel like I’m missing something that as a pharmacist I will need to be better at..
What am I missing here?

I am a pharmacy manager, and how to excel in customer service are the following:

1. customer is always right
2. treat customers like how you want to be treated
3. always find a solution for their problems
4. be empathetic to their needs.
5. enjoy your job. ( I love my customers, they feed me, and they also protect me)
6. the worst customers usually end up being your best customers.
7. pretend the pharmacy is a pharmacy you own, EVERY DOLLAR COUNTS.
8. don't take things personal, its only a job.


Rude customers don't bother me at all, because in the end of the day, I made them part with their money. Just remember if you can develop good customer service, retail is $@#$@#$@#$@# easy way to make 120k+....that's my motivation.

Lastly, if you can't keep your ego in check or you cause customers to leave, it doesn't matter what industry you are in, you won't keep your job for very long.

Hospitals are worse, you deal with nurses who think they are doctors, and doctors who think they are god. With that said, I'm transitioning to hospital pharmacy management in the next few months, lol.

 

[Dirtrider216]

I am a pharmacy manager, and how to excel in customer service are the following:


7. pretend the pharmacy is a pharmacy you own, EVERY DOLLAR COUNTS.

I think that this is another big issue for me, previous to this job all of my other jobs have been in the construction industry. So coming in to a customer service job, i occasionally find myself thinking that one or two customers can't be that big of a deal for a corporation that has a building on every corner. WHILE I AM AWARE THIS IS FLAWED it still pops into my head from time to time. But i am hoping that as i continue working as a tech and learning what i would be able to do as a pharmacist, then once i become one, IF i end up in retail i will be able to help customers much more than i do right now.

 

[AZ07Runner]

I took this to heart and brought it into work with me these past few days and it seems to have made a difference in dealing with the more difficult customers. I think that since I’m 21 I still have a problem putting my ego and pride in check. I want to be better with the customers and while retail pharmacy isn’t my ideal career choice when compared to hospital I won’t rule it out completely.

Wow! This is very good to hear!
Don't be hard on yourself. At 21, you are still growing up and learning the ways of the world. Some learn the hard way (or never do) and have a more difficult time in life. You've made a step in the right direction and can utilize this more positive way of dealing with people in other areas of your life.

 

[JLTD]

I understand it completely. People just seem to be too stupid to understand that they are wrong in some instances. And i have a hard time being nice to a person like that so i commend the LE who manage to keep a level head. If i were the pharmacist in charge i would tell some people to find a new pharmacy.

No ma'am you can't have your hydrocodone right now its against the law for me to give it to you, its not my problem that you "dropped it in the toilet" and ran out 2 weeks early.

I spent years in customer service. The key is to let them define the path, and give them the illusion of power. For your addict with the hydrocodone:

Yes ma'am, I'm sorry you dropped it in the toilet and I know you need it. ("Need" being attached to "addicted" in this case). For ANY medication, I can only replace it with a new prescription. Please have your doctor call it in and I'll be happy to take care of it!

You can also say:
I don't make the rules. I'd like to help but it's illegal for me to do that and I don't want to go to jail.

Then there's always the "I'll call your doctor for you, what's the number?"

Lots of ways to skin the cat of a difficult customer. With time and experience you'll get it. At first it drove me crazy, but after awhile I made it a game to maneuver them to where they needed to be. Still a pain though.

 

[BrianSD_42]

OP,
Have you read Steven King's The Drawing of The Three?

There is a great part in this book, which is the second in a series of books, where one of the main characters encounters a pharmacist who is quite a character himself. The pharmacist spends a great deal of time complaining about the complete drug addict crazy a-hole customers he has and it's and also covers why he keeps good customer service so that they keep coming back. The character obviously owns the pharmacy.