In the 1970’s and 80’s Memorex produced a cassette tape (you have to be a certain age to even know what that is) and their slogan at the time was “Is it live or is it Memorex.” I thought about this slogan the other night as my beautiful wife and I, along with another couple, were out to eat. The young lady who was supposed to be helping us was extremely slow to the table, which annoyed me considering it was not busy. After she finally brought out water, we said “Thank You” and her reply was “My Pleasure.” We were immediately ready to order food, but she vanished for far too long. I saw her on her phone, so one of our friends got up to go get her.
We ordered a couple of shareable table items and again said “Thank You.” Her response again was “My Pleasure.” Of course, it took forever for the food to arrive and she brought one fork and quickly departed. We had to find her and wave her down again to ask for additional forks and napkins. When she returned with the requested items, her response was again, “My Pleasure.”
I began to think that this was a bunch of bull. It was NOT her pleasure. She was highly inconvenienced or just didn’t have very good customer service skills. Either way, nothing about the customer experience said she had any pleasure in assisting us or providing authentic customer service.
This outing reminded me that your customer service/experience should be truly genuine (LIVE) not artificial (previously recorded Memorex). Exceptional customer service means being authentic to the organization, genuine in your approach and honest with the customer. Each organization should have foundational values that are expressed to and implemented by staff so that it can be received and appreciated by the customer, and one of those should be exceptional customer service.
Saying “My Pleasure” without any outward signs, any concern, any care, any follow up, etc. can have a negative effect on guest experience. Frontline staff that can authentically interact with customers can help ensure a continued future relationship with the business or organization, and long lasting customer relationships produce good reviews, return visits or sales, recommendations and more.
Always keep in mind that the customer is one of the determining factors in the success or lack thereof for any business. Customers should not have to beg and plead to spend their hard-earned money. Make sure you’re providing exceptional customer service that is authentic and live.
