Encouraged by the current customer service campaign headed by Mary Portas, the public are slowly becoming savvier to the standard of service they should expect and receive as customers visiting UK high-street retail and hospitality establishments. Customer service training is no longer only for staff serving the category of customers that not only expect a standard of service, but ultimately pay for it in boutique prices.
I recently visited a newly opened site of a well-known sushi restaurant, my one and only favourite ‘fast-food joint’! How wonderful it was to see our waiter enjoying his role. He was filled with enthusiasm and a strong desire to please, his bounciness and humour were intriguing. But the standard had been tipped on its head; I wasn’t frustrated by a lack of customer service but by overkill.
What a shame that this over-ripened young chap had had his willing nature turned into grating over-eagerness. He was doing everything by the book but the list of instructions had erased all trace of authenticity. His customer service training had seemingly been thorough but it just made me realise the difficulties of nurturing a perfectly balanced customer service culture-rich with personality and natural attentiveness. And are these difficulties not exaggerated further when the financial motivation for these young people is often little more than a minimum wage?
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs demonstrates that motivation stretches further than financial gain only – but still – is it perhaps not true to say that generally you can only expect to get what you pay for? The customer cannot expect to pay dirt cheap prices and be treated celestially; staff cannot expect higher wages but treat customers with contempt; employers cannot expect exemplary customer service standards but fail to offer customer service training. Investments need to be made by all.
By Claudia Cooney | Righttrack’s Sales & Key Account Executive