{"id":60,"date":"2011-05-27T22:33:29","date_gmt":"2011-05-27T22:33:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chiefcookandbottlewasher.biz\/?p=60"},"modified":"2011-06-02T23:18:37","modified_gmt":"2011-06-03T03:18:37","slug":"bad-customer-service-in-seven-lessons-part-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chiefcookandbottlewasher.biz\/?p=60","title":{"rendered":"Bad Customer Service in Seven Lessons: Part I"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sharing with you\u00a0about my amazing stay in Pascale’s chalet\u00a0reminded me of another getaway that was filled with customer service lessons – the bad kind.\u00a0\u00a0Every time you come in contact with a customer, or a potential customer, you are creating an opportunity<\/em>\u00a0to communicate either a positive or negative feeling in that person about your business.<\/strong>\u00a0 Think about the Small Businesses you yourself patronize and how one tiny detail can make you want to come back to that business again\u00a0 – or not.\u00a0 (I love it<\/em> that the barista I see every morning knows – and uses –\u00a0my name.)\u00a0 Last summer Bottle Washer and I observed another Small Business’ weekend of opportunities, and watched it crash and burn at every one.\u00a0 It was almost too painful to watch.\u00a0 But, like watching a train wreck, we couldn’t look away.\u00a0 Read on to learn what we saw…<\/p>\n

As you know, owning a Small Business can be relentlessly tiring.\u00a0 At the end of the day,\u00a0 you are the one left with the responsibility to make sure everything is going as it should.\u00a0 Late last summer Bottle Washer and I were really fried.\u00a0 We decided to take a\u00a0three-day retreat to some nearby mountains to regroup and refresh.\u00a0\u00a0We arrived at our chosen destination: a rustic, family-owned\u00a0mid-last-century-but-still-cool-in-a-dated-kitschy-sort-of-way lodge.\u00a0 (It was actually a bit Twin Peaks-like.)\u00a0 Anyway, Small Business ownership is an adventure, right?\u00a0 Well, we were about to walk into someone else’s misadventure!<\/p>\n

Customer Service Opportunity #1:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0We walked into the dimly lit, dusty Great Room\u00a0just as a couple was at the front desk\u00a0confronting the clerk\u00a0about their room.\u00a0 As the gentleman nicely explained to the clerk (we’ll call her No-Service Sue), they had reserved a room with a refrigerator, but their room had none.\u00a0 Apparently the couple had brought a week’s worth\u00a0of\u00a0food\u00a0with them and needed the ‘fridge so it would keep.\u00a0 No-Service Sue informed the man that no other rooms had been cleaned\u00a0and tried to convince him that he would be happy with the room provided.\u00a0 The man’s response was polite, but firm, that no, they really did need a room with a refrigerator.\u00a0 Bottle Washer, always eager to help, offered up his room in exchange.\u00a0 (This was before he realized he did not have a refrigerator as expected either.)\u00a0 Both men proceeded to offer several solutions to Sue, none of which were workable for her for one reason or another.\u00a0 Finally, No-Service grew so\u00a0exasperated she blurted out, “I’m fifty years old and here alone.\u00a0 What do you want me to do about it?”<\/p>\n

Misadventure Lesson #1:\u00a0\u00a0When you mess up with a customer (notice I wrote when<\/em>, not if<\/em>), there are three things you must immediately do:\u00a0 Acknowledge.\u00a0 Apologize.\u00a0 Resolve.\u00a0<\/strong> There are dozens of ways this woman could have handled this problem, nearly all of them with better result.\u00a0 No-Service Sue should have acknowledged that the lodge made an error in the reservation.\u00a0 Right Away.\u00a0 She should have apologized for the inconvenience this error was causing her guests.\u00a0 Immediately.\u00a0\u00a0She should have either resolved the problem\u00a0by assigning the couple to another room or offered them a place to store their food until the issue could be addressed.\u00a0 ASAP.\u00a0 Sue even could have tried to erase or mitigate the negative impression her new customers had\u00a0gained by giving them a complimentary night, a fruit and cheese basket, or another small gesture of atonement.\u00a0 Most customers are very forgiving if you admit to a mistake and try to rectify it.\u00a0 In any event, it was her<\/em> job to find a solution, not the guest’s and Bottle Washer’s.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0If Sue was the owner, shame on her for not recognizing this.\u00a0\u00a0If she was not the owner, shame on the owner again for not training his or her staff to properly handle such a situation. \u00a0When a problem arises, handle it gracefully , promptly, and to the customer’s benefit.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Customer Service Opportunity #2:\u00a0 <\/strong>My daughter and I are big into trail riding.\u00a0 Bottle Washer, not so much, but he was a sport and agreed to go\u00a0with us the next morning.\u00a0\u00a0The thing was, breakfast was served starting at eight; we had to leave the lodge<\/em>\u00a0by eight in order to drive the thirty minutes to the stable and be on time for our scheduled ride.\u00a0 We asked Sue if there was a bakery or other breakfast eatery on the way that would be open that early.\u00a0 Not surprisingly, there wasn’t, as the lodge was out in the sticks, but Sue offered<\/em>\u00a0to prepare bag breakfasts of\u00a0hot egg sandwiches and yogert\u00a0to be ready for us by eight to take on the road.\u00a0 Great!\u00a0 Well, I bet you could see this coming, but the next morning, the\u00a0care packages were still not ready at 8:20, although Sue kept saying she would get to it in ten\u00a0minutes or so.\u00a0 We had to bolt and settle for leftover\u00a0bagels before our four-hour ride.<\/p>\n

