Destination Success: Imagination essential to good customer service

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It was truly a case of "three strikes and you're out." My mother and I stayed at a chain hotel in Columbia a few weeks ago and experienced three customer service faux pas, which demonstrate the fact that without imagination, you cannot help a customer.|ret||ret||tab|

Scenario No. 1: When we checked into our room at about 5:45 p.m., there was a loud din. Either it was the loudest ice machine in the world or we were having a 5.0 earthquake. I called the desk and discovered it was neither. There was construction going on in the hotel. Did we want to move? Duh. Yes. "The front desk manager will be up in a minute to help you." Now, that's service, I thought.|ret||ret||tab|

My pleasure was short-lived. The young woman handed me the new key and said," I've brought up a cart you can use." There was no effort to help us, and she only motioned toward our new room|ret||ret||tab|

Imagination would have been volunteering to load the cart for us and walking us to our room. Instead, there was a feeling of "let's get this over with."|ret||ret||tab|

Scenario No. 2: My mother and I were hungry after our drive from Springfield, so I called for room service.|ret||ret||tab|

SO: "Is it possible to get the taco salad with chicken instead of beef?"|ret||ret||tab|

Room service guy: "Yes, will that be all?"|ret||ret||tab|

SO: "No, I'd like an iced tea and "|ret||ret||tab|

RSG: "Is that it?"|ret||ret||tab|

SO: "No, there are two people. I'd like to put in another order."|ret||ret||tab|

RSG: "Shoot."|ret||ret||tab|

SO: "We'd like a beef taco salad "|ret||ret||tab|

RSG: "OK bye "|ret||ret||tab|

We will let the curtain of discretion fall upon the rest of the conversation as I forced the room service guy to take the rest of the order.|ret||ret||tab|

Imagination is making someone feel comfortable in asking for a service. |ret||ret||tab|

Scenario No. 3: This one is my favorite. I awoke the day of my speech to find that the small blister on my heel had become a large blister. A large, painful and bleeding blister. There was a little sign in the bathroom that said that we should call the front desk if we needed anything. I thought: Now, that's downright hospitable.|ret||ret||tab|

SO: "I wonder if you have a Band-Aid."|ret||ret||tab|

Operator: "No we don't."|ret||ret||tab|

SO: "Is there anywhere in the hotel that I can get one? I am speaking in about a half an hour and my ankle is bleeding."|ret||ret||tab|

Operator: "They have them in the gift store"|ret||ret||tab|

SO: "Great!"|ret||ret||tab|

Operator: " but they are closed for renovation." (Thus, the noise.)|ret||ret||tab|

SO: "I really have a problem. Is there anywhere I can get one?"|ret||ret||tab|

Operator: "I don't know."|ret||ret||tab|

SO: "Do you have a first aid kit?"|ret||ret||tab|

The operator then put me on hold for three minutes. She got back on the line and said, "We've got two Band-Aids, but you'll have to come down and get them."|ret||ret||tab|

SO: "Don't you have a bell-hop or somebody who could bring them up?"|ret||ret||tab|

Operator: "He's not in yet." She then hung up.|ret||ret||tab|

I sent down my mother (not wanting to leave bloody footprints). My mother's remark said it all: "Don't they realize that if someone is calling for a Band-Aid that they have a problem?"|ret||ret||tab|

Customer service, or lack of it, is all about imagination. To be able to serve the customer you must think out of the box. Most of all, you must use empathy or putting yourself in the customer's shoes.|ret||ret||tab|

In my three scenarios, there was no attempt whatsoever to understand what we really needed. An imaginative front desk manager would have helped tired women to their room. An imaginative room service guy would have drawn me out to find out what I needed rather than cut me off. An imaginative hotel operator would have put me in touch with someone who could help me.|ret||ret||tab|

The challenge is training employees to use imagination in their customer-service encounters. It is not an easy task, as some people are not naturally imaginative in any situation.|ret||ret||tab|

The following are questions that a service provider might ask himself or herself:|ret||ret||tab|

How would I feel in a similar situation?|ret||ret||tab|

What does this person need that I can provide?|ret||ret||tab|

What questions can I ask that will probe the customer's needs?|ret||ret||tab|

Am I really listening or just taking an order?|ret||ret||tab|

Am I seeing this person as real or just a voice on the phone?|ret||ret||tab|

How do my actions impact the company/organization as a whole?|ret||ret||tab|

What can I do to personalize the service that I/we provide?|ret||ret||tab|

Most of all, it is realizing that it only takes one bad experience for a person to decide not to frequent your business ever again. For the most part, you won't know what happened. |ret||ret||tab|

Unless you receive a detailed comment card from a disgruntled Springfieldian, that is.|ret||ret||tab|

|bold_on|(Sinara Stull O'Donnell is a writer and professional speaker in the career arena through her company Sinara Speaks.)|bold_on||ret||ret||tab|

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