There I go, annoying the counter person again

I went into a store today where in the past I have experienced genuine curtness from the counter person. I would definitely go to their competition (who are very friendly and helpful) in a second - and do for big jobs - but, for small jobs, this place is just so much closer.

This same counter person, an attractive young woman, came out of the chute way better today. She helped me, in a very nice, friendly fashion, with the self-service machines. Then, a few minutes later, I swear I only could have been looking lost for a couple of moments when she again very nicely asked if I needed more help. I was impressed.

Then there was a little slip. I went over and got her because I was having a problem with the machine again. I showed her in a very non-critical fashion what about the machine was confusing me. She showed me how it worked in a way that indicated I was an idiot. I then asked if I had to pay for the little bit of work that came out wrong. "We usually don't do that, but ok." (Disgusted - here they have to write off that 20 cents because of my stupidity.)

Then, when I checked out, she bounced back amazingly. "You know, that machine really is marked in a confusing way", with a very engaging smile - and then a big smile as I left.

So, she seems to me to be in transition - still caught in some old irritable habits, but really wanting to move to more care for the customer.

There also is a system glitch here - a machine that is not customer-friendly, and a practice of just turning the customer loose on the machine, without explaining the confusing machine. It occurs to me that some of her crankiness may have been caused because she knows the machine is problematic and part of her is just feeling defensive about the whole process - which she either has not yet figured out how to fix or feels it's the boss's problem to fix, or whatever.

Smiling at customers

Smiling at customers - 05/05/05

I saw a young woman at the bank the other day, talking to a customer on the phone. She clearly was enjoying that interaction and valuing that customer - it just knocked me out. That customer could not see her radiant smile, but I’m sure they could feel it. At the call center where I had been working, they talked about “putting a smile in your voice”. One trainer even talked about putting a mirror in your cubicle and going for a physical smile.

I hesitated just now to call it a “real smile”, because I don’t think anyone was really proposing that. In fact, the expression I mostly saw from my colleagues (at least us newbies) was dogged determination. We were “saves” agents and our mission was to make “saves” – to take calls from folks who were calling to cancel their service with the company and to convince them to not do so. We were definitely on a mission and that mission got in the way of genuine smiles.

Are agents taking routine customer service calls more likely to smile? Maybe. Their work is certainly less stressful – they are not trying to do anything but to accomplish the customer’s requests. Saves work is more complicated: you are not simply accomplishing the customer’s request – you are actually looking for an opening to change their minds.

I am going back to that job, which I had left very discontented. I am convinced that the problem was that – in the middle of a pretty hard sales orientation, I lost my service slant. I believe that, if my mission is to accomplish the greatest good for the customer, I can have fun, smile more – and make lots of saves.

Lots of these folks have, at some point, had a good experience with our company. If I can – through customer service interventions, “master” technical support, and good old financial incentives – get them back to feeling good about the company, why is that not a win for them and us? They don’t need to try a new company, which is – as my dad used to say – a “pig in a poke”. I don’t know the exact translation for that, but I know it essentially meant that you don’t know what you’re getting, this next thing may be no better or maybe even worse. And it’s a lot of hassle to search and to get transferred over.

I want to serve people in ways that make me feel good, make them feel well cared for, and put a genuine smile on my face.

Starbucks

I interviewed for a job at Starbucks this morning. The pay is lousy. The chain is not politically correct in this town. I like Starbucks - always have, since they came to Chicago and started handing out little sample cups of coffee on street corners. Even in Chicago, where people tend to like their coffee strong, people were not used to coffee this strong. It took the town like wildfire.

I like Starbucks - so shoot me. Call me a yuppie...part of me is. I want to work at Starbucks. I've served in a restaurant, I've sold retail, I've done call center customer service rep (CSR) work. This is another slant into CSR land.

Here are three things I noticed at Starbucks this morning:

1. This work is really hard. There are a lot of things you need to know to make all these different drinks. (I want to watch the Steve Martin movie "Los Angeles" again, where there's that classic scene of all these yuppies ordering their specially customized cappuccinos.) I saw the new girl referring to the cheat sheet on the back wall and eagerly receiving coaching from the experienced pro. You have to multi-task. When the line is out the front door (it was), you have to both keep up the pace and be poised and friendly (even fun!?)
2. There definitely is, as everywhere, a hierarchy. There are people who are more senior, who know lots more. When this is handled elegantly - as it seemed to be in this store with this crew this morning - it truly is not about one-up/one-down. In that first sentence, I started by calling it a "pecking order", but then realized that what I saw this morning involved no pecking. It's just about differences and everyone pulling together to have it go well. Different people have different roles, according to skills and experience. No one is better.
3. Interpersonal warmth - genuine warmth, not just "nice", goes a long ways. The new girl, a lovely young African American woman, was genuinely slow and confused - right on time for being new. I bet that’s just where I’ll be. But she kept her poise and when she was handing someone their drink, she would smile at them like they were the most important person around and she was really happy they were there and she knew she was cool, too. Wow, that smile was dynamite. Even if you were feeling frustrated with the line and the unskilled barista and maybe running late for something, that smile would absolutely melt concrete. To see it – even second hand, like me watching – is to know that you have received a gift.
4. Often the managers are more anxious than the employees - even the interviewees. Why is this? Pressures of the job? Caught in the middle? The Peter Principle? I honestly don't completely know, but it's pretty interesting. At the restaurant where I worked, the only manager who didn't seem anxious was the general manager - and he was ferocious, prone to suddenly firing people, then (sometimes) rehiring them the next day. Which probably explained some of the other managers' insecurity - but not, I think, all.

Customer server survey

Following is a link to a survey I have created for people who are now or have been (recently enough to remember), front-line customer servers. Or if you know someonw who is or has been, you might want to refer them here.

It seeks to give you an opportunity to reflect and comment re. what stands out for you about this experience. People report that just the process of responding to this survey can be very valuable. It also can give me data to bring back to this blog – and to try to find ways to improve how servers are treated/managed/incented, etc.

The survey is located online at my Authentic Customer Service home page - a more structured web site dealing with these same issues. The survey can be found at:

http://www.home.earthlink.net/~authenticcustomerservice/id16.html

Have fun...