For several years McDonalds was a client of mine. Yet the McD’s closest to my home had lousy customer service. It was a corporate owned store instead of a franchise and it seemed like no one had a vested interest in the place.
I mean one time I had a staring match with the guy behind the counter, except he never looked me in the eye. I was waiting for him to greet me and he just stood there, looking bored as crap, not saying a word. I walked out. I told my McDonalds contacts and now this is one of the best run places, even when they are busy with 20 cars in the drive thru.
This morning I saw a report about customer service.
According to the 2012 American Express Global Customer Service Barometer consumers who have used social media for service tell significantly more people about their service experiences, and say they’d spend 21% more with companies who deliver great service, compared to 13% on average.
The survey reveals a sorry state of service in general, pointing that 93% of Americans surveyed say that companies fail to exceed their service expectations, while 55% walked away from an intended purchase in the past year because of a poor customer service experience.
My first thought was this was a waste of money… of course we want better customer service, you don’t need a survey to point this out. But then maybe someone needs to be told that their service sucks.
You and I have the power to say something, to reach others and tell the story about the salesperson who did a fantastic job, or the waiter who constantly screws up.
Actually we have a responsibility to tell others.
Tell the head honcho if you can. Tell others about it on Facebook, Twitter, your blog or website.
And don’t just complain. Compliment too.
Write a recommendation for someone on Linkedin.
At the very least tell the person face to face that you are grateful for the job they did, even if it’s just their job.
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Most users are going to mention bad service before good service. Good service is so rare, I can’t tell you the last time I had service worth mentioning. That is why social media tools are so important to not only have, but to be active on. Listen as much as you push… especially for a business. If I, John Doe, have a bad experience at your restaurant or bowling alley or movie theater, the FIRST thing I am going to do is tweet about it. If I have a good experience, I might say something… but I am not as excited to.
Speaking of LinkedIn, I LOVE getting and giving recommendations. I sometimes give them to clients that I work with without notice. I just send one.
You have a good point. Good should be focused on as much as the bad… but the bad is why I have a job. Without people leaving negative comments, clients would have no reason to hire me to fix their issues.
Good post!
Thanks Ricky,
And here’s more advice from a newsletter I received today:
Losing a new
customer for a lifetime is a terrible
way to run a business.
Yet just last
week that’s what happened to my wife
and me.
There’s a new
restaurant in Lakewood Ranch. Lakewood
Ranch is where we call home. The name
of the restaurant is “The Ranch
Grill.”
The restaurant
is about 2 miles door to door from
our home.
It was Friday
night and we arrived at the restaurant
at 6 PM. The place was mobbed. When
I asked how long the wait was, I was
told 20 to 25 minutes.
It turned out
to be closer to 50 to 60 minutes –
the wait time was doubled. During
our wait I ordered two glasses of
Kendall Jackson Chardonnay. They delivered
two glasses of Kendall Jackson Sauvignon
Blanc. My wife’s favorite glass of
wine is the Kendall Jackson Chardonnay.
After a taste
we called the server over to explain
what happened. After a couple of,
“I’m so sorry’s” my wife,
B, finally got her favorite Chardonnay.
My advice is
“Be slow to commit and quick
to deliver.”
No one has ever
accused B. and me of being very patient
when it comes to poor service.
We were sitting
outside and were soon overwhelmed
with “Love bugs.” They hang
around for 30 days and then they’re
gone. So we found a place to sit inside
the restaurant.
Bernadette walked
over to the woman who was handling
reservations and seating and asked
her where we were in the queue. Her
response was, “I don’t know because
I don’t have a computer here.”
Bernadette asked,
“Where is the computer?”
The woman responded and pointed to
the other end of the bar about 25
feet.
Now let me digress
for a moment. We shop at the Publix
supermarket. Ask any clerk where something
is and they will take you to the product
no matter where it is in the store.
Here’s my advice,
“Be helpful, not helpless.”
Finally, we
get a table after waiting almost an
hour.
