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Has Service Gone South?

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I was recently asked by an upstart magazine to give my thoughts on “what’s wrong with Customer Service (is it diminished or trimmed out of budgets)?”

Here's my intro to the answer. I'll post the sub-parts throughout the upcoming week, and the link to the article once it's published.

It’s not so much that service is broken as it is the lack of passion and focus behind it that’s missing. I don’t think budgets are trimmed. I think they are misaligned. Too many resources are placed into programs designed to make-up for poor product design and/or lack of talent to relate to the customer. Money is too often spent on the “icing” without any concern for what’s in the “cake”. No amount of slick advertising, image campaigns or PR will make-up for an average product or for people who don’t care about what they do.

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The Robin Williams Effect

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Have you ever wondered what makes Robin Williams so memorable? Even if you’re not a fan of his humor or acting style, it’s likely you remember him. And, what is it we remember about Mr. Williams? Is it the jokes? Nope…not likely. It’s the delivery. It’s how he tells jokes, how he behaves, how he makes us feel that is so memorable. It’s the sweat, the constant motion, the waving of extremities, the colorful attire and the facial expressions that so effectively communicate his passion for what he does. As he performs, he has us believing that he would rather be nowhere else than on that stage. He epitomizes the definition of “caring for your customer”.

Do you and your employees display this sort of passion when interacting with your guest?

If not, it’s time to refocus. No, in fact, it’s time to smash the camera and start over.

Start here…Hire creative, passionate people who will create memorable experiences with your product.

People Like People

Another opinionated point against self check-in kiosks, wake-up systems and the like. Thank you, Seth, for bringing it back to the forefront.

The bottom line is that people like to do business with people. We like to exchange experiences and feelings. That’s human nature, and that’s why we buy one product over another. As long as technology makes that process easier and makes the guest feel better about you, it’s fine. But, I think we’re headed in the wrong direction when we eliminate the opportunity to personally interact with our customer just to save a buck, or make it easier on ourselves. In the long run, that can’t be good…for anyone.

Wake Up!

Hilton_clock


This just in…Hilton is installing a custom alarm clock in all of their hotel rooms for all brands. More than you ever wanted to know on the subject can be found here.

I like the idea of the new clock because unlike most hotel models (especially in branded hotels), it looks stylish, seems easy to use and includes MP3 connectivity. In fact, of the reasons listed, that’s the most important one…the music. The other reasons have more to do with our being challenged with the operation of current models and our sleep habits than the actual benefits of the “new” clock. They took a survey in late March of this year to determine why people don’t like the current timepiece (I know, don’t ask why they just now took the survey…seems odd to me too). The survey responses indicate that most of us don’t like to wake-up to the annoying buzzer (duh!), and are worried about sleeping in late (double duh!). Isn’t this why we have an alarm clock? Here’s the kicker, “ In fact, millions of Americans consider setting a hotel alarm clock to be the most complicated task versus filing their taxes or programming their VCR”. You must be kidding! So, I guess this new clock will prevent us from sleeping in late and be “more productive” as a result of the soothing wake-up music.

That’s way too much information to affect a fairly minor change. And, it's probably not the real reason anyway. It probably has more to do with a challenge to the marketing department to get the most bang for the buck with a low cost item change (the old clocks probably ran about $10). Personally, I'd worry less about the clocks, and more about those new ATM style check-in kiosks.

Here’s how I would have promoted this new guestroom feature…our old clocks looked, felt and worked like crap. We heard your complaints and saw enough remnants from your fits of rage to figure out something was wrong. So, we changed them, and in the process made it easier for you to enjoy your own music. And, if you didn’t bring any, we’ll loan you an iPod…enjoy your stay.

Say No To Automation

I have a counterpoint for Seth regarding his recent post and respective comment, “Use an ATM system instead of the front desk at the hotel. Use an automated wake up call system. But then put the money you save into wonderful people at the concierge desk.”

Get rid of the automation AND hire wonderful people!

As I pointed out in my own rants here and here, do away with the front desk, the ATM and the wake-up system. I haven’t talked with anyone yet who likes them (guest or staff). They were designed either in the dark ages (in the case of the front desk) or to save money (reduce staff and improve efficiency which is so old school) and they alienate most of us who come into contact with them. So, if you’re in the people business, wake-up (no pun intended) and ditch the “barriers” to service and hire more people to take care of your customer. If you want to invest in electronics, buy stuff that enhances the guest experience like iPods, WiFi, etc.

The best hotels in the world (those with the most customer raves about fanatic levels of service) do not have more systems than people. I believe that’s the point Seth makes about the concierge desk.

