Opinion: Business image starts with customer service

But no matter the method, recent events have led me to think that businesses need much improvement to better their images, at least in the eyes of this consumer.

Case in point No. 1: Having spent several years working in the restaurant industry, I tend to be more patient with workers in this field. I know it’s not always enjoyable to work in food service. Still, I expect politeness and accuracy, and I don’t mind a little bit of conversation during the ordering process. What I do mind, though, is when the person serving me makes an assumption about who I am, and uses that as a springboard for conversation. Recently, I was ordering my lunch at a downtown restaurant. It was one of those places where they call you by name to let you know when your food is done. OK, so my name is Maria; no secret there. But the man behind the counter took my name, then proceeded to ask me if I could help him by double-checking the spelling for some of the menu items that had Spanish names. What he said was something like, “I speak English, but I bet you can help me with this … .”

Actually, no, I couldn’t. I’m not a Spanish speaker. Not even close. And I let him know it. I paid for my lunch and proceeded to enjoy it. But no matter how good it was, the fact that the server made an (incorrect) assumption about me put something of a damper on the experience, which, by the way, I’ve relayed to several friends.

Case in point No. 2: Ah, health care. Yes, customer service, and making a favorable impression counts here, too, since Springfield is full of options for seeking care. In general, everyone at my house is pretty healthy, but since I do have three young children at home, it’s a given that sometimes, accidents happen. The most recent incident involved my 15-month-old daughter taking a nosedive off the couch and sprouting a purple goose egg over her left eye. We applied ice and calmed her down, but because it was right at bedtime and she was already pretty sleepy, we quickly decided to take her to one of the local medical centers to have her checked out.

At the check-in desk, I explained the situation to the attendant, who then inquired about who our regular doctor was and what he said about her bump when we called him. But we hadn’t called. Because it was a weekend night – and because I was more than a little concerned about the knot, which by then had grown – I’d just taken her in. When the attendant told me – rather snidely, I thought – that I should always call the doctor before bothering (his word, not mine) the emergency room, I was flabbergasted. I was also upset, which I think I made clear, so I picked my daughter up and went home. In the end, we called the doctor, and while he agreed the attendant shouldn’t have been rude, he asked me enough questions to ascertain that with ice and some Tylenol, she’d be fine. In hindsight, I realize I probably should have called him first, but I just don’t think anyone should ever use the word “bother” when talking to customers or clients. You can bet that next time one of the kids falls off a couch, gets sick on the weekend or has a bike wreck, I’ll be making a longer trek across town to a different center for help (but I will call the doctor first!).

Case in point No. 3: How ‘bout those speedy self-checkout lanes? You know, the ones where we get to scan and bag our own merchandise and make our payments – to a machine. For one thing, I think it’s a huge rip-off – we do the work, and the company gets to keep all the money. At least when I spend my money and pay a person at a cash register, I take comfort in the fact that the money I’m spending is helping someone else earn a living. Not long ago, though, I found myself in line to purchase a few things at a local grocery store. There was one person working a register, with a line of customers waiting. I stood in line for a few minutes, eyeballing self-checkouts – many of which had no lines – and decided to give it a shot.

The process went OK to start with, but a couple of the things I was buying couldn’t be scanned, so I had to press the help button. When the girl arrived to help me, she wasn’t very happy about it. No eye contact, no smile, nothing, just a quick push of a few buttons and she was gone. It turns out that there are several items that can’t be scanned, but people don’t know what those are until they’re knee-deep in the self-checkout process. So what’s the point? If I’m going to have to wait for someone to come help me, then why shouldn’t I just stand in line? At least that way I – and my value as a customer – might in some way be acknowledged with a smile or a word of thanks. (As far as I’m concerned, the computer-generated “Thank you,” doesn’t count.)

Maybe I’m too sensitive. I am betting that there are people out there who have had better experiences and worse experiences than I have had. All it takes is a few seconds to make a lasting impression on someone, and I would think that taking the time to make sure the impression is a good one would be worth it.

Maria Hoover is Inside Business Editor of Springfield Business Journal.

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