Don't Let Your Systems Drive Your Customers Crazy! - Hospitality ...

SERVICE
“But it should work that way, don’t you agree?” I asked, appealing
to her sense of logic, concern and elementary customer
care.
“I don’t make the rules here, Mr Kaufman. Just follow them.
What time will you be returning the car after the first day?”
Somewhere deep inside the heart of Hertz, a group of senior
accountants live comfortably with their precise policy of “one
airline, one coupon, one car, no exceptions”. But somewhere
closer to this customer’s heart lies, frustration, inconvenience,
and incredible disbelief.
But I’m not the type of customer who gives up in these situations.
When my Hertz reservation commenced in May, I took
along a copy of this article to San Francisco and had a long chat
with the most senior manager I could find at the airport. I ended
up keeping the same car for three days. Hertz Rent-A-Car was
listening.
“You Don’t Get Juice” with a Broiler Meal at Burger
King:
You don’t have to call a reservations
officer to experience procedural
insanity instead of convenience
and customer care. Before going vegetarian, I used to
visit Burger King for their BK Broiler meal, a fast food lunch of
broiled chicken sandwich and french fries.
But instead of taking the large Coca-Cola included in the
package, I always asked for a small glass of orange juice instead.
The counter staff would freeze up in uncertainty and refer my
request to the floor manager.
One young manager was particularly memorable. “I’m sorry,
sir,” he told me. “You can’t have the orange juice with the BK
Broiler Meal.”
“Oh, sure I can,” I replied, “I do it all the time at the other
Burger Kings. I know there is a 65-cent price difference and I am
happy to pay the difference.”
“That’s not the problem,” he said with a touch of annoyance.
“There’s no key here on my computer to make the substitution,
so I can’t let you do it.”
“Hey, sometimes you just have to break the rules,” I said, reminding
him of Burger King’s own multi-million dollar advertising
campaign. “I’ll take the BK Broiler meal, with orange juice.”
He realized I was not going to take “No” for an answer and
he could not very well go against Burger King’s well-known advertising
promise. “I’ll do it for you just this once, as an exception,”
he said curtly.
“Oh c’mon, you can do it for me anytime,” I replied.
“No,” he stated, looking at me straight in the eye. “I will do it
for you this once, but I won’t do it again the next time.”
“Wait a minute,” I asked gamely. “You are about to make me
a happy customer. Do you really mean you wouldn’t make me a
happy customer again?”
“I will do it for you this once,” he repeated flatly. When I
received my meal, with orange juice, I gave the manager a genuine
smile and said, “See you again next time.”
He quietly replied, just below his breath but loud enough for
me to hear, “No, I don’t want to see you again.”
Somewhere deep inside Burger King, computer programmers
design point of purchase terminals to carefully limit the
choices and options of customers around the world.
Accountants are happy. The daily sales reports are neat and
accurate and clean. But at the counter of the restaurants, face to
face between customers and staff, both parties experience frustration.
The advertising slogan says “Sometimes you’ve just got to
break the rules”, but the restaurant manager cannot.
After this article first came out, Burger King called and invited
me to lunch. They asked me to tell my story. They asked me
for suggestions.
The following week I returned to the same outlet seeking
a BK Broiler Meal, with small orange juice. The counter staff
smiled brightly and keyed in my order.
“How did you do that!?” I asked in a state of pleased amazement.
“Oh, now it’s easy,” she replied. “Last week they gave us a
new key on the computer to make simple menu changes.”
Congratulations, Burger King. You are listening!
Now each of
these stories is completely
true, but they
are only valuable if
they inspire you to
listen more closely to your customers and more carefully examine
your policies and procedures.
“ How can we serve you better?… ”
And remember, although certain polices may cause customers
to fume in frustration, the rest of your system may quietly
conspire to keep the complaining customers’ voice at bay.
Ask your customers:
“How can we serve you better? Is there anything that frustrates
you most about the way we provide our service? Is there anything
you would like us to do more of? less of? start doing? stop doing?
What do other companies do for you that we don’t do here?”
Ask your staff:
“What do our customers ask for that frustrates you the most? Are
there any special customer requests that really drive you crazy? Is
there anything they ask for that is against our company policy?
Is it the customer that makes your staff so mad, or are they driven
to distress by limitations in your systems, policies and procedures?
Make special requests:
You can learn how to improve your own systems by testing the
flexibility of others.Whenever you dine, travel, shop, purchase or
rent, make requests that are slightly different from the usual routine,
ask for specials “not on the menu”.
Watch carefully how each establishment responds to your requests.
Are they fast, flexible and friendly? What is it about their
policy and systems that allows them to respond?
Finally, ask yourself: Are you willing to make the change?
Your accountant is comfortable. Your managers are content. But
who are you in business for?
Your accounting department will still be with you tomorrow.
Will your customers be with you, too?
Ron Kaufman is an internationally acclaimed innovator and motivator for partnerships
and quality service. He is the author of the bestselling “UP Your Service!”
books and the FREE monthly newsletter “UP Your Service!”. For more information
and a sample newsletter, visit www.RonKaufman.com
54 HOSPITALITY MALDIVES OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2006