Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Customer Service???

Every place I go I hear the word “excellent customer service”. What does it mean? I will give you a personal example … A few years ago I was in the west coast and decided to have dinner at a wonderful restaurant overlooking the ocean. Once inside the restaurant I asked for a table next to the window so I could see the sunset. I sat at my table and was enjoying a glass of wine and some appetizers taking in the view when a group sat a table behind me. Within seconds the host came over to the window and proceeded to close the blinds. I stopped him and indicated that I chose the table for the view and there wasn’t going to be much of one with the blinds closed. He proceeded to tell me that the group behind me complained about the sun and wanted to block the light from coming in. I indicated that I wanted the blinds opened. He went to the table and told them my view. They got upset with the host and demanded the blinds be closed. So here is a situation where the host was going to anger one customer to please another. Was he providing good customer service? It all depends who you asked.

I have come to conclusion that there is no such thing as 100% excellent customer service. Someone’s expectations and demands from time to time will not be met and therefore this individual will complaint and sometimes even insult you because you can’t accommodate their demands. I think a good customer experience is a two-way street. Throughout my life most of the time when I felt that I wasn’t getting “good customer service” it was because of my inflexibility and arrogance. In many of these cases if I had listened to the other person I would have realized that with a minor change from my part all would have ended well with everyone happy and satisfied. But sometimes we tend to become ignorant and arrogant when we don’t get our way and these two “talents” make for a bad combination. I have been guilty of falling into the trap that they create.

I think those of us that work behind counters and in situations where we are trying to provide a service to the public are a bit more sensitive about how we talk to people when others are trying to provide us with service since we have been on the receiving end of rude behavior. So I tell you… before you get angry with the person that is trying to help you, think about what you are going to say and then think again after sipping some wine. Then make your comments known in a civilized manner. After all, when we are all gone from this Earth nobody will care how we felt about the situation.

Oh by the way, the restaurant in the west coast… I looked for another table next to a window but there were none. Therefore, I suggested that since the group behind me came in after I did that they should move to a different table where the sun wouldn’t bother them. They told me to go “jump on the sea!” So… I kept the blinds open!

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