I’ve read that a typical person in the U.S. spends between 45 and 62 minutes per day waiting (e.g., on hold, in line, for the elevator, for the light to turn green, etc.). Wouldn’t it be great if service providers were intentional about reducing wait times?

I had time to think about this last weekend as my son and I waited in line for the basketball camp registration table to formally open. Although a line of perhaps 30 people had formed between 7:45 and 8:00am, everyone was forced to wait until the magical time of 8:00am when, apparently, the gals behind the registration table were finally able to confirm players’ names, issue uniforms, allocate color-coded wrist bands, etc.

From that point on, the registration process inched along slowly. Since no one had given any thought to the participant flow, the registration table was set up ten feet inside the main entrance. As a result, the line ran out the door and into the parking lot. (Fortunately, it wasn’t raining…)

By the time Cooper and I reached the registration table, the women were already frazzled after the initial wave of camp registrants, with a seemingly endless line continuing out the door. Their welcoming smiles had neutralized, their eye contact had shifted from people to paper, and greetings had been reduced to a lifeless “Name?” and farewells trimmed to a perfunctory “You’re all set… Next in line?”

Lost in the transaction were any attempts to engage my 9-year-old son with questions about basketball (e.g., What’s your favorite team? Who’s your favorite player? Who do you like in the NBA Playoffs? Is this your first camp?). Cynics will say, “Geesh! If they ask all those questions, the line will never move!” In reality, these are closed questions (Yes/No or short answer) designed to welcome camp participants, demonstrate genuine interest in them, and reduce their anxiety—especially if this is their first camp and they’re feeling a little intimidated.

Aside from reconfiguring the participant flow by moving the registration table farther inside the main entrance, the number one thing event organizers could have done to improve the overall registration process for registrants would have been to open early.

Go ahead and publish a registration time of 8:00am but ensure you’re there, set-up, and ready to register participants at 7:30am. Had the basketball camp organizers done so, the initial wave of 30 people could have been registered before the first 8:00am arrival. Instead of standing around waiting (which is expected at these events), they could have been pleasantly surprised.

Besides reducing registrant wait times and urgency throughout the registration process, another benefit of opening early is that margin (or white space) expands. The process is allowed to breathe and now (while smiling, making eye contact, and adding energy to their voices) the women behind the registration table have the time and capacity to ask, “So, Cooper, can you beat your dad one-on-one?”

As he nods ‘yes’ and smiles, we all chuckle. The ice is broken. And now, not only is Cooper registered, he’s also relaxed and ready to play.

Image: Flickr

Over Memorial Day weekend, I brought my son to a two-day basketball camp in Lakewood, CO. The first day, we stopped by an independent coffee shop (flanked to the north and south by Starbucks) where I ordered a double espresso in a ceramic cup for dine-in.

Cooper and I then took seats among the open tables. A few minutes later I heard the barista call out, “Double espresso!”

When I looked up, I saw my espresso order sitting on the far end of the bar. I got up, walked the 20 feet or so to the end of the bar, and retrieved my order. There, I noticed the barista talking with two other employees behind the counter and thought about the opportunity she missed to “go the extra mile” and deliver the order to my table. (For the record, there were three employees and five customers total in the coffee shop, with no customers in line waiting to be served.)

A few weeks ago I posted this blog containing three unique words that pertain to exceptional customer service. One of the words was cosset, which means to pamper or treat with excessive indulgence. I think of cosseting as a higher form of expressing genuine interest in a customer. It’s the subtle difference between handing customers’ purchases over the counter and walking around the counter to hand them directly to the customer, as do Nordstrom employees. It’s really nothing more than an extra step—a gesture of appreciation and respect. And it doesn’t go unnoticed.

The barista who fulfilled my order missed an opportunity to cosset her guest and, in so doing, make a positive lasting impression. Cynical employees might say, “C’mon, you’re perfectly capable of getting up and walking 20 feet to get your own espresso.” And they’re right—as my actions demonstrated.

Similarly, a guest in your home is capable of fetching her own cup of coffee but my hunch is that most of you will insist on serving her. And if you don’t, over time, I suspect you’ll have fewer guests in your home.

It’s no different at the local coffee shop. Over time, it too will have fewer guests to serve—starting with me. (We chose not to return on the second day of the camp, as there were plenty of other options nearby.)

Illustration: Aaron McKissen

Yesterday I met with Zane, a manager of a fast-casual restaurant. During our conversation, he shared some of the recurring challenges he faces in trying to elevate customer service at his restaurant.

One frustration he disclosed was the inability of his staff (with the exception of one or two “superstars”) to consistently provide exceptional customer service. According to Zane, when he challenges employees to “try a little harder” to provide exceptional customer service, the majority reply, “But I do everything I’m supposed to do.”

This response is quite telling and, I believe, holds the key to whether or not customer service quality will improve at his restaurant.

