The gold standard
Is it a higher level of service, or just a higher price?
By Fred Koury
June 2007
I’m standing in line at the airport, suffering through the usual delays and hassles
that accompany air travel, when a woman starts making a fuss.
“I’m a first-class passenger,” she cries,
looking for the better service that’s supposed to come with the higher price.
I just laughed to myself, because I, too,
was a first-class passenger
and wasn’t being treated any
differently than those flying
coach, despite the premium
ticket cost. People from the
main line had already slid to
the desk that was supposedly
for first-class passengers only.
Once on the plane, the “exclusive” first-class bathroom
was frequented by coach customers. I think I got a better
meal, but who knows for sure.
Maybe I got a garnish and
the people behind the curtain in coach didn’t. Drinks were served in the first-class
cabin before they were served elsewhere,
but that perk hardly justified the ticket price.
After exiting the plane and the disappointing experience with the airline I met
up with friends and family at a top restaurant, only to be served by what must have
been an airline employee on loan from the
attitude desk at the airport. We ordered king
crab legs but weren’t given any butter or
nutcrackers to break open the legs. I flagged
down the waitress.
“I need to take this other table’s order,” she
said.
Meanwhile, we’re looking at a table full of
crab legs that we can’t do anything with,
except watch them cool.
Both the airline and the restaurant built
their brands on customer service. The
problem is, the customer service only exists
in the companies’ marketing materials. The
restaurant delivered great food but failed in
the service department, making it a disappointing experience.
What I realized in both cases was that I
was supposed to be a first-class VIP to these
companies, but the only thing first class
about the experiences was the bills.
It was all a sham. Glossy brochures, expensive television ads and glitzy decor are
all nice, but where’s the actual experience?
I don’t blame the waitress, the person
behind the ticket counter or even the managers. I blame the CEOs.
The CEO is the one responsible for setting
the tone of the organization and for creating
a culture where customers are taken care
of. Nordstrom stores and Ritz-Carlton
hotels are well-known for their customer
service, but it didn’t happen by accident.
Those companies are built on a customer-centric model, where employees are selected based on how well they fit
that model, where customer
service training is an ongoing
process and where people are
measured and rewarded on
customer-centric behaviors.
They are committed to the
customer and do whatever it
takes to create a great experience.
For example, the average
Ritz-Carlton employee receives 232 hours of training
per year, about four times as
much as their peers at other hotels. The
company constantly measures customer
and employee loyalty, and employs continuous improvement initiatives. It pays more
than the competition does and spends a lot
of effort recognizing employees for their
customer service efforts, which combine to
keep turnover low and enthusiasm high.
Nordstrom recognizes great customer
service with cash awards, extra discounts
and favorable work assignments. Employees and departments are singled out for
praise during morning intercom announcements before the doors open. And the company monitors sales performance and
encourages competition by posting every
person’s and every department’s sales figures from across the chain.
These companies got where they are by
putting the customer at the center of the organization, building everything around that,
and doing whatever it takes to ensure the
customer is always happy. When that happens, the customer becomes your best marketing tool because they tell others about
the experience, driving company growth.
Don’t be a company that promises a first-class experience but delivers disappointment, the way the airline and restaurant did
to me. If you are going to promise a certain
standard to your customers, you’d better be
doing everything you can to deliver on it.
FRED KOURY is president and CEO of Smart Business
Network Inc. Reach him with your comments at (800) 988-4726
or fkoury@sbnonline.com.
