The World Needs The Customer Service Gurus - Part 2

Summer usually seems to be the season of relaxing, enjoying the outdoors, but we have been especially and gratefully busy at The Customer Service Gurus.  There is much to accomplish before we ramp up for the fall. 

But before we get to all of that, there are still service adventures to report from my spring trip to Europe.  As promised, here is part two of The World Needs the Customer Service Gurus.

Come Fly with Me, but Shop with Me not so Much

We island hopped in the Mediterranean during EuroTrip 2012, as I like to call our spring itinerary.  Chania is a city in Crete, the Greek island.  It is a beautiful place, and surprisingly the harbor looks like a smaller version of Venice because of the Venetian occupation at one point in their history.  We had a wonderful time during our week there.

As we waited to fly out, as typical we had time to kill at the airport.  The airport is primarily a military base, but in the tourist season it also services a few daily commercial flights.  Let’s just say it is more functional, than hospitable.  My husband went to browse the various stores, which were only three in the entire airport, to stretch his legs before our flight. 

He ventured to a shop not very far from our gate, maybe less than 100 feet or approximately 30 meters for my non-US readers. It was in the late afternoon, the store seemed to be open, but a sales clerk rudely informed my husband he had to go to another store with the same exact merchandise because he, my husband, was flying out of a different gate. Remember, we are talking less than 100 feet and no more than 7 gates.   It seems the last flight of the day just left the store’s area and clerk did not want to wait on anyone else, but the store was clearly not closed because my husband could easily walk in to the shopping area.

The Guru’s Solution

This one is common sense.  Well, at least I think it is.  If the store is physically open, then it is open and customers should be serviced.  If it is not open, then put up a barrier for customers not to go in the door.

Some of this could be culture related as well.  Not all cultures work on the premise of the customer is always right, so sometimes it is necessary to readjust our norms.  I have worked in retail in the US and remember nights when we left late because of a customer walking in the door three minutes before closing time.  But I have also worked retail in France, and when it was closing time, it was closing time.  It is not good or bad; it is simply a different norm.

My advice to Chania is, especially since they are having a difficult time with public relations due to the overall impression of the Greek financial crisis, it would be worth mentioning to workers that without tourist euros they will have no job at all making things much worse in an already fragile world.  It may be quitting time, but every sale is important. 

Train Station – Who’s on first? 

Here is the last story, even though there are more, but you need to get to work!

Poland and Ukraine hosted this year’s major soccer tournament Euro Cup. This tournament takes place every four years and equates in US terms to the Super Bowl, World Series, NBA finals and Stanley Cup wrapped up into one event.  It takes almost a month for the tournament to complete, from group play to the finals.

Emotionally, this is huge in Europe and it is very prestigious for a country to put on the tournament. Many Europeans believe this tournament is even stronger than the World Cup because it is restricted to the overall stronger European teams.

Breslau is one of the larger cities in Poland and hosted some of the group games.  We arrived in Breslau a week before the games started to visit extended family.  When it was time to leave we found ourselves at the new train station still under construction.  More of it was built than not, but the new signage was not all in place.

We needed to buy an international ticket from Poland to Germany.  The new train station had no window labeled, “International Tickets,” among the 10 or so windows labeled in English, “Domestic Tickets,” but it was unclear if where we could buy our tickets.
We were lucky that our extended father-in-law, who speaks Polish, came with us for our send off.  He first asked other passengers in the train station where to buy international tickets.  Strangely, he received a different answer from every person.  This was absolutely confusing so he and my husband went to the official information desk.  The information agent said it could be bought at the labeled domestic windows. 

They waited in that line for at least 15 minutes, but when they get to window the domestic ticket agent said an international ticket could not be bought at that counter.  My husband was within sight of the information agent that instructed them to the domestic window and said so.  Waving him off with no concern at all, the agent said, “The new train station is not complete so you have to go to the old train station to buy an international ticket.” 
Forty-five minutes later we find the international ticket counter in the old train station and roughly make our way through the transaction.  The agent only spoke Polish, so luckily we had our relative translator.   Very frustrated, but finally with ticket in hand, we said good-bye to our family and head to the train. 

