Real World Story: A friend relayed the following true story:
“Two weeks ago, I took a client to one of my favorite restaurants in San Diego, Café Gratitude. I LOVE the food at this restaurant, and I love the concept of gratitude. However, my experience on this particular day was less that what I’ve come to expect.
I walked into the restaurant with my client at around 12:30 pm. The hostess at the door was on the phone – for more 
than 2 minutes. During this time, she NEVER acknowledged me. She didn’t look up, make eye contact, wave—nothing. She finally ends her call and immediately starts talking to one of the servers. Both the hostess and server completely ignore me. Getting tired of being ignored, I approached another server and asked if I can be seated. The server, now looking annoyed, stops her conservation and takes me to a table—not saying one word the entire time. Again, my client and I sat at a table for 7 minutes with NO ONE talking to us at all. As another waiter is walking by, I ask, “Is there a server for our table?” This server replies gruffly, “We’re busy” and walks away. So my client and I simply leave the restaurant and go to one across the street where we are seated immediately. I will NEVER return to Café Ingratitude, which I used to visit at least once a week when I felt appreciated.”
Wow! I wonder how many other customers has café Gratitude lost due to its ingratitude style of customer service?
Strategies that Turn it Around:
- Set a standard of expectation. Start with the basics of greeting customers with a smile, a nod of acknowledgment or hello, and eye contact. No matter what company you work for, if you have customers who walk through your door, they need to be acknowledged immediately. Then work on the customer service strategies that make you stand out from your competition. This will then be the standard your customers will come to expect.
- Be consistent. Your level of customer service must always be the same, whether on Monday morning, Wednesday afternoon or on Saturday night. Great service doesn’t take a break just because you are busy. If you can NOT deal with a customer immediately, explain this to the customer. Customers don’t mind waiting, but they DO mind not knowing about the wait.
- Elevate your customer service. Once you have mastered the basics of great service and have maintained consistent service regularly, work on elevating that service to your customers. If you have service reps who don’t like people or don’t like dealing with people, you need to ensure they are not in customer facing positions. This may mean you have to eliminate team members who can’t deliver your standard of service.
Remember: Inconsistent service can kill your business. If you have set a standard for great customer service, you must deliver that level of service every day of the week, especially when you are busy. Make sure your team members are ready and willing to provide a positive customer experience, no matter how “busy” their day is progressing.
What do YOU do to remember to put customers first? Please share your stories and tips.