Our nieces and nephews love to tell the story about the time our family had dinner at a Friendly's Restaurant in the Boston area, and had a less than friendly customer service experience.
We had been on the road for a good 8 to 10 hours that day with my folks, and our young niece and nephew from Missouri. We were there to attend my nephew's high school graduation in a Boston suburb the next day, but we arrived just in time to attend a DARE graduation for our young niece. No time to eat, no worries! We would go to Friendly's, and all would be well.
After DARE, our party of 13 arrived at Friendly's with a set of customer expectations as big as our appetites. The kids were psyched and the grand-fathers were on the edge of having blood sugar issues.
We placed our order with a young man, who had apparently quit but forgot to tell anyone. You've probably had that experience yourself...being served by someone who would rather be elsewhere, and seems to be having an out of body experience right before your eyes.
We were nearly the last customers in the restaurant. A half hour became 45 minutes, and food was not appearing even after consulting with our server about our special needs family members.
So, I decided to go back to the kitchen to see whether in fact the wait person had turned in our order. Oh yes, they had the order and they were working on it, but couldn't tell me when we might expect food.
Eventually food began to appear. My nephew's banana split came out first...without bananas. There was something about a banana split without bananas that just sent me over the edge. That was when I decided to return to the kitchen, convene a team meeting, and provide a little Just in Time customer service training. I remember telling the staff that this was their lucky day because I would not even charge them for the workshop.
It must have worked, because properly prepared food began to appear. Not necessarily in the appropriate sequence, but food came all the same. Grouchy family members became kind and loving again, and as we enjoyed our Friendly's meals, we all became our "friendly" selves once again.
Over the years when any member of our family experiences a customer service disappointment, they are likely to recall the night "Jeanne Went Friendly" in Boston.
Our nieces and nephews are grown now, and each of them approach their respective jobs by making sure that they are providing more value to their employer and their customers than they are being paid....every day. They understand that no matter what their job involves, they do it to the best of their ability as a matter of professional pride.
I remember returning from a Girls Getaway to the Riviera Maya. While there, we enjoyed glorious beaches, food to die for, and had the customer service experience of a lifetime. During the course of a four day trip, we must have been served by dozens and dozens of individuals who truly seemed to appreciate their jobs and our business, and it showed in their every action. Each service provider projected competence, confidence, professional pride, and appeared to enjoy their guests, each other, and the opportunity to serve others.
As I began to contemplate the challenges we seem to have in our workplaces pulling off a suitable level of customer service, I couldn't help but wonder what we could learn from these humble, energetic and grateful people about service. As guests, we were eager to find ways to show our appreciation to the various individuals for the great service, and of course, we are planning to tell the World about our excellent service experience.
Research indicates that normally, when we have a bad service experience, we tell 10 to 12 people. When we have a good service experience, we are less likely to tell others about it. I have repeated the Friendly's story for over a decade in customer services classes everywhere, as an example of horrible service. I am ready to turn over a new leaf and tell the World about my great service experiences as well. And who knows? Maybe I don't even have to go to the Riviera Maya to enjoy great service, if I really pay attention.
