by Bill Collier
Part 1, we talked about four simple, common-sense ways to deliver excellent service to your customers.
Here’s a bold statement: Poor service is easy to find nowadays.
Bring up the subject with most folks and they’ll probably mention bad experiences with fast food, government offices and utility companies. Congratulations to organizations that turn themselves into exceptions to the bad reputations earned by their industry peers.
Now, let’s have fun examining some real-life experiences I’ve recently endured.
The roofers: We had a new roof put on our house last month. My wife and I chose our roofer at least in part because he regaled us with tales of his wonderful crew cleaning up as they go plus the “super cleanup” they do when they finish.
Not so much.
As the job unfolded, I noticed cigarette butts on the ground plus cups here and there. But the biggie – and this is something we’d specifically talked about with the contractor: nails. When the job ended, there was no “super cleanup.” In fact, there was no discernible effort to pick up their debris. Up the ladder I went and discovered a treasure trove of nails in our gutters.
The owner was apologetic and did spring into action, arriving personally with a small army of folks to pick up all the stuff they’d left behind, including nails in the gutters.
What could they have done differently? This one’s pretty simple: They should do their own quality control instead of turning me into their QC inspector. “Follow through on the promise” seems like good advice for these folks.
The pharmacy: I went to my usual pharmacy to refill a prescription, and as part of the transaction, I made a simple but admittedly somewhat special request. The response I got was: “We don’t usually do that.”
Oh.
I suppose that was useful information, but it didn’t answer my question. A couple of smart-aleck responses came to mind, including: “If you don’t usually do it, that implies that sometimes you do. How about doing it now?” But I resisted the temptation and simply asked again – firmly but politely – and added the magic word: “please.” That did the trick, but what could they have done differently? Well, nobody wants to know what you usually do … they want to know what you can and will do in this circumstance.
Because I know this pharmacy typically delivers great service, this seems more a lack of individual experience and/or training than a reflection on the business. Even so, it’s an example of turning an opportunity to please a customer into a frustration.
The restaurant: During a recent trip to a restaurant, my group’s food arrived and we were peppered by a loud, fast-talking server: “Who gets the sirloin? Who ordered the fajitas?” It felt like a food auction.
What could they have done differently? Some restaurants have this nailed, and others don’t seem to mind serving food amidst a tornado of chaos and confusion. How about noting on the order which chair position gets each dish?
Do you have a service nightmare story? Or a story of customer service heroics? I’d like to write about it. Please email it to me!
Bill Collier owns Collier Business Advisors LLC and is the St. Louis-area head coach for The Great Game of Business. He works with organizations that want to improve financial results, engage their employees and create a winning culture. Bill can be reached at 314-221-8558, GGOBSTL.com or bill@collierbiz.com.
Submitted 7 years 175 days ago