How confident are we in giving feedback when we have received poor service? How much easier it would be if we knew what we do well and we don’t do well.
Al Switzler, www.alswitzler.com says “When it comes to crucial confrontations, we’ve taught a kind of mantra over the years. We say: ‘If you don’t talk it out, you act it out.’
As a customer, we already know what to expect when we dash in for a quick bite at the Golden Arches. However, when it comes to eating in a highly priced restaurant, two people can have entirely different service experiences. Think how often people disagree with the reviewer of a best dining guide!
Unfortunately, when the service we received was poor, we won’t go back and we don’t always communicate our concerns to the business.
The same happens in our workplaces. How our customers see the service depends on their level of expectation. If they don’t like the service they will act, rather than talk it through – unless ‘talk it through’ involves blowing their tops!
So how do we manage expectation? Our customers are looking for a tangible result, not just a smile in the voice. We need to talk face-to-face and find out what the customer expects and needs..
We must the customers’ four basic needs:
- The need to feel welcome: ‘It’s ok to call me’
- The need to feel comfortable: ‘They don’t think my request is stupid’
- The need for understanding: ‘Let me get this right…you are wanting…?’
- The need to feel important: ‘Yes Janine, what I will do is… and you will receive it by …’
As the guru, Peter Drucker, www.druckerinstitute.com. said: ‘Quality in a service or product is not what you put into it but what your customer gets out of it.’