You see, the above employee lament highlights the mandatory aspect of job functions that are required of employees’ job roles—those tasks or duties that are expected by customers; that they’re supposed to do. Absent from this remark is anything that is not required, unexpected, and voluntary—what I refer to as job essence.

Most employees consistently execute mandatory job functions (that are expected by customers; that they are supposed to do) but inconsistently demonstrate voluntary job essence (that is unexpected by customers; that employees choose to do). This explains why you and I seldom receive exceptional customer service: Because it’s voluntary. Employees don’t have to deliver it. And most don’t.

The reason that Zane is challenged by staff who consistently deliver hot food hot and cold food cold (job function) but inconsistently express genuine interest in customers or convey authentic enthusiasm in serving them (job essence) is because most operations (and the supervisors who oversee them) focus predominantly on job functions and the efficiencies associated with them in order to reduce costs and increase profits.

In Zane’s restaurant, it’s not uncommon for employees to receive feedback on and be held accountable to menu knowledge, following procedure, completing their sidework, and other job functions. And it’s unlikely that a day will go by that he doesn’t scrutinize operational metrics associated with job function: average check, food costs, inventories, productivity, profitability, etc.

That’s what managers do, right?

I told Zane that I understand the importance of job function. (Really, I do. You can’t run a business without it. And you can’t provide exceptional customer service without it. No guest at his restaurant wants an undercooked entrée delivered with a smile.) But job function is only half an employee’s job. The other half, job essence—which is often neglected by employees and managers alike—is missing in most employee interactions that customers would describe as routine, uneventful, and transactional.

Managers: Remind your employees daily through modeling, feedback, pre-shift meetings, etc. that excellence lies not in what’s expected and required (what they’re supposed to do) but in what’s unexpected and voluntary (what they choose to do), such as: anticipating needs, paying attention to detail, displaying a sense of urgency, following-up, etc.

And therein lies the key: Exceptional customer service (in Zane’s restaurant and your place of business) is always voluntary. Always.

Feel free to comment. But you don’t have to. Just like delivering exceptional customer service, it’s your choice.

Illustration: Aaron McKissen

I recently read through the American Express 2012 Global Customer Service Barometer research report prepared by Echo Research and found many of its conclusions to be rather predictable:

• Consumers think businesses are paying less attention to providing good customer service
• Consumers will spend more with companies that provide excellent service
• Consumers value excellent service
• Consumers are telling more people about their customer service experiences
• Poor service can lead to lost sales
• Consumers lose their temper with customer service representatives
• There is room for improvement in customer service wait times

There was one page, however, that got my attention. On p. 12 of the report, consumers were asked, “Which of the following customer service issues would be most likely to influence you to switch brands or companies?”

[Although I would have appreciated this more as an open-ended question (i.e., “What customer service issues have caused you to switch brands or companies?”), that's not how this survey was formatted.]

In response to the question, a third of consumers (33%) cited “a rude or unresponsive customer service representative” as the most likely customer service issue to influence them to switch brands or companies.

What’s remarkable to me about this finding is that it’s consistent with consumer research from three decades ago. I recall TARP statistics (1978) and research from Dr. Michael LeBoeuf (1987) that exposed poor treatment by employees (rudeness or indifference) as the number one cause for customer defection.

But, as elementary as it sounds, I suppose it bears repeating:

If you’re an employee: The most effective way to further your work objectives (e.g., receive more hours, earn desirable shifts, increase tips, advance your career, etc.) is to be kind to customers and demonstrate a sense of urgency in responding to them.

If you’re an employer: The most effective way to grow your business is to hire kind employees who have a history of demonstrating a sense of urgency in responding to customers. (This information can be obtained through behavioral interviewing questions designed to reveal a person’s actual past behavior—rather than prompt imagined responses to pie-in-the-sky hypothetical questions—during a job interview.)

As the American Express report indicates, exceptional customer service is not complicated. It starts with kind employees who are responsive to customers’ needs. It’s really quite simple when you think about it.

Thank you for reading.

P.s. Incidentally, other than rude or indifferent treatment by employees, what customer service issues have caused you to switch brands or companies?

Last Friday after soccer practice, my 7-year-old daughter’s team went to a frozen yogurt shop for some treats.

The first girl to receive her yogurt, Anna, sat by herself at one of the tables while the other girls waited on their yogurt orders. Anna is new to the team while the rest of the girls have played soccer together for two full seasons.

As the other girls began receiving their yogurts, one-by-one they sat together at a table across from Anna’s. One of the girls, after receiving her order, chose to sit with Anna. However, before she could sit down, one of her teammates pulled her chair over to the crowded table and said, “Here, Kennedy, sit with us!”

Instead, Kennedy slid the chair back to Anna’s table and said, “I’m going to sit with Anna.”

And with that, one-by-one, every girl who was seated at the crowded table moved her chair over to Anna’s table. And then they were a team.

I reflected on this story yesterday during lunch with a friend, Mike Nowland, who was in town attending the ASTD conference. Mike told me that one of the conference presenters used Velcro to symbolize the relationship between inclusion and engagement. The lesson being that you can’t have engagement without inclusion.

