Since I live, die and preach the Gospel of Customer Service for a living these days, lots of folks ask me why it’s generally so bad no matter where you go. I have several thoughts on the matter. But first—remember. There are some companies that give great customer service. My wife and I had dinner at Outback Steakhouse in Castleton last evening. The service was FANTASTIC. The manager stopped by to check on us and introduce himself. The waitress was warm, friendly and WELL TRAINED. So ALL’S NOT LOST!

But I’ll bet Outback worked very hard—at the corporate level and inside that specific restaurant—to give my wife and I such a pleasant experience! Did I say the food was very good as well?

For companies that have failed me lately, such as Sprint, Chase Bank, Sears, Brighthouse and others, I offer these bits of advice.

1.THINK LONG TERM RATHER THAN SHORT TERM. Cutting jobs, services, products and training seems to be the way to go in corporate America today. And it CAN contribute to the bottom line—INITIALLY. But NOT long term! I saw this first hand after O’Malia’s was bought by Marsh. All that happens when companies think short term is that you lose customers and your corporate culture is lessened.

2.PROCESS OVER PEOPLE. Too many companies (the banking industry comes to mind) have too many policies and rules that hamstring their employees and keep them from delivering even basic services. Email me at dannyomalia@gmail.com and ask for my Citibank Customer Service fiasco and you’ll see what I mean.

3.Failing to practice MANAGEMENT BY WALKING AROUND. Go back to the great 80’s book IN SEARCH OF EXCELLENCE and read the chapter on that topic. Get to know your people. Let them know you care about them and the jobs they do. It’ll pay big dividends!

4.Am adjunct to number three: “FIND SOMEBODY DOING SOMETHING RIGHT!” That was one of Joe O’Malia’s big beliefs. When you do, TELL EVERYBODY about it. You’ll find more folks wanting you to tell everybody about them!

5.PRAISE IN PUBLIC. CRITICIZE IN PRIVATE. Self explanatory ( I hope).

6.The late, great john Wooden channeled Joe O’Malia when he said, “I’m not looking for great players. I’m looking for players that make THE TEAM GREAT.” From the hiring to the training to the execution, make your employees/ associates part of your TEAM.

7.Finally, RETURN THAT CALL—UNBELIEVABLY FAST. Or email, Or text. You’ll be the only one doing it and that will give you a great competitive advantage. Besides, IT’S THE RIGHT THING TO DO!

These are a few things service providers are failing to do. Without them, no amount of technological savvy can save them—LONG TERM.

Danny O’Malia
Indy’s Trusted Servant
(317) 413-9062
fax (317) 815-8755
www.indystrustedservant.blogspot.com

Two constant themes to any Customer Service program I present are “corporate culture” and “empowerment.” Not many companies get these right; thus not many companies give very good customer service.

One company/ culture I really admire (there are many, such as Nordstrom, Southwest Airlines, Outback Steakhouse to name a few) is that of Chick Fil-A. If you remember my last two articles on IndySmallBiz describing bad service at Sprint and Chase Bank, you’ll love the experience I had last week at the Chick-Fil-A restaurant on 86th east of Keystone in Indy.

I’d always had a great experience at whatever Chick-Fil-A restaurant I’d visited. Circle Center Mall. Westfield. You name it. This time they made a mistake. After all, we’re all human. But it was the way a young lady responded to the error that will keep me coming back.

I’d ordered a spicy chicken sandwich. When I opened the package, I had chicken strips. I didn’t want to wait in the car line again so I entered the restaurant. Luckily it was after lunch rush so the counter wasn’t too crowded. I Caught the eye of a young lady and explained my problem. She apologized, told me I’d have my sandwich very quickly (it was less than 30 seconds), insisted I keep the chicken strips and gave me a coupon for a free sandwich—all with a smile. I was back in my car within a minute after leaving it!

