This content was created by Kim Gaskill. This content was uploaded by Kim Gaskill. This is a YouTube video titled "DS165 Customer Service with a Smile" (Daily Spark) created on 2019-04-30. It features Kim Gaskill delivering a first-person monologue about a negative experience transferring her Planet Fitness membership, describing poor front-desk service and lack of staff, and using the episode to emphasize the importance of sincere, empathetic customer service and making customers feel heard. Single-speaker piece aimed at encouraging better customer-service behavior.
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It's a new day. I'm Kim Gaskill and this is the Daily Spark. Customer service with a smile. That used to be a motto for some company, I think. Definitely was not the motto of Planet Fitness this morning. I've been having a problem the last couple of weeks with my transfer to a different gym, transferring my membership. And so I went in this morning to try and resolve the issues. I have not had pleasant experiences with the counter personnel the last couple of times I've been in there. There's never a manager there. They seem to not have enough people, and all of the customer service, service representatives seem to come up to the counter with that same chip on their shoulder no matter who walks in the door. So I don't think it's just me. And this morning again, there was a girl trying to sign up for a new membership, and she was left alone. There was a sign on the counter saying, "We're cleaning," uh, no one to help you basically, and call this number, which is a number at the desk, which is hilarious because there's no one at the desk to answer the number. But she was trying to sign up, and the iPads weren't working on the tables for her to do that. It's kind of a self-serve gym. There's really no— most of the gyms I go to, there are people around helping you with everything, helping you sign up, walking you through going through the black card stuff and signing up for massages and stuff. Not this one. They do as little as possible and they don't want to help with anything. At least that's the impression that I get, and an impression is important. When your customers come into your business, what is the feel that they're getting when they come in your business? What is the impression they're getting of your customer service, of your willingness to make their experience the best, the absolute best that it can be? That is your job as a customer service representative. You know that, right? We want to make the customer have the best experience possible. At least we should. That's what good business is. Now I'm not the easiest person to work with sometimes, I'll admit that, and I get pretty irritated when people ignore me, dismiss me, or lie to me. So I would suggest probably not doing those things if you ever encounter me as a customer. But I think most people are the same way. They just want to be heard. They want people to understand what their issue is and, and at least give the appearance to the customer that you are sincere sincere about wanting to help. Now I'm not saying that you can always help. There may be nothing you can do. But the one thing that you can always do is be sincere and kind and smile. Let the person know that you have empathy to what they're struggling with. Do the best you can and try to guide them in the right direction to get help. Sometimes that's all you can do, and that's really all I ask. I hope you have great customer service today and that you give great customer service always. Join me again here tomorrow for another Daily Spark.