What a great metaphor. And it’s true whether you’re talking about a 7-year-old girls soccer team or a workforce. In the workplace, there are many subtle barriers to inclusion: uniforms, separate employee entrances, job titles, cliques, executive washrooms, reserved parking spaces, etc. And these barriers to inclusion can have a negative effect on employee engagement.

Most company managers talk about the importance of an engaged workforce but relatively few do the real work of fostering an inclusive work environment—which, as Kennedy demonstrated in the yogurt shop, requires authenticity, thoughtfulness, judgment, effort, and purposeful action. In a word: leadership.

If a 7-year-old can do it, there’s hope for the rest of us.

In my reading, I’ve come across three unique words that have expanded my customer service vocabulary and, for me, reinforce various aspects of exceptional customer service: cosset, lagniappe, and bespoke.

A word of caution: William Strunk, Jr. and E.B. White in their perennial book, Elements of Style, said, “Do not be tempted by a twenty-dollar word when there is a ten-center handy, ready and able.”

While I mostly agree with this advice, in a recent blog post I unapologetically described a supermarket employee’s behavior as “boorish.” I realize that I could have used “rude” (a ten-cent word) but decided against it.

I suppose it depends on your intent. If you’re trying to impress readers with your vocabulary, that’s obviously the wrong motivation. But if you’re attempting to convey the subtle distinction between, say, rude behavior (appearing indifferent) as opposed to boorish behavior (using vulgarities), then you have license to use the twenty-dollar word—despite the counsel of Messrs. Strunk and White.

So, tread lightly. The idea is not to alienate people—it’s to get their attention and, ultimately, to inspire them to deliver exceptional customer service.

Several years ago, while reading At Your Service by John Fischer, I came across the word, cosset which means to pamper or treat with excessive indulgence. It applies to, for example, the manner in which a restaurant guest’s coat is treated by the coat check attendant or the way a shopper’s loaf of bread and carton of eggs is handled by the employee who’s bagging her groceries.

More recently, I was introduced to the word, lagniappe by a friend, Stan Phelps, who champions this word in his marketing work. It means a small gift given with a purchase to a customer—a little extra or bonus. Lagniappes are the 13th bagel in a baker’s dozen or the extra stamp on your loyalty card that brings you one step closer to a complimentary latte.

And just last week, while reading the Wall Street Journal, I encountered the word, bespoke. Fortunately, the article contained its definition: “made to order; to customize.” I immediately saw its relevance in customer service: As opposed to the transactional mentality whereby each customer is treated like the last customer, employees can aspire to provide a bespoken experience—recognizing the unique needs and preferences of each individual customer.

When so many words pass by our eyes daily without registering for longer than it takes to form a sentence, these words are refreshing. To me, they have made lasting positive impressions and even reinforce the importance of handling my own customers with care, providing them with pleasant surprises, and customizing each customer’s experience as much as possible.

How about you? Can you think of some other unique words that apply to customer service and might also serve to reinforce different aspects of exceptional customer service?

It amazes me how many social media and customer service pundits gush about the need to master web-based social customer service along the periphery, even as basic frontline customer service quality languishes.

Best Buy, XFINITY (formerly Comcast), and AT&T are great examples of companies who aspire to garner reputations as leading social customer service providers. To their credit, whenever I have tweeted about a service issue, they have been responsive in the social media space. Even so, the quality of their frontline customer service (that touches the customer directly, in person or over the phone, as opposed to cryptic 140-character conversations on Twitter) continues to lag.

Here are three recent service issues I’ve had with the above companies: Best Buy, Worst Service, XFINITY customer service: Posture versus performance, and Enough! (Only for the truly ambitious reader! You don’t have to read them for the rest of this post to make sense.)

In each case, abysmal customer service by a frontline employee resulted in the involvement of a social customer service representative. I can assure you that, regardless of their effectiveness, my preference would have been to not involve social customer service representatives.

Instead, I would have appreciated having my television installed on-time by Best Buy as promised, to have had the XFINITY rep credit the $4.99 movie charge to my account as requested, and for the AT&T rep to have strayed from her script long enough to simply verify whether or not she could hear my wife clearly.

Social customer service is simply one channel by which a company can connect with its community of customers, prospects, vendors, etc. And no matter what future platforms technology may provide us with, although likely convenient and efficient, they will not compensate for broken commitments, indifference towards customers, and adversarial frontline employees.

I’m not a Luddite. While I admit to being befuddled by the arrangement of binary numbers that produce the innovative social media technology we enjoy today, I understand its usefulness in providing supplemental channels through which to service customers.

Still, companies should not lose sight of the importance of customer service basics (that don’t require an Internet connection) such as: honoring commitments, being responsive, anticipating needs, paying attention to detail, and following up—in their quest for higher Klout scores.

I welcome all questions, comments, bouquets, and brickbats.