The Gift That Keeps on Giving

By David Eedle |

Life is pretty interesting at the moment, which is why Fiona’s been carrying the load generating posts for this site over the last few weeks. The main reason is I’m currently spending two weeks a month in San Francisco consulting to an Australian internet business based in San Mateo, about 30 minutes south of the main San Fran city area. I flew back into Melbourne on Friday after the most recent trip, and as the jetlag cobwebs started to clear, I’ve been musing over some of the things that caught my attention in the US.

One of my pet beefs is customer service in Australia. Some seven years ago I wrote an article for our Arts Hub web site, and today I’ve decided to rework that post. What I immediately find interesting is how my views have changed so little after all this time.

In Australia there is a terrible tendency to equate service with servitude. Perhaps it’s too much ‘Upstairs Downstairs’, or a natural extension of the jingoistic creation of the larrikin Australian lacking respect for authority and his colonial superiors. Whatever the cause, there is no question that Australians have a lot to learn about providing truly effective customer service.

Customer service, the gift that keeps on giving

The only slight comfort I take is in knowing that even the largest businesses have succumbed to the syndrome. And those which include customer service concepts in their key branding messages are often the worst. Coles supermarkets spent years trying to convince shoppers they were ‘Serving you better’. News flash, they’re weren’t, and finally gave up trying to convince us. (What is it about the deli counters which particularly embrace this dichotomy? It’s a war zone in the early evening, and coincidentally, is the only time of day when they don’t utilise the electronic ‘take a number’ system).

It continues to sadden me that incidences of good service are notable, and we seem resigned to the normality of poor service. It’s a depressing scenario, but there is an upside – get your customer service right, and, however unfortunate it might seem, you’ll stand out.

We’re all human, and by nature we crave contact with other humans. Dealing with a technological interface is the diametric opposite, and inevitably the machine always wins (tried using Telstra’s automated directory assistance service recently?). With technology like the web, we need to be careful to remember human needs. It’s a key challenge for internet-based businesses to deliver a technologically driven product and yet create a customer-facing, human experience to users.

We all have our favourite restaurant or cafe, which sets itself apart. Where the staff call you by your first name, remember how you usually have your coffee, and take a genuine interest in your needs and wants. We reward that service by returning day after day, and if you are anything like me, you experience withdrawal symptoms when the overworked owners close for their annual Christmas break.

Watching customer service in the USA is fascinating. The ‘have a nice day’ and ‘you’re welcome’ does start to grate a little after a while, but it’s important to understand why they do what they do – wages. The pay rates for service staff in the US hospitality industry are terribly low, they rely on tips to lift their income to something approaching livable. And they are great at employing devices to keep those tips rolling in. For example, one of the guys from the San Francisco office took me out for drinks and dinner last Saturday. We wound up at The Saloon in North Beach, in downtown San Fran. The Saloon is a legendary bar, that essentially has remained unchanged for 100 years. Indeed, Paul the guy I was with attended college in San Fran 25 years ago and used to drink at The Saloon back then – he says they haven’t updated the decor since.

We sat at the bar listening to some of the best blue grass you’ll likely hear, being served by a long haired character who looked like he probably served Paul his drinks back in the early 1980s. I commented how we seemed to be given a heap of $1 notes in our change each time we ordered drinks. Paul laughed and said it was because they wanted the $1 back for tips. Perhaps a cynical approach but it works, we left a bundle on $1 notes on the bar when we left.

In the hotel I stay in the front counter staff use your name every time, even if you are just walking past reception. The bar manager is a fixture, our relationship has progressed to the point where she sees me walking into the lobby at the end of the day heading up to my room to park my bag, and by the time I get down to the bar she already has a couple of my favourite beers in an ice bucket to chill them to the perfect temperature. When I told her on Tuesday evening I was heading home the next day I got a hug and a ‘come back soon’.

Good service is about communication, whether delivered in person, on the phone, or via the Net. Good service is an artform in itself – and funnily enough can be as pleasurable to give as it is to receive.

Call your customers by name, remember their past history with your organisation; communicate with them they way they want, not the way that is easiest for you; respond to their feedback honestly, genuinely and promptly; NEVER ignore a customer, however they make contact; and always remember, good customer service is the gift which keeps on giving.

Image: Flickr avlxyz

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