I went to Manila last Friday to accompany my wife (a UST Economics graduate and now a 3rd year student nurse in the University of Pangasinan College of Nursing). She will be there for her affiliation (exposure to hospital areas- San Lazaro, Orthopedic and Mental hospital).

Along the course of the trip and sidetrip, I came face to face with two sides of customer service. You see, customer service is one area in corporate training I always enjoy. As a trainer-consultant of Leverwedge Consulting Inc. (a Pangasinan-based consulting firm established by my brother-in-law, his friend and with me as junior partner-consultant), I have been in charge of the competency-based training needs analysis, traffic generator surveys, customer satisfaction surveys, mystery shopping, customer service cycle analysis and the actual customer service training. This has broadened my understanding of why a customer service strategy (if any) fails or succeeds. One useful technique is to review the service cycle and identify areas where a breakdown in customer service happens.

One of the most scrutinized industries when it comes to service is the food industry. On the way to Manila, we had our stopover at Max’s Luisita to taste a new item on the menu (chicken barbeque) as a result of the incessant prodding of my wife’s co-affiliate. The chicken barbeque itself was sumptuous but what pissed us was the service or the lack for it. It took years (an hour to be exact) before the food was served. To top that, one of our companions (the one who craved for chicken barbeque) did not have his order even after the waiter double-checked his order. I know how to cook and I know it doesn’t take that long to cook chicken and "pakbet" (which doesn’t even look or taste like authentic indigenous pakbet). What I could not understand is that there were a lot of waiters and the customers were not so many. No one even bothered to update us why the order was taking so long. The experience was like "Hi, Hello, Goodbye", the only contact we had with the servers was when we ordered and when we got our long overdue order. They could’ve used the opportunity for service recovery or for feedback but instead we got an insincere apology without any explanation. By the way, we had to pay an unreasonable "service tax" for the bad service. There could be something wrong in the service cycle perhaps at the sequence when the orders are endorsed to the kitchen (they only have only one cook?). But what is certain is that there is indeed something wrong in the company’s customer service attitude. This created a stereotypical remark from our companions: "Ganyan talaga sa Max’s, mabagal ang service". Is service ineptitude franchised?

That kind of service is a far contrast from a bar in Greenbelt which my bestfriend Jack and I went to last Sunday. At first glance, there is nothing so special with Guilligan’s. It had an average interior design that attempted to create that Guilligan’s island "feeling". I was not impressed. What I have noticed and considered exceptional was the accommodation. The staff greeted us politely (minus the insincere "fastfoodish" "Good morning sir, Good morning" ma’am crap) and asked where we wanted to be seated. Since there were a lot of customers (business seems good considering it was a Sunday), we sat inside while waiting for a table at the smoking area outside. Everything was fast and efficient, we barely warmed our seats when a waiter informed us that we could transfer to the vacated table in the smoking area. The table was well-cleaned. Ordering was not complicated and fast. The sizzling pork sisig and tuna sashimi we ordered came in a jiffy- less that 10 minutes! Jack told me that ordering pulutan at Guilligan’s is really fast. This efficient service meant more ice cold beers to be consumed. Calling the waiter (no whistling or yelling Boss or Chief) wasn’t necessary as the waiters seem to be psychics as they come rushing to the table as they decipher gestures that indicate that a customer needs something without being irritating to them or acting like a stalker. To my surprise as I paid the bill, instead of what I expected as additional charges or tax, what I saw was a discount (for a promo maybe). Its effect to a customer is invaluable. It sent a message of value for money with additional perks. It did not only create customer satisfaction, it ensured repeat business.

Customers do not appreciate good service (that’s a minimum requirement). What could make them happy and satisfied is an exceptional and great service. But just because no one is complaining, you’re doing well. Customer complaints also serve as problem tracers and feedback mechanism for organizational improvement. What is important is to develop customer service recovery strategy in case of such boo boos.

Customer service and service recovery are planned activities. Customer service is not an added value service, it is standard. It is not expensive. All it takes is commitment from the whole organization. It needs to be part of the organization’s culture. Customer service should not be good, it should be GREAT! And above all, Great Service is about attitude.