We ordered two
more glasses of wine. What are the
odds of the same bartender screwing
up an order of Kendall Jackson Chardonnay
two times in one night to the same
couple? Well, you’re right he did
it again.
The server kept
saying, “I’m so sorry, I’m so
sorry.” Well I’m sorry that she’s
sorry, but being sorry didn’t solve
anything.
The server then
volunteers, “The bartender is
new.”
We ordered dinner.
B orders the Pulled Pork special.
I ordered a salad wedge and the fish
and chips.
The place is
buzzing with busboys, servers, managers,
and even a general manager. They’re
all wearing headsets. We spoke to
everybody after waiting for dinner
another 35 minutes.
And there it
was, a chorus of “I’m sorry,
I’m so sorry, I’m so very sorry.”
Still no dinner.
And then miraculously my wife’s dinner
arrives.
Not mine though.
No salad and certainly no fish and
chips.
My wife finishes
her dinner. 15 minutes later my salad
wedge arrives. I finished eating the
salad.
The top of my
head is about to explode. I asked
the server, who keeps on repeating
“I’m so sorry” to put my
dinner in a box and I’ll take it home
with me.
The general
manager came over for the third time
to talk with us and said, “We’re
doing the best we can!”
Look, nobody
in the world is doing the best he
can. Three geniuses, Einstein, Schweitzer,
and Edison once said they never worked
to more than 20% of their human potential.
So I doubt very
much the general manager and his minions
are doing the best they can.
When we got
home and after I had my long overdue
dinner I took a pencil to a sheet
of paper. Did some quick math and
since we eat out several times every
week and go to our favorite restaurants
every month I estimate the lifetime
value of our business is about $15,000
during the next 20 years.
The only good
thing about our restaurant experience
is that I got a customer service story
out of it.
When a new restaurant
opens it’s usually pretty crowded.
But guess what happens? If the dining
experience was excellent the customers
will be back. On the other hand, if
the dining experience was worse than
horrible they’ll never be back.
Why do so many
restaurants keep going out of business?
It’s because they all make the same
mistakes.
Here’s my advice
to anyone who is thinking about opening
a new restaurant.
Hire and train
your new staff.
For the first
30 days only fill 50% of the seats
in your restaurant. Now see what happens.
The full staff is now working to create
a memorable dining experience for
all of your customers. In the process
your staff would gain invaluable experience
and not be so over worked and challenged
by the mass of humanity that they
would have to say, “I’m sorry,
I’m so sorry, I’m so very sorry!”
If you want
a good reputation unleash good food
and great service from day one. Otherwise
you might lose your new customer for
a lifetime.
Obviously, this
is easy to say and very hard to do.
from: Jim
Meisenheimer
13506 Blythefield Terrace
Lakewood Ranch, FL 34202
Tel: 800-266-1268
Fax: 941-907-0441
jim@meisenheimer.com
http://www.startsellingmore.com
That is funny… are you familiar with Brewstone in Indianapolis? They JUST opened in the building where the Music Mill used to be. We went in the night they opened… THE NIGHT they opened. I had won some free appetizer cards and a free drink. I get there, the place is busy… as it should be. The hostess had no idea where the drink cards were. I showed her the tweet to get the free appetizer.
We sat down, ordered a beer. They were out. Ordered another. They were out. Ordered a third. I was done ordering anything. I asked for a water and ordered our appetizer. The appetizer card was for a free $10 or less app. ALL of their apps are over $10. Long story short this pattern continues all night long. I went once, and will never go back.
Since, the GM has been tweeting with me in a very derogatory manner, saying they were out of beer because they were busy, telling me to get a hobby… it’s a joke. I gave them a chance… one chance. That is all they got. I will NOT be giving them another. Oh, by the way… @sophie_bear:twitter also won a free $25 gift card. A DOG won a gift card.
Good banter here buddy. I like it.
Ricky, I’ll be featuring this banter in an upcoming blog post.
Thanks for the story!