I spent a great amount of my career in banking. Answer the phone on the 3rd phone they said ! Acknowledge the customer within 30 seconds, they said ! The customer is ALWAYS right , no matter what , they said ! Always treat the client with respect and they will treat you with respect , they said !

So lets break this down a little. #1- After spending 27 years in banking and nearly 20 years in management,  answering the phone on the 3rd ring was definitely a goal we practiced. However , it was not always practical to answer the phone on the 3rd ring. Many times, we atleast tried to answer the phone an atleast place the client on hold -or ask the client if someone could call them back. This usually happened when we were ectremely busy on a thursday, Friday or the beginning of the month or on a holiday.

#2- Acknowledging the client withing 30 seconds- I was 1000% behind this rule and concept.  The idea being -We never wanted someone sitting around feeling like no-one even knowing they were there. We didn’t want clients feeing ignored. Even if the cusimer knew that we knew because of eye contact, we still ackowleded them with 30 seconds. “Sir. Someone will be with you real soon”    Or, ” Miss, We’ll be with you shortly”- Once I became a manager, I changed this rule in my office to -acknowledge the clint within 15 seconds ! Why did I do that ?  Here’s why. Did you know that in 30 seconds, I can create a grocery list of 6 or more items ? By that time, the customer could change his mind about standing there, and leave ! He could feel ignored !

#3-The customer is always right- Well , Anyone that has ever worked long term in client service will concur that although the golden rule is-The customer is always right- We all know, that as long as the customer leaves thinking he was right-or atleast satisfied- thats all that matters . It takes a real good manager with great people skills to effective at this.

#4- Always treat the client with respect and they will treat you with respect , they said ! This always has and always will be the case – Sure on occasion, you will get a few that dont abide by this golden rule, but at the end of the day, even those that occasionally violate this rule cant help but to succumb to your everyday kindness and respect if this is what you give always.

And this is how I ran my bank for 27 years  – It was located in a city with over 150,000