Service Revisited

Have you ever heard someone comment on how over the top Americans
are when providing service? Ever heard someone comment that
Americans need to provide good service as they rely on tips?
Although I agree with this partly a recent trip to the US was
quite revealing.

For most part the provision of service in America is far better
than here in Australia and it is because the service, from my
observation, was genuine. People wanted to help you, people were
happy you were in their store, and people welcomed you, without
being in your face.

Sure it was somewhat louder at times. Sure it was a bit over the
top other times, but it was truly genuine and that, for mine, far
outweighed the volume and the brashness.

So as I think about how genuine people are in service roles here
in Australia, I think they are genuine - they are genuinely
uninterested in their jobs, genuinely unhelpful and genuinely
keen to be somewhere else. How can I say that?

I'm a shopper, I am a customer and I am a prospect for some
organisations. I am gobsmacked when I get the sense I am an
intrusion to their day. I am equally surprised when people make
excuses for poor decision-making. There are so many times when
the policy and the procedures that are in place are not customer
centric at all, but if you complain or challenge them you are
seen to be the worst person in the world.

So this month's challenge is: do you want to be there for your
customer? Do you want to be successful as a business? Do you want
to assist your customers to make the best decisions?

If you said yes, that's brilliant – but did you mean it? Do you
genuinely want to be more customer centric? I think its one of
the greatest things on earth you can do, to be genuine.