Service is Dead…

… OK, that may be a little harsh,… but certainly service, in the way I define it, is dying. And how do I define it…? Service is doing something for someone else, or someone else doing something for you. I’m not limiting my comments to just for-fee services, though the transaction of money tends to heighten one’s assessment of their satisfaction in the end. To me, many of those individuals which provide services for others just don’t seem to care anymore, or at least it doesn’t appear they care as much as those that preceded them. Which has me wondering,… is it that they just really don’t care about doing their best, or is it something else that is keeping them from performing at their best when providing a service…?

Maybe some examples will help. Why is it that when drinks, hot or cold, are passed to you at a drive-up window, they either don’t have the lids on tight or worse yet have liquid bubbling out the top or dripping down the sides…?!? It could be they just don’t see it,… but I think they see it, and simply just don’t care. But for sure they have, at some time, been on the receiving end of such service in their personal lives; so they must know it’s not a great experience. It’s as if the transaction is happening blindly in front of them. Some go so far as to acknowledge, “Sorry, the cup is a little full.” But then why didn’t they take the time to resolve the problem before handing you the dripping cup,… that is now running down your hand, onto your shirt sleeve and into your cup holder in your car…?

It’s not just drinks at drive-up windows. It’s the electronic lock that is left on the shirt you just bought, and don’t notice till you are all the way home; it’s the cab driver that acts like you don’t know he’s taking you the long route; it’s the car dealer that is working on your catalytic converter and deactivates your stereo in the process; there are hundreds of examples. Some may think I’m being overly critical, but there are surveys (one in a recent book I read called What’s the Secret? by John R. DiJulius III) that clearly show that service, in terms of customer satisfaction, is decreasing. The author states that only 3 percent of all companies are operating at customer service levels that would be considered ‘world class’,… and 41 percent are operating at levels their customers would rank as ‘below average’ or ‘unacceptable’ in terms of their service experience. Those are frightening stats, and they seem to be slipping.

Again, maybe the reason is that these companies and the persons that work at them are managed in ways that make it difficult to care (e.g., instructed to move customers along as quickly as possible),… or if caring adds to cost, they understand that cost rules. I’m sure they are ‘not’ told to ignore the customer, or to forget about quality. But likewise, they are probably not told that their role is, above all else, to make the customer’s experience a memorable one. It can happen, it’s not an impossible objective,… it merely takes attention to the customer, their specific needs/desires, and focusing on the details to pull it off. I say we need a resurgence of customer service, starting with a caring attitude. And if we do, our businesses will surge and profits will follow. Do you care…?

Comments

[Hagen]

Dear Mr. Greiner,

at first i´d like to congratulate you to this, in my own opinion, remarkable blog
(of course this goes out to all who read this and are dealing with this blog).

I just love to read it from time to time, and if you look at the analytics-data and find a visitor situated in Dresden, Saxonia, Germany, well, thats me.

I´m not sure if the things i´m going to write now fits perfectly to this post or if you are the right person to tell this, but this is blog.steelcase.com, and you´re the senior vice-president, so i´ll try.

Service is dead. Yeah...and gone.

Yesterday something happend, that i never expect to, and never ever caused by a Steelcase Certified Partner.

I work for a small-scaled (that means two persons) office-furniture retailer, guess where, right, in Dresden, Saxonia, Germany.

Until 2008 we were allowed to sell Steelcase and Werndl-Products directly to our customers. From March 2008 Steelcase Rosenheim terminated the partnership (that´s something i really understand, because our sales figures weren´t the best, and there are some economics guidelines every company has to achieve). From this time on, we sell Steelcase-Products to our customers by purchasing them from the, now unique, other local Steelcase-Dealer (with the same purchase-conditions as before).

Everything is fine so far, but yesterday i ordered 3 spare seat-upholstery for a Chair called the "Old Please" for one of our customers. And what happens? The local dealer told me, that he is not willing to sell us the spare parts at the same conditions as new furnitures. Ok, thats something i understand. But he did not told me "look, when you order a set of castors i have the same efforts as when you order 10 chairs, thats why i have to give you a little less discount", no, he told me, that he, and that means steelcase (because he is a certified partner)is not willing to sell spare-parts with any discount, because the business is to sell new units of furnitures. And the point that makes it even more ridiculous is, that he called his responsible sales manager, who told him thats right.

Is it this what Steelcase means with sustainability?

To replace a working chair with a new one (which means, based upon the epd of the please-chair, 321 g of toxic input and 72820 g of co2 [what is pretty much my personal weight]), instead of replacing the seat-upholstery causing customers-based costs as declared in the pricelist, and less envirementional impact?

I hope it´s not and i don´t think so.

A few months ago i´ve read "Straight from the Gut" by Jack Welch. In one chapter he writes about persons in the ge-financial departement, who invested in every kind of stock but ge (all were fired). Until yesterday i thougt, oh come on Jack, there is no need to prosecute people, who wants (based on figures) the best for the company they work for. But know i understand.

As mentioned before, thank you for your blog, and thank you for giving me the opportunity to point out my point of view.

sincerely yours

Hagen Reichelt

[Kerry Johannssen]

I couldn't agree more. If I had a dime for every cashier that rang up a purchase for me while having a conversation on their cell phone, I'd have enough money to buy everything online and pay for express shipping. That should be a stern warning to all retail business owners.

[Stu How]

As a consumer, the one thing that I always shake my head at is when I buy something I always say Thank-you... This is totally wrong as the vendor should be thanking me for buying something and keeping them employed

[Duncan M]

Many service jobs pay so little that it's impossible to survive solely on the income that they provide. Thus, often these jobs are filled by students or recent immigrants, or people working two or more other jobs to support their family. As a result, these roles are increasingly temporary positions with a high rate of turnover. Many employees are simply exhausted from working odd hours or multiple jobs/studying! Add to this a society that increasingly looks down on people working these types of jobs,the constant abuse they receive (often they're treated as second class citizens) and low pay scales and is it really any wonder service quality has declined?

[Mark Greiner]

Great customer service starts with motivated employees,… I agree completely.

Thanks,
Mark