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Mediocrity Starts with Average People

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Seth Godin has an interesting post regarding mediocre service he recently received at a Westin in Florida. In a nutshell, Seth’s point is that you need to hire terrific people who can think vs. focusing efforts on giving them scripts, procedures, etc. to work by. I completely agree with him. For, it’s the great people that deliver memorable service, think on their feet when the “system” doesn’t work, or best of all, come up with the really fantastic idea that everyone else thought was stupid just last week.

In a follow-up post, Mr. Godin more than adequately answers to Chris Garrett’s Sticking to The Script thought, “I would rather have great procedures and top quality training and ok staff than brilliantly creative staff and ok procedures”. I’ll add my two cents…indeed, it can be argued that systems and procedures actually encourage the hiring of average folks. It’s part of the “robot” mentality that’s been created by corporations building a “box” for the staff to work within. Employees simply aren’t allowed to explore beyond the boundaries, at least not for real. So, Chris, I think you’re outnumbered on this one. Systems are good only when they are married with creative, “thinking” people. If that doesn’t work, change the people!

Honestly, does Westin or any other chain hotel really want to project an image that every response to a guest question is scripted, that every stay will be like the last? Of course not. Unfortunately, most of these behemoth hotel companies just don’t get it when it comes to hiring and caring for their people (See When You Care It Shows). And, that shows.

If you hire idiots and "yes" men (there are plenty out there…as an example just check out Seth’s other post about a really stupid sign), you will go down in flames. People don’t want to deal with idiots, and they certainly aren’t satisfied with mediocre service or products. They want memorable, believable and emotional experiences which are delivered by real, thinking, human beings.

Whatever happened to the premise of hiring a whole bunch of people smarter than you?

Icing or Cake?

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Your “Story” is much more than a bundle of slick adjectives thrown together to catch the attention of your prospective guest. Your “Story” must “exactly” replicate the guest’s experience, or parts thereof. So, when you tell the story, don’t just give them the icing, tell them what’s inside the cake, and how you made it. Give them the process and experience you go through to produce the spectacular results. That’s what strikes an emotional connection with your guests, and that’s what they want.

Think about it. Why are exhibition kitchens so popular? Because the “process” and “artistry” going on behind the scenes is really what makes the dining experience so memorable.

Why stop short at telling someone you have a “newly renovated” hotel or restaurant. Why not tell them “how” it was rebuilt, and “why”. Why not tell them “who” worked on it, and maybe some of the pain you went through to get there. Why do you think they tell you how many people died building a dam or bridge? Because, that’s the real story.

If you use special china or a two hundred year old stove, tell them.
If you source your ingredients from all corners of the world, tell them.
If you make your beds a special way, tell them.
If you have an employee of the year, don’t just tell them who it is, tell them “why”.

It’s not the icing that sells. Now, more than ever, the ingredients take the cake.

Pizza Leadership

John Moore of Brand Autopsy gives us a really good example of where to begin when fixing your marketing, service and employee retention problems. You must have remarkable leaders who care for their staff (see my previous post, When You Care It Shows).

Jim Collins gives it to us in a nutshell in Chapter 2 of Good To Great.

I have one more thing to add for Dominos to consider...make a better pizza!

Saturday, March 19, 2005 at 06:14 PM

Seth has a new blog related to his upcoming book release, All Marketers Are Liars. It looks pretty good so far so I’m on the preorder list. From what I’ve read, the underlying message is that things sell when there is a story behind it. And, of course, that most of the stories we hear are, at least in part, contrived.

I believe it goes a little deeper. It’s not just the story, but how it makes us feel that compels us to buy, tell our friends, etc. One of the feelings which is important in the purchase process is confidence…confidence in the product, the experience and the people behind it. So, the story needs to be great for sure. But, now more than ever, it needs to be believable. If we suspect any sort of underhandedness, real or imagined, it’s doomsday for the seller.

Be Better
Be Different
And…Be Real!

Price Lesson

I have always been against "discounting" with many reasons to back it up (if you have a couple of hours to kill, call me and I'll be happy to bore you on the subject). After some insightful conversation among my peers this week, I feel the need to bring it home for you.

There’s only one reason you should lower your price, when the value of your offering declines. In other words, the guest gets less for what they pay.

Do not, do not, lower your price simply to stimulate demand…period. If you do, it will cost you big time in the long run…guaranteed.

When You Care...It Shows

Crystalsymphony

Recently, I spent a few days on board the Crystal Symphony with a group of about 400 travel professionals, Virtuoso's best of the best. I’m not much of a cruise person. People that know me, know that. So, I didn’t have great expectations about my four-day float in the Caribbean.