Misadventure Lesson\u00a0#2:\u00a0 Do what<\/em> you say when<\/em> you say you will.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Remember, Sue offered<\/em> to pack an early breakfast for us.\u00a0 We were counting on that breakfast by eight o’clock.\u00a0 Having it ready at 8:30 or 8:45 was useless to us.\u00a0 By failing to live up to her promise, Sue gave us a worse impression than if she had never offered at all.\u00a0 If you make a claim to your customers, be sure to live up to it.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Customer Service Opportunity #3:\u00a0 <\/strong>After our\u00a0sweaty four-hour trail ride, we decided to go kayaking and took a short hike.\u00a0 When we returned to the lodge, we were hot, tired, and thirsty.\u00a0 In that cavernous Great Room, beyond the massive stone fireplace, log furniture, and taxidermy bear, there was a large buffet set up with glasses, a water cooler, ice machine, and carafes of hot drinks.\u00a0 We each expectantly\u00a0grabbed a glass and lined up at the\u00a0water cooler – which was empty.\u00a0 The ice machine didn’t work.\u00a0 There were no hot drinks.\u00a0 We were parched and forced to drink tap water from the bathroom sink, which for some reason I find gross.\u00a0 \u00a0(For those of you wondering why we didn’t\u00a0go out and buy<\/em> something cold to drink, remember we live in a rural area and retreated\u00a0to get away even further<\/em>, so there was nowhere to go!)\u00a0 The next day, the water cooler was still empty.<\/p>\n

Misadventure Lesson #3:\u00a0 Amenities, if not maintained, leave a worse impression than if they don’t exist.<\/strong>\u00a0 If we hadn’t spotted the beverage set up that morning before heading out for our ride, we certainly would have\u00a0stocked up on drinks on the way back from the trail ride (to store in Bottle Washer’s non-existent refrigerator.)\u00a0 But, since we knew it was there waiting for us, we didn’t bother.\u00a0 It\u00a0turned out to be a disappointment, not a welcome relief after a day of tough exertion.\u00a0\u00a0 If you offer\u00a0an amenity at your place of business, even something as simple as a bowl of candy at the register, be sure it is maintained, clean, fresh, and of good quality.\u00a0 If you can’t afford the time, effort, or money to do this, then skip the amenity.<\/strong><\/p>\n

There is\u00a0no doubt that Bottle Washer and I have made all of these mistakes in our own business, but it is always easier to spot the speck in someone else’s eye than the log in your own!\u00a0 Tune in next Friday to learn how the rest of the weekend turned out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sharing with you\u00a0about my amazing stay in Pascale’s chalet\u00a0reminded me of another getaway that was filled with customer service lessons – the bad kind.\u00a0\u00a0Every time you come in contact with a customer, or a potential customer, you are creating an … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[18,14,19,8,20],"class_list":["post-60","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-customer-service","tag-amenities","tag-customer-service-2","tag-poor-customer-service","tag-small-business","tag-small-business-ownership"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chiefcookandbottlewasher.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chiefcookandbottlewasher.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chiefcookandbottlewasher.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chiefcookandbottlewasher.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chiefcookandbottlewasher.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=60"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/chiefcookandbottlewasher.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":115,"href":"https:\/\/chiefcookandbottlewasher.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60\/revisions\/115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chiefcookandbottlewasher.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=60"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chiefcookandbottlewasher.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=60"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chiefcookandbottlewasher.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=60"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}