The Guru’s Solution

This would not take much to fix.  First, any agent working an international counter should speak at least one other language or there should be other accommodations to combat language barriers.  I thought a form would help.  The passenger would complete the form in their language and hand it over to the ticket agent.  It would be a small upfront cost, but save a huge amount of aggravation for both passenger and agent.

Secondly, the management could write a simple memo, and then supervisors could conduct quick team meetings to explain where international tickets could be purchased.  We bought the tickets in the old station, but actually caught the train at the new station.  It was confusing even to the most seasoned of travelers.

I think what upsets me the most, from a service perspective, is the information agent not knowing the right place to buy the ticket.   What is the point of an information desk if the information cannot be trusted?

Final Thoughts

That wraps up my look at service abroad.  As I said in the first blog, these were a few incidences in an overall wonderful trip full of many people providing excellent service.  Travel frustrations come with the adventure of being out of one’s comfort zone, and much of it is relative.   For example, my international friends get just as frustrated in the States with our tipping customs and road rules.  So I encourage you to experience the world.  It will certainly provide you with an interesting perspective on the value and importance of delivering excellent customer service.

Now get out there and enjoy this last month of summer!

The World Needs the Customer Service Guru - Part 1

The Customer Service Guru feels like the Johnny Cash song, “I’ve Been Everywhere.”  I spent my spring on the road in seven countries across Europe.

What I discovered is delivering excellent customer service is a worldwide challenge.  Many of us experience this working with Asian call centers, but I think there is a general American perception that Europe is on a more sophisticated plane than the United States.  Yes, there are many things that are wonderful about Europe, but as with any country or region, getting people to perform at their best is a challenge. 

I must preface my blog that whenever life involves travel, domestic or international, it brings as many thrills as challenges.  Please do not take my words as a warning not to travel overseas.  Traveling overseas is an experience everyone should have, and I mean traveling beyond the Caribbean on a cruise ship.  Get out there, reach beyond your comfort zone, have fun, and most of all enjoy life!  

These are some of the most interesting and frustrating experiences my husband and I had over our seven weeks aboard, and as always my professional advice how to improve the situation. 

England – Days Inn Technical Issues
In Bristol, England, we stayed at a Days Inn located on the motorway.  My friend asked the front desk if they could print her train ticket.  She had it on her smart phone, but needed the physical ticket.  The common lobby computer did not have a printer, which was her original plan to print the ticket.

She asked the afternoon clerk, who was extremely polite – to an American ear there were many pleases and thank yous, but the clerk obviously had not a clue about technology and said she couldn’t do it.  Instead of the more honest, “I am not sure how to do it.”  Her solution was to find the local library, which we were miles away from and had no idea how to get to, to print the ticket.

My friend returned with the ticket on a USB stick and this completely floored the hostess.  Although she was extremely kind about it, she was consistent she could not print the ticket.

The next morning my friend asked a second hostess.  This hostess again was extremely pleasant, but said those dreaded words, “We’re not allowed to do it because of viruses, etc.” I really hate that excuse.  It is like employees are children, and they are not.  The kicker of all this is the clerk said if Lucie emailed the ticket to her that she could print it.  Technically speaking, this is the same difference as uploading the USB stick, as their virus program would scan both documents. 


The Guru’s Solution
This cannot be uncommon in England, or really anywhere in the world.  The hotel should develop a blanket policy on printing any documentation as now travelers need to proactively print almost all travel documents. 

This I lean towards the company to eat the printing and toner costs and print it for the customer.  This is a small, but important, convenience for travelers.  Most travelers have their documents, but when one doesn’t it is a real challenge.  

The other piece of that policy needs to state what cannot be printed.  I can imagine guests wanting to print emails, which I don’t think again is such a big deal, but it is better for the company to set the guidelines and clearly state the policy so employee’s can communicate it rather than the employee state, “We’re not allowed to do it.” As the English would say, “Bullocks!”

Budget Airline Baggage Inconsistencies
We traveled with several European budget airlines because they make travel ridiculously affordable. When I say budget airline in Europe this is my frame of reference: our flight from Cyprus to Crete was 19 euro per person, roughly 25 USD.  Traveling on such airlines come with restrictions and bare bones service. For example, there are no complimentary drinks of any kind, not even water. It is understandable, because the airlines operate on a tight budget.  

