Popeye’s Chicken & Biscuits is a popular chain of more than 1,300 restaurants in 20 countries. They promote understanding between the people in head office and those in the restaurants with a range of vigorous and innovative programs. Their focus on customer service education is exceptional and extends to all levels of the company. In
We all live and work in a constellation of relationships based on service. You can see this with the customers you serve and the suppliers who serve you. But this is also true with colleagues, employees, managers, family, friends, government agencies and community members. When you learn how to connect to your customers’ connections, you
We often hear “the customer is king.” I don’t believe it. First, many customers do not behave like kings. Some act more like ruffians than royalty. You might want to disregard this kind of customer altogether. But it’s tough to disregard a king. Second, in certain cultures, the king was revered but also feared. Hardly
Some companies track a monthly “complaints and compliments ratio” for each branch, store, department, country or station. This approach has a fundamental flaw when it comes to customer service training. Here’s why: A complaints and compliments ratio encourages staff to actively avoid or suppress written complaints from customers. After all, every written complaint will impact
When I tasted the Greenwich Pizza ‘Garden Delight’ in the Philippines, my taste buds got a shock! The pizza was covered with sweet tomato sauce and the cheese on top was cheddar. I’ve been eating pizza all my life. Pizza is made with tangy tomato sauce and should be covered with mozzarella cheese, right? Sweet
I was teaching about customer intimacy and loyalty when one participant asked, “What if your competitor has already built a close relationship with a customer, and you want to get inside?” I replied, “Add value first. You will reap value later.” When you are proactive with solid customer service skills, potential clients will take notice.
I am regularly amazed by brand new facilities that are obviously user-unfriendly. Huge investments of time and money…but who are they designing it for?! If you want to improve customer service quality, every decision needs to be made with clients in mind. A new airport in the Middle East is an impressive and expensive building.
I use a credit card for many business purchases. Since I travel a lot, this means quite a bit of money is charged throughout the year. Therefore, I was pleased when my bank had a local hotel deliver a “basket of goodies” to our home during the holidays. The card attached thanked us for our
One of my favorite airlines committed a customer interface blunder. They changed the automated telephone menu system for reservations, removed the 24-hour fast-access option for frequent flyers, set up the menu so it changes at various times of the day, and put long recorded messages on the system to “educate” passengers while they wait. While
What a conversation! A British gentleman working in global logistics, his American entertainer wife who recently became a mother, an Australian event coordinator and me. Four different cultures – and different points of view. We talked about the service we received at retail stores, banks, restaurants, hotels and airlines around the world. We each had
