In April 2017, United Airlines encountered public outrage when an Asian passenger was dragged out of his seat and off of an overbooked United Airlines plane. Then, almost exactly one year later, two black patrons were arrested at a Starbucks store for sitting at a table without having made a purchase. Both events were recorded, uploaded to social media, shared widely, and broadly condemned as instances of racial bias.
How Companies Can Identify Racial and Gender Bias in Their Customer Service
An internal audit is the first step.
May 28, 2018
Summary.
Research shows that minority customers — blacks and Asians — regularly receive worse customer service than whites in ways that are not immediately obvious to onlookers (or even managers). These results prompt a couple of questions for executives and managers. One, does your company hire individuals to interface with customers? Most likely, the answer is “yes.” Two, do you know if your employees are treating all customers equally? The answer here is probably “no.” This is, in part, because many aspects of customer service are intangible, nuanced, and difficult to observe. A well-designed internal audit can help you understand exactly how your employees are treating customers, and can help you formulate changes to implement.
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Learn how to keep your customers—and their most important needs—front and center.
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New!
HBR Learning
Customer Focus Course
Accelerate your career with Harvard ManageMentor®. HBR Learning’s online leadership training helps you hone your skills with courses like Customer Focus. Earn badges to share on LinkedIn and your resume. Access more than 40 courses trusted by Fortune 500 companies.
Learn how to keep your customers—and their most important needs—front and center.