As in America, a major source of revenue is a baggage charge for checked-in baggage, but carry on luggage is not charged.   There is a difference that hand luggage also has tight restrictions in dimensions, and some airlines include a weight restriction.  Most airlines in this class have a rule to truly one carry on item. That means a purse is a carry on item and any type of additional baggage would be considered a second item, which the passenger needs to check and pay the fee. 

What annoys me is the inconsistency the restrictions are applied either to different parties or from different airports.  Many passengers clearly do not follow the carry on baggage rules to avoid the fees, and they are not called on it to check in their bags or repack to meet the rules. That means the baggage rules are simply arbitrary, and operationally have no impact to the airline.  As a customer who follows the rules this frustrates me.


The Guru’s Solution
The most effective airline I saw manage this was UK’s Monarch airlines.  They weighed all carry on luggage when checking in for the flight.  At that time the desk agent tagged the carry on baggage as meeting the weight and dimension standards.    

That flight had the smoothest boarding process of the six flights we took within Europe.  By having this policy there wasn’t a ridiculous dance at the boarding gate of people hiding their small purses behind their jackets, or the boarding agents making some people repack their bags right before boarding, delaying the entire line.  But then others who were obviously over the weight and dimension restrictions were not asked to repack or pay, causing a decline in good will in those who did follow the rules. 

Pathos Hotel Check In
In the Cyprus city of Pathos we checked into a hotel for three nights.  Cyprus is a beautiful ancient island in the Mediterranean.  The clerk at the desk said, with no hint of hospitality displayed verbally or non-verbally (I wanted to say, “There is a reason it is called the hospitality industry. You are supposed to be hospitable.”) “We have that you are a party of four people.” 

This puzzled us for a minute.  Then we realized we made the reservation hoping to have friends join us.  They could not come, so it was only my husband and myself.  My husband answered, “It is only the two of us.”  Clerk, frustrated and arrogantly responds, “But you said there would be four of you.”  My husband, “But there is not.  We thought there would be, but they could not join us.  That shouldn’t matter as the price was the same.”   Clerk, maintaining arrogant attitude, “But we made up the room for four.”  My husband, “But there are not four people.  Is that a problem?”  Clerk, attitude not improving, “But if we would have known we would not have made the room for four.” 

The other piece is I can’t really call what the clerk did as registering us for the hotel.  She handed us two pieces of paper, told us to fill them out in our room and bring them back at a later time. Next she gave us a key and walked us to the room about 30 feet away from the desk.  I swear she was ticked off she had to do this. 

The kicker, once we are in the room we discovered the hotel’s idea of making up the room for four people was leaving extra sheets for the two futon like couches. 

The Guru’s Solution
If you work in hospitality, then you know the simple answer.  Coach the employee to drop the attitude.  If we were not violating any policy or pricing structure, and we were not, then drop it.  It’s not worth anyone’s time or trouble to pursue it any further.   It only makes the guest think they booked a poor hotel.

I am always curious with employees in the hospitality industry who have attitudes is why did they choose to work in the hospitality industry?  Some people just aren’t designed for service positions, so why pursue a service job at all?  There are plenty of jobs that do not require people contact.  Also, what did their interviews look like?  Hmmm…

But there were other employees at the hotel who were beyond friendly and hospitable.   The unit came with a gas stove, which I had no idea how to use, and the front desk person on duty came to our room and showed us how to use it.  The hotel was small and slow, so it was no operational impact for her to leave her post for a minute.  The hotel bartender was very friendly and open to discussing the culture, history, and current conflict on the island.  (Political lesson:  Cyprus is partially settled, or occupied depending on whom you talk to, by Turkey. It is not a amiable separation.)

Final Thoughts
There are more fun and frustrating situations, but this is already long in a world of short attention spans.  You can look forward to part 2 of my adventures in the next blog. 

Take heart that the challenges you face are faced by leaders and managers all over the globe.   If you are interested or curious about traveling to Europe and have questions, my husband and I are happy to help.  My husband is European and makes all of our travel arrangements. Please just send me an email at Stacey@thecustomerservicegurus.com .

Wishing you adventurous travels!