Quote of the week: "Short pencil better than long memory"
- Questionably attributed to Confucius
Recommended book of the week: The Cluetrain Manifesto
- Rick Levine, Christopher Locke, Doc Searle, David Weinberger
- Perseus Books, USA 2000
This week's customer service "moment of truth".
Does a coffee mug just hold coffee?
I'm not sure that Buddha was necessarily thinking about customer service when he said, "how you do one thing, is how you do everything", but the message could not be more relevant in today's business environment. When visiting clients and prospective clients, I am often asked if I would like a cup of tea or coffee. I always say yes, not always because another cup of coffee is exactly what I need, but because it gives me an opportunity to learn a great deal about the company. How it thinks, what its values are, whether it is truly committed to customer service, whether it 'walks its talk' in regard to the words of the neatly printed 'mission' statement displayed in reception.
If a company truly is a customer-focussed organisation, then even the quality of the coffee cup and how it is presented to a visitor or customer is the result of careful thought and consideration. Are your customers male or female? Or both? Are they predominantly blue collar or white-collar customers? What are the ages of your customers?
Can you imagine a 'truckie' trying to drink out of English tea-bone china with a handle so small he can't get his finger through, or a professional saleswoman being given a large chunky half-pint coffee mug with some smart-ass sexist or chauvinistic slogan adorning the exterior?
In addition to observing what gets presented in reception, I am also keen to see what gets presented to staff. A visit to the staff lunchroom or kitchen area gives vital clues on how committed the company is to delivering outstanding customer service to its internal customers. On many occasions, I have been disappointed to find an array of crockery hand-me-downs that even the local op-shop would hesitate to display for sale. What's worse, is that I have seen in some kitchens, a sign that reads "for visitor use only". Behind the sign is a collection of good quality crockery reserved for people deemed by management to be of greater importance than staff. What is the sign really communicating to staff? It says, 'we have one standard of service for our external customers, and another standard for you, the internal customer'. In other words it says 'you are a lesser person'. Even worse, in some companies there are unwritten consequences for staff found using 'the good crockery'. I have even witnessed locks on cupboard doors of the 'important' people's crockery.
As with all 'moments of truth', there lies within each a golden opportunity to excel. For instance, Perth based Hosemasters; (a great customer service story in itself) provides visitors with an attractive company mug for either their tea or coffee and then gives the visitor the mug as a gift when they leave. (Washed and dried of course). In Sydney, a café gives regular customers their own embossed mug, which hangs on a special rack on the wall. The popularity and success of the service has created a wall space problem. What a nice problem to have. Other companies I know of present new staff with their own mug suitably inscribed with their name on it.
Now I know you are thinking that a coffee mug may seem somewhat trivial in the overall scheme of things, yet as I've stated many times before, it is the little things that have the greatest potential to make the biggest difference.
Until next week, stay true to yourself and to your customers. And remember great customer service relationships happen by design, in the moment, moment by moment.