I’m still not a big fan of “cruising”. It’s just too confining and structured for me. But, I’m very enthusiastic about the staff aboard the Symphony. From my initial welcome by my housekeeper, Aniko, to the group send-off at disembarkation, it was truly a wonderful service experience. And, of course, being in the “business”, I became curious about what made this fine tuned clock tick so well. So, I started holding conversations with the staff, determined to find the root cause of the “problem”.

It came down to this…caring. The staff cared about me because the management of Crystal cared about them. I heard over and over again how they were well taken care of in every aspect of their life as a cruise ship employee. And, in comparison to other cruise lines (most of them had worked for another at some point), they had superior accommodations, more recreational opportunities, better food, a staff bar, higher compensation and most of all, bosses that cared more about them, and treated them as equals.

What a concept. Care for your people to get the best attitude and service for your guests.

Don’t screw around when it comes to taking care of your employees. If you do, your guests will know.

Bravo to Crystal Cruises!

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Hire People Who Care

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This news release promotes a new AHMA Educational Institute video citing "Training employees to provide the best possible service to all guests in any situation is the key to building guest loyalty and increasing business."

I think the real key to your success starts way before the training class. It begins with finding people who will genuinely care about your guests. It's the caring that leads to memorable service and remarkable guest experiences.

Trust

Getting your guests to buy your hotel experience (Sales) is about one thing…trust.

You could build the best hotel experience ever, have the biggest advertising budget, employ armies of sales people and get mentions in all of the top pubs…and still go down in flames if…no one trusted you.

You build trust through relationships, not with fancy ads, slick videos or super cool trade show booths and websites. And, it happens one person at a time, through personal meetings, conversations and experiences with you and your property. Sure, great PR, travel agents and meeting planners accelerate the process. But, even these intermediary relationships are built upon trust. Your product is either referred to them by someone they know. Or, after inducing trial, they simply feel good about recommending you to others.

In the case of the guest, don’t think for a minute they trust advertisements enough to choose your property. An ad might remind them about a conversation with a trusted source or even the last time they stayed with you, and hence result in a reservation. But, ads alone aren’t seen as objective information, at least not anymore. So, don’t spend much money here.

The best use of your time and sales dollars remains in developing personal relationships with influential people and your prospective guests. Of course, this is much easier if you have something memorable to talk about!

Trailblazer Monkey

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The next time you're in the market for an SUV, will you buy a Trailblazer? I hope not...

This is a True Story.

We use 2003 Trailblazers, three of them. We recently received a recall notice to repair a defective tail lamp. We called the local dealer as instructed to learn that they were out of parts. Then, when we inquired about the prospects of having the repair completed, the Chevrolet ambassador said, "just keep calling us to check to see if the parts came in."

Let me get this straight. You sell me your product claiming it's the best, most comfortable, great value, blah, blah. Then, come to find out, it's broken. You tell me to bring it in. But, there are no parts to fix this broken product. Now, the monkey is on my back, and it's my responsibility to call you to complete the job.

I don't know about you, but this kind of thing hacks me off, makes me feel really angry. It certainly doesn't make me feel like buying another Chevy, much less tell my friends to buy one.

Don't make your customer feel this way. Work extra hard to repair YOUR problems...and for goodness sake, say you're sorry.

BS

Advertising is BS because it’s biased. It’s an artful way of tooting your own horn. Now, ask yourself, how believable is that? No one likes to hear another go on and on about themselves…and that’s what ads do. Eventually, you grow tired of the nonsense and go away.

And, that’s what’s happening to our guests. They are tuning out the ads, and turning to trusted sources…books, blogs, friends and colleagues. They are holding conversations with each other about US!

So, stop advertising, and start getting in on the conversations. Become a master at starting the discussion, keeping it going and listening to others.

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Faster Is Not Always Better

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I recently read this bit of Travelocity misguided strategy at Hospitality Net. It might be slick, but I don’t think it’s what most of us want in a Travel Agent experience, not even at the corporate level. I think we want someone who demonstrates caring, attention to detail, superior knowledge of the destination and most of all, someone who takes the time to listen to us.

Here’s a key point from the story…

“The new Travelocity Business Mid-Office software, part of the eFulfillment suite, helps minimize the need for additional human intervention by automating routine but important tasks required after a traveler or an agent has booked a trip”

Faster does not normally lead to memorable service!

Here are some folks who are passionate about the travel business. They don’t try to make it quick, just better!

Rudi Steele, Rudi Steele Travel (Dallas, Texas)
Robin Sanders, Sanders Travel Centre (Fort Worth, Texas)
Jerry Pollyea, Pro Travel (Sherman Oaks, California)
Sue Bauer, All World Travel (Scottsdale, Arizona)