The other day I was driving down a block that used to have two businesses that both represented bad customer service examples for me. I say "used to" because one of them is now out of business.
The first was a pretty good restaurant that was across the street from both its own parking lot and another more popular restaurant. A man (the manager? owner?) used to stand by the restaurant door specifically to watch for people who might park in his restaurant's lot and go to the other restaurant instead. His Three Billy Goats Gruff approach to parking lot guarding obviously didn't help because the restaurant is now closed.
It occurred to me that instead of balefully glaring at people parking in the restaurant lot, what if the same guy had stood at the entrance to the lot every weekday at lunchtime with a handful of flyers listing the daily specials? He could have been the outdoor greeter, meeting each group and welcoming them to his restaurant with helpful recommendations for a tasty lunch. If that had been his approach, maybe the restaurant might still be in business today.
The other business is a coffee shop that's adjacent to several office buildings. Someone I know once walked to the coffee shop from his office, trailed by a co-worker who didn't wish to break off the conversation they'd been having. The first guy purchased a coffee and sat down, joined by his co-worker who had absentmindedly brought in the bottle of soda he'd been drinking at work. A coffee shop employee proceeded to loudly berate the guy with the soda for his gall at bringing in an outside drink. The whole experience was horrible and awkward, and not only have both customers stopped going there, they've told many friends (including me) who have also stopped patronizing the coffee shop. (To be honest, I didn't like them anyway because their coffee was pretty terrible.)
Here's a thought: what if the woman at the coffee shop had instead said, "That bottle has to be getting warm. Here's a cup of ice." No upsell, no bitterness at not making a sale. Just a thoughtful gesture that might have changed the story from "I'll never go there again" to "I'm definitely coming back tomorrow."
You'll notice that neither of my suggestions involved much in the way of cost. The primary change was in attitude.
I imagine both negative experiences resulted from desperation on the part of the businesses in question. That's why customer service needs to be an integral part of a company's philosophy and culture from day one. I'm not saying that's an easy thing to achieve, but it's certainly a worthy goal to strive for.
Service is one of my primary considerations when it comes to patronizing a particular business. Bad service has caused me to permanently remove certain places from my consideration list and great service has caused me to follow my favorite business owners, managers and waiters all over town.
What do you think?
I'm with you.
Posted by: Donna W | October 14, 2009 at 08:58 PM
Great observations AJ. I too remarked on bad customer service on the soapbox yesterday. Whilst it is not minblowingly good in the UK, the Harrods experience was well beyond the norm. Over here, promotion is oft done badly. Flyers for example are put on windshields on rainy days, to disintergrate and mess up the car. As for the do you want drinks or fries with that (when you just ordered drinks AND fries...
Posted by: Keith | October 15, 2009 at 02:59 AM
Our business' neighbor (a real estate company) used to use the Three Billy Goats parking method with our customers when they parked in the (unmarked) spots in front of their building. After a while I quit answering the phone when the caller ID showed me it was them. Hey! That branch is closed now too come to think of it!
Posted by: zen zone chick | October 15, 2009 at 07:56 AM
I completely agree! I come from a customer service background so it irks me even more when I get shoddy service somewhere. I do make sure that I tell anyone when I receive good service or when I really like a place because I know the ratio of good vs bad being told to friends and such.
Posted by: Raven | October 15, 2009 at 07:58 AM
I have a retail store and I always try to give great customer service. I always speak to those that come in and tell them "thank you" when they leave....even if they don't buy something.
I have heard people say just outside the door "she sure is nice".
Yeah me....
It's funny too because the customer part is my least favorite part....but because of that...I just try harder.
And I know it's important.
Posted by: Hound Doggy | October 16, 2009 at 03:12 PM