A Comparative Look at Past Excellence and Present Challenges
Initial Encounters: Discovering Excellence
I can clearly remember the impact of my first visits to the USA as a young man. My elder sister had emigrated some years earlier, which presented the opportunity of many visits and cheap holidays! As a student, I had enjoyed the opportunity of work experience, and everything I saw drew me back again and again. What was the draw?
A World of Difference: The Customer Service Experience
For me, more than the glossy razzamatazz of the USA only seen on TV, it was the experience in almost every aspect of customer service. The joy of pulling into a petrol station and having your windscreen cleaned and oil level checked as you sat awaiting the attendant to fill up the tank. A trip to the supermarket to find smiling, helpful checkout staff with helpers to pack your groceries and take it out to your car. The almost universal excellent restaurant service, from the fast food chains through to the fanciest eating places. I was impressed and lamented the sad return home to the continuing mediocrity.
The Decline: A Shift in Service Dynamics
Now I look back and wonder where it all went. No longer is the USA (or anywhere else that I know) the world-class role model of customer service. In fact, things seem worse than ever in almost every interaction with businesses, large or small. OK, employing people is expensive so progressively we eliminate the need for personal service.
The New Reality: Automation and Impersonality
What do I mean? Grab your own scanner at the supermarket, fill the trolley and check out with your loyalty and credit card. No need to speak to anyone (unless you can’t find the special mayonnaise you need!). Fill up with petrol and pay at the pump. Need money? Visit the ATM (but who uses cash anymore). Worried about your bill payment? Check the account online.
Much of this has a positive benefit on the speed and efficiency of doing business, but in achieving this everything has become so impersonal. The real impact of eliminating human contact is when something goes wrong (which is common for many of us). How easy is it to find a real person to help unravel the mess? In my experience, it is not easy at all.
The Challenge of Modern Customer Service
Have you found yourself scouring websites looking for the “contact us” only to be shunted off to an online chatbot? If you need real help with a complex issue, you can be sure that the bot will NOT be able to help. Maybe you get lucky and are forwarded to a person at the other end of the keyboard. Can they help? Usually not, but there is often no other way to get help, as telephone numbers or email addresses have disappeared.
In Search of Solutions
Do I have a solution? Sadly not, but I do wish senior management in more organisations would examine their customer experience from the outside and try to navigate the customer journey themselves.
Some clues are available from online reviews, but they rarely tell the whole story. Whilst we are bombarded with requests for feedback stuffing our email inboxes, few of us have the time and conviction to provide accurate and comprehensive information.
A Glimmer of Hope
Perhaps there is a glimmer of hope for those organisations genuinely trying to excel in this area. The International Customer Service Institute has devised the IXCS standard for customer service excellence. Let’s hope more organisations realise that, in this technology-dominated world, there is still an important place for person-to-person contact.
