There has been a lot of talk of late on the diversity of customers and the need for organisations to offer a consistent level of customer service to all customers. My father is convinced that when your hair turns grey, customer service providers think your brains drop out!! I quote his words not mine. I appreciate this might sound a little cynical, however, his general interpretation of customer service is that when you are old, the level of customer service drops off considerably.
Many organisations give little thought not only to the needs of customers in their older years, but also young customers. In a survey of young consumers only 10% of young people aged 16-17 felt knowledgeable about their consumer rights; and nearly 3 out of 5 (58%) felt embarrassed about having to make a complaint or take back goods.
The research showed that more than three quarters of the young people surveyed spend more than £12 per week and almost a third spending more than £20 per week. Despite that they believed shop owners and shopping centres did not take them as seriously or show the same levels of respect as adult customers.
In the interests of treating all customers on a more equal footing and encouraging both ends of the age spectrum to remain loyal customers, many organisations must consider how company policies and staff attitudes are impacting on customer service for these two very different customer sectors.