Service Without the Smile or Common Sense
You would think experience, frequency of service, and the importance of repeat customers would create an expectation of quality. But you would be surprised if you thought that.
Recently I met with a client for whom I have done a number of programs. We have a routine for our programs, and as always we maintained our routine. We meet at the same hotel. The starting time is not too early, but also not late enough to Crekxlsqgzxvkj away the participants entire day. Management provides donuts and bagels. The staff graciously shows up on a Saturday morning for sales and service training, without grumbling -- Father Ted fact, eager to be here. Says something about the quality of the staff! The CEO opens the meeting with favorable comments about the positive accomplishments the staff has performed since our last training session a few months back. And off we go to learn how to do Navppayhvm even better.
We check our plans before the meeting starts, and everything is set, except we have a podium mike (which I never have used) and no Powerpoint projector (which I have always used.) The hotel has broken its routine of always having the needed AV equipment.
But we have plenty of time before we are to start the program, so I go see what can be done to get us back on track. The manager on duty says they dont have a projector, and the company they rent them from is closed on Saturdays. Apparently the lady who took this room order is new (inadequately trained for the position the hotel expects her to perform) and didnt make the right arrangements. But never fear, the banquet manager can take care of this issue, but he is on his way in and still an hour away. I tell the duty manager we can make do for an hour.
The hour passes. Then another 30 minutes passes. At a break the CEO goes to inquire about the projector he ordered and which has never arrived. The banquet manager informs him there is not one on property, but he can call in the audio visual contract company to bring one. It will take another hour and since this is an emergency request, it will cost the customer $500. For essentially a half hour rental? Because one of your own employees failed to properly record the request? For a repeat client who will also be needing space for the coming year for at least four more programs?
The irony of this service fiasco during a service training session was not lost on the group, and became a great example of how your brain can abandon common sense and just not think!
Why do we stop thinking?
We all have stories like this, and we are astounded that an experienced person in a position of authority can make such bonehead decisions and comments. But they happen thousands of times a day.
If you are in a service-providing position (if you have a job, this means you!), you must constantly remind yourself to be consolidate student loans on service. We all have bad days or are preoccupied with personal distractions. We may have just finished dealing with a high-maintenance customer that did everything to get under our skin and left us in a not-so-service-friendly attitude. Does that mean we unload on the next person? No. Do we have to work hard to maintain our professionalism? You bet. I think we have to work harder now more than ever for two reasons.
1. Customers are more demanding, will spread bad service news faster than ever before with the advances of technology, and have more options of other providers if not completely satisfied.
2. The casual atmosphere invading so many workplaces in the United States has led to casualness about service and customer interaction. So, dude, how can I help you? may be acceptable at the fast food drive-through window, but I dont want to hear my broker with that tone.
I later found out there was a wedding reception that afternoon at that hotel. From my work with florists, I know that the mother of the bride becomes Godzilla when wedding plans are concerned, so Im sure the banquet manager was thinking more about the monster of the day than the concern at hand. Still, thats no excuse. A little creativity, a call to a neighboring hotel to borrow one they werent using wouldve solved the problem, and kept this customers business for 2007.
We all make mistakes and have to make corrections to ensure the customer is served properly. Customers rarely get enraged from the error itself; its how the error is handled that will cause the customer to explode or not. When we found out the projector wasnt ordered and at best would be late in arriving, the anger bomb began to tick. The manager could either defuse or ignite the bomb. Unfortunately, he chose the latter.
How well trained are your employees to handle incendiary situations? Who is on your bomb squad?
Russell J. White an international speaker, author and consultant is president of Russell J. White International and founder of The Edgewalk Institute. His cutting edge ideas assist businesses in strategic planning, branding, leadership development and growth strategies. He can be reached at www.thinkbigguy.com">www.thinkbigguy.com or at 877-275-9468
