Great customer service and experience is a lot about listening and then doing the things that you are not asked to do.
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March 5, 2012Great customer service and experience is a lot about listening and then doing the things that you are not asked to do.
I haven’t posted for a few days as I’ve been away in Marrakech with Hana following our wedding last week.
So, today after arriving back on Monday, I was thinking about a post and recalling different elements of our trip and the experience that we had.
We booked into Riad Dar Mimouna, a fantastic raid in the old city. You can see a picture of the interior above.
On arriving on the Thursday night, we were shown to our room and one of the first things that we noticed was that there were twin beds in the room and not a double bed. Something that we mentioned to Anwar, our host.
We didn’t make a big deal of it as we quickly pushed the beds together. However, what happened next was the thing that stood out for us.
The next day after being out during the day, we returned to find that our bed had been made into a double without us even asking. It just happened. It was this and countless other things that made our visit memorable and unforgettable.
For me, I think that when we talk about great customer service or creating a memorable customer experience it is easy to fall into the trap that delivering great customer service or creating a memorable customer experience is about the process that we design and how we train our people to deliver that. However, what was apparent from our visit to Riad Dar Mimouna is that the experience was completely enhanced by the combination of little things that were just done without asking.
You can only accomplish this type of service or experience through the selection, training and support of engaged employees.
Great customer service and experience is a lot about listening and then doing the things that you are not asked to do. Our thanks go to Anwar for making our trip unforgettable.
31 Comments
Hello Adrian
Congratulations and my best wishes for a happy marriage.
Interesting that you make this comment. And am so grateful that you noticed this and sharing it. Why? Because there is a process + technology fixation in our wider culture which manifests itself in business and vice versa.
There is no substitute for the person who interacts with you CARING about you. I call it the human touch and Richard Shapiro refers to these people as WELCOMERS. I will be sharing what he has to say in a forthcoming blog.
You could argue that the subtitle for The Customer Blog could be “It’s the human touch, stupid!”
Maz
HI Maz,
Thank you for your congratulations and best wishes.
I agree that often there is a process and technology fixation and that frustrates me too. Perhaps when we talk about being customer centric or delivering great customer service or a great customer experience we should substitute customer with human as a reminder. What do you think?
Adrian
Care and sufficient imagination as to why it matters is what worked there. Someone always need to give a damn. If so then service is obvious. Glad you found a place that wanted to be in the service profession.
Hi Martin,
Yes, indeed. Regardless of whether you or your business is low-fi or hi-tech, people intensive or capital intensive the higher the number of people that ‘give a damn’ seems to be the key to success whether they are in the service profession or not. Simple, right? Yet many firms still find it hard.
Are the forms the problem, the managers, the processes, the systems or is there just a lack of the ‘giving a damn’ type of people?
Adrian
Another blindingly obvious observation. We do make life difficult for ourselves don’t we?
Congratulations on the wedding
James
HI James,
Indeed. My hope is that if I keep observing, celebrating and highlighting the simple and obvious things that some people do then maybe it’ll catch on. What do you think my chances are?
Thanks for the congrats,
Adrian
It’s always heartening to see hotel employees go above and beyond the call of duty. I think most customers are willing to overlook a surprising amount of screw-ups if they see the staff making a genuine effort to set things right. I wish I could say this level of customer care was the norm in all hotels but unfortunately, from my own experience, it isn’t.
HI Alex,
Thanks for dropping by and commenting. I think you are right and it is surprising how forgiving we can and will be, as customers, if we can see the effort that is being put in and how genuine it is. Service is not a smile veneer but all heart in my book.
Adrian
Great post, yeah it is the little things that customers remember you by that turn customers into life time cheerleaders.