My pet peeve is grocery chains. Now checking and bagging is as close to an assembly line as most people ever see. On your feet all day, repetitive work, trying to find bar codes and with those loose cannons called customers finding all the bumps in the system. So what happens?
The staff becomes indifferent to the customer. Instead of noticing and talking with the customer they are processing groceries and chatting among themselves. The interaction with me is limited to “paper or plastic’ and “do you want cash back?” Not, “did you find everything you needed her at Alblix & Run?” Gosh, if they found that out, they might start carrying it and sell more stuff!
So while I am in line, I get to read all the headlines from the Globe and National Inquirer (more space aliens, all right!) The reason I have this educational time, is the indifferent clerks meandering their way through the grocery check out process. Then I get the real good stuff: their personal travails, recent dates, and what they are doing that night. Nothing like just being cattle with groceries and an ATM card. I think I will just moo the next time I go. One moo for paper, two moo for plastic.
Help wanted: Happy, smiling person willing to stand on their feet for eight hours, perform routine task repetitively, and know the difference between paper and plastic. Customer interface optional.
We have a saying that a business must systematize the routine and humanize the exception. Does your business allow for this?
Of course, the other extreme is the business without systems. Friendly, happy air head workers who can’t find the cash register, let alone use it.
If you are just happy that no one complains about your service, then you have defined your level as “just barely satisfied”. Not happy, just satisfied. A satisfied person doesn’t help you grow your business. Ever walk out of a restaurant and say, “Boy, was I satisfied with that service!” Satisfied is white bread. It holds the fixings together but is tasteless.
So, you have a “great” computerized system. Your staff is generally unresponsive to clients but knows how to process an order. This is consistently uncaring service. Call it DMV service. The system drives the service. The system is so difficult to learn, or unable to accept variables, or doesn’t allow for the needs of that most difficult of things, a human being.
For example, a recently divorced friend of ours went to her family practitioner. She politely asked that they change her name on their records. This lead to a discussion that
started and finished with the staff telling her that they could not do that. As our friend
left without seeing the doctor, the staff reminded her to use her married name in the future! Needless to say, this is a lost customer. And a person who is treated this badly will tell on average eleven other people! You have just produced burned toast.
Let’ suppose you run a nice operation and sometimes people tell you without you asking or surveying them that they like your service. The lack of systems in your business produces inconsistency. In fact, because of your lack of systems, positive comments are unusual. They typically occur because you lucked into hiring someone with a personal high level of service. This generally produces well meaning, but erratic service.
What if you step it up a notch by adding to your definition that you want to measure the number of positive comments as well as the negative with a survey? You have now moved your level of service up to “satisfied enough to tell us when we ask”. You have written guidelines and policies.
Your people are instructed to follow the rules. Rigid and inflexible, the rule soon becomes service that just satisfies the questionnaire, not the customer. A nice English muffin, toasted just right, but no butter.
As an example, a friend of mine drives a Lexus. Whenever he takes his car in for service, the technician goes out of his way to make sure he is satisfied. In fact, the tech is actually a bit apprehensive. It turns out that the Lexus dealer uses the reports to review the techs performances with an emphasis on the negative. Doesn’t make for a happy tech, but does offer a systematic approach to improving satisfaction. This is a mechanical form of customer service.
The next level to reach is when customers tell you without being asked how much they like your service. Not only that, they will tell a few friends. They are not just customers they are advocates. Now customer service has become part of your marketing mix. A referral is the least expensive and most valuable source of new business for almost every company. At this level, you have systems, processes, indoctrination and constant training.
Your people clearly understand how the system operates, but that they are a vital part of the business. They are pleasant and informed. You have also built in the safety valve that allows your people to make exceptions. It is this ability for the exception that sets your business apart. You have built a humanized customer service system. Ah, now we have the muffin, the butter and someone willing to give us Knott’s strawberry preserves.
Finally, keep in mind that a computer system does not automatically mean that you have a functioning, customer sensitive system. A system could be run on 3X5 cards, and still work. The computer system should mimic the way you want your customers treated and help you gain referrals. Systematize the routine and humanize the exception.
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