Service with a Smile

Raise your hand if you have ever experienced any of these situations:

• called customer service and felt like you were bothering them
• at the checkout line and the cashier acted as if you did not exist
• asked for help at your local superstore and were met with ambivalence by the employee
• sent an email to a company and it was finally answered 2 days later without an apology for exceeding their typical response time

These are just a few examples of how service with a smile does not exist today.  I often think about the old fashioned way of doing business. In my mind, I picture a 1950's department store. Although I was not around then, I believe the frontline role was a career, not a job and customers were loyal to their store and frontline professional. The sales assoicate in a department store was charming, pleasent and had a twinkle in their eye. Furthermore, they smiled and knew their customers.

This picture does not exist in today's America. The basic concept of service with a smile is a lost art. As consumers we have become tolerant of this indifference that has defined the modern day frontline's attitude towards service. 

I have recently begun to take notice of how common it is not to smile when dealing with customers. Last week, I went to BabiesRUs where one would expect a happy, cuddly and family friendly atmosphere. As I combed through the aisles stocking up on my monthly supply of baby products, I was met with several, smiling and eager to help employees. What a treat! That warm, fuzzy feeling was short lived. As I approached the cashier, I can describe the experience as:

• Ughhh ... she was not in the mood to deal with me
• No eye contact
• Not even an attempt to smile and say, "how are you today?"
• Not an attempt to recogonize that I had a full shopping cart and to ensure that I found everything ok. (It was pretty obvious I am a loyal customer)

In addition, some of the coupons that I presented to her had expired but I did not expect that she would accept them. In fact, she did not. She did not voice any empathy to my situation. On the brighter side, I was surprised that she volunteered to give me some additional discounts without too much hoopla. A slight recovery for her. Perhaps, my bar was set so low that any slight positive behavior was a major thumbs up.

This is how I realized, that we have, as consumers, allowed companies and the frontline to ruin the art of service. Such that, we are willing to pay more for a product of the same quality but met with better basic service experiences. That is crazy. Are we actually paying more for a smile?

What if every frontline professional smiled?

• Customers would return to those stores or websites
• Companies could invest in improving the actual product instead of investing in acquisition to make up for lost customers
• Companies could afford to keep jobs in the country and outsource only to companies in the US. Customers would not tolerate anything less than an exceptional service experience and only Americans know how best to service their customer base.
• Our economy would improve and consumer confidence would be on the rise as products improved, innovation  was on the rise and customers found US products, produced and serviced in the US to be the best quality at the best price.

This is not far fetched at all. Companies, take note:

1. Hire service professionals for any role that touches a customer. This means just because the person is breathing and perhaps has showered, it does not make them a good enough candidate for your frontline.
2. Test the candidate on their attitude towards different customers and how they might react under the circumstance. If they are a cashier, ask your loyal customers to come in and role play scenarios. If the role is in a call center, have their future collegues role play with them.
3. Advocate for your service professionals and make them the center of your service based culture. Employee of the month is always nice but highlighting great service moments every day is even better. Extend these stories outside of the frontline organization to marketing, finance and technology.
4. Invite non frontline teams to meet with your frontline and chat about service in your company (i.e. finance, marketing, technology). These teams can use their specific skillset to help solve customer problems
5. Use customer feedback aimed at every frontline interaction to coach. This includes surveys, complaints and use of social media to determine what your employee impact is.
6. Instead of paying more on hourly wages to attract good talent, invest in a good pay for performance system. This should be tied to customer feedback as much as possible. When this is done correctly, you will encourage your good service professionals to improve. This will also attract others who know they can make more money and enjoy their job for being service oriented.

Of course, if consumers are not telling companies that they are not good at servicing, then there is not an incentive to take action. Perhaps with smartphones and new apps aimed at gathering customer feedback in the very moment it occurs, one can hope customer voices around this topic will be harder to not to listen to. (Check out Gripe and Tello)

Mr. President, I have an idea for your next bill regarding the economy; a simple smile might solve our economic crisis. Just saying!

Happy Cyber Monday (for all of you who want to avoid dealing with a human)

Michelle
the customer experience factory