Sherryhbags

I have just returned from a trip to Arizona where I stayed in a four-star resort and was pleasantly surprised at the high level of customer service my family and I received. The entire staff was very accommodating and truly made us feel welcomed. When we first arrived and were escorted to our suite, there was a problem with the room. Not only did the management team quickly resolve the problem by giving us another suite, but the bellman brought us a new set of keys within five minutes of us getting settled in the larger and better located suite. With a start like that, we knew we found the right place.

In fact, after a big meal, my brother and I were walking around the resort, when one of the workers drove up in a golf cart and asked if we would like a ride to our room or were we just enjoying an evening walk? He wasn’t a driver or concierge, but a considerate housekeeping employee looking out for his guests.

As I flew back to Atlanta, I began to think about why this experience was so exceptional and I soon realized it was because we no longer receive good customer service in our daily lives. I thought about when that changed and what was killing customer service?

If we begin with the usual suspects, we could talk about the horrific attitude of the standard hourly employees, but that would be too easy. We could discuss the theories of wages being driven down by foreign outsourcing and the lack of better paying jobs due to immigration or downsizing, but they are only symptoms of a larger problem.

Newsflash: Managers Sought for Questioning in the Demise of Customer Service!

Investigators announced today a growing suspicion in the management staff of frequented businesses. Managers became people of interest as detectives began to examine the root causes of poor customer service. Chief among the identified traits were:

• A lack of clear management standards and expectations
• No coaching for sales and customer service staff
• No employee incentives to increase customer satisfaction
• A lack of total quality management philosophies
• Hiring practices that do not screen for excellence
• No forum for customers to express concerns

Investigators discovered businesses that did not take measure to hire the proper staff, coach their development, reward their successes, listen to their customers, or have consistent goals and expectations were adding to the demise of customer service. Employees only portray traits and attitudes that are allowed by management and failure to correct these short comings woud most certainly lead to a lack of patronage and the cessation of business.

Finally, business physicians have determined poor customer service is not fatal! Managers willing to take longer in hiring, work harder to instill the importance of taking care of the customers in staff, suppliers and vendors are beginning to show improvement in their business health. Even in instances where price increases are necessary to cover the expense of finding motivated employees, customers are excited about the resuscitation of customer service and look forward to a sunny prognosis.