What is good service?
What is service? Or, more specifically, what is good service?
Take this story as an example:
You are the customer. You ask someone to produce a piece of work for you. The person preparing the work listens intently whilst you describe what you want. Asks a few questions about what you want and relays everything back to you that you have described. Then the person asks you what you wanted and make sure they fully understand your requirements.
The person then asks when you want the information and confirms the delivery date and time with you.
At 10am on the day that you requested the information by the information is delivered to you. Perfect.
Question: is this good service or ok service?
On a scale of 1-10 (10 being excellent) Think about it. What’s your answer?
8-9? Actually, it all depends on where you’re from. Europeans would regard this as excellent service. But the real truth is, that you got exactly what you wanted on the day and time you wanted it.
Many Americans however would regard this as OK service. You got exactly what you wanted when you wanted it. You didn’t get anything more, you didn’t get anything less.
Now, this is interesting for a number of reasons.
Firstly, if delivering exactly what people want is regarded by many as good (or very good) service, then as a service provider, all you need to do is deliver what the customer wants when they want it. And your customers will love you for it.
This is because many people are conditioned to poor service. Trades people that don’t turn up when they say their going to, shop assistants behaving as if the customer doesn’t exist.
Here’s the two rules of customer service:
1. Always do what you say you’re going to do.
2. Never forget rule number 1.
What’s your experiences?
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I’d be inclined to add that in this market over delivering is the way you can really stand out and in some sectors it is the only way.
You are right poor service is almost a way of life in the UK and I can’t count the times I’ve seen people munch through a bad meal just because they don’t think it is decent to complain.
Maybe this downturn has taught a few businesses how to behave properly? That would be a welcome bonus indeed!
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What is good service?
Service that based on the satisfying wants, needs, demands and or wishes or the customer that is so catering, trusfull and emotional oriented..
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1.I am writing a book on current state/strategies of customer service for the BSI currently. Consider this extract :
‘Before you start, therefore, evaluate what will form the philosophy behind your service strategy – is it to deliver a highly price-competitive offer that has only basic levels of service included, or is it to deliver a superior customer experience at a premium price? Remember the learning point from chapter one – what does this customer, whom I’m dealing with right now, want?
There is an endless quest for the Holy Grail of ever-improving service, but can your business – and its customers – afford it? If not, or the customers are unwilling to pay for anything beyond it, then it is perfectly acceptable to deliver a foundation level of service.‘I want a white sliced loaf and two litres of semi-skimmed milk’, not a customer experience’
You could argue Ryanair deliver on their customer promise of the product usually on time and at a budget price, but is that good service?
In my 30 years of experience I’m rarely ‘stunned’ by exceptional service, much more likely to use my considerable complaints expertise to remedy failure to reach even service base camp!
A great service experience like Virgin Atlantic’s upper class lounge at Heathrow is not replicable at Ryanair or your corner store, but in retail and mid-range service suppliers reaching basic or basic+ levels would represent progess for most.
hope that helps
Howard Kendall
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You’ve really got me thinking with this post.
Without getting into the specifics, I think good service is that which encourages customers to continue to patronize the business. I could spout out characteristics that fall under that umbrella, but that’s it plain and simple.
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I guess I’m pretty European, because I don’t see what is wrong with the service described? Maybe you had to be there?
At the risk of starting a cliché, I think that ‘remarkable’ is the new black. Seth Godin got the ball rolling and now I see it everywhere. That is – consultants telling their businesses they need to get remarkable. Can’t say I know many businesses I’ve worked with that actually are.
Andy Hayes | Travel Online Partners´s last blog ..Steal This Travel Marketing Idea: Snow at First Sight
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