There are so many great elements at work here. Obviously the company hired a fine employee in this young lady. The trained her well. And they did the toughest thing—they EMPOWERED her to keep mistakes from turning into problems.

In my Power Point presentation, I use a slide that features a quote from Dan Cathy, son of Chick-Fil-A founder Truett Cathy. It’s a “CULTURE” quote. Dan says, “Our light shines brightest when it isn’t on”, referring to the fact that the chain closes its stores on Sundays. That’s the right thing for this particular chain to do. It helps bring it the kind of employees it wants. And its customers appreciate it as well.

Beyond that, the organization EMPOWERED that young lady to take care of the problem right then and there, as well as training her how to do it. Mary Kay Ash was once asked how she had become so successful. Her answer: “I tried to hire really nice people and then tried to let them be as nice as they could be” That’s what Chick Fil-A does.

Hats off to a great organization AND corporate culture!
For information on how to listen to Danny O’Malia’s program on Radio Indy Smallbiz next Tuesday afternoon from 4:30 to 5pm, link here for the Guide to the Radio Indy Smallbiz Schedule.

Danny O’Malia
Indy’s Trusted Servant
(317) 413-9062
fax (317) 815-8755
www.indystrustedservant.blogspot.com

Mary Kay Ash said it best. When asked how she’d become so successful, she answered, “I tried to hire really nice people and then let them be as nice as they could be.”

That’s something most businesses fail miserably at today. Which compels me to share my Chase Bank Story with you.

In March of .09, on the advice of my daughter, who had had a business relationship with the Chase Carmel branch while working for a local jewelry store, I contacted her Business Banker. Let’s call him “Joe”. I set up a Chase business account for my new business, Indy’s Trusted Servant. All went well until March of this year.

I had a $2000 check from a client to deposit, as well as two personal checks totaling just shy of eight dollars to cash. The girl at the window informed me the bank could not cash the two personal checks because I did not have a personal account with Chase( my personal account is with PNC and goes way back to Merchants’ days)

I thought about asking for the Branch Manager or my business banker, “Joe”. Then I realized I was dealing with an institution failing to train and/ or properly empower its employees to give basic customer service. I took the two small checks back, went home and proceeded to call “Joe”.

But “Joe” didn’t answer—I got a message from “Frank.”.

Two days later I entered the bank with another check from a client. I asked for the Branch Manager. He was gracious. I asked to close the door and told him my story. He was apologetic and explained that “Joe” had been promoted and not yet replaced.

My response was, “So you left his clients twisting in the wind?’ His response was, “Yes, I guess so.”

So I closed the account immediately. I took all my money to PNC that very day.

Banks—and other businesses—need to care more about their customers. They need to hire better people and THEN PROPERLY TRAIN AND EMPOWER THEM to take care of the customers. The young lady at the window could have offered someone higher up. She didn’t. I refuse to do business in such an establishment. So should you!

I’ll be sure to let you know if and when PNC makes me this angry. If they do, there are plenty of other banks around. CHASE BANK’S FAILURE TO EMPOWER

Danny O’Malia
Indy’s Trusted Servant
(317) 413-9062
fax (317) 815-8755
www.indystrustedservant.blogspot.com

Here is the 2011 “Bottom 10” of customer service.

10. Farmers Insurance
9. CHASE BANK *
8. Progressive Insurance
7. Citibank
6. Comcast
5. Time Warner Cable
4. SPRINT *
3. Capital One Bank
2. AOL
1. Bank of America

Have had recent experiences with both Chase Bank and Sprint that might offer some insights as to how these organizations are perceived to offer poor service. I’ll take SPRINT first, since my experience just happened this morning.

My cell phone wasn’t working so I went to the sSrint store at 116th & Keystone in Carmel, where I’d bought it. The gentleman there, Bill, was very professional. He checked a few things and told me it was a problem with the phone and I was insured but the technicians had been transferred to the store at 146th & Hazel Dell ( 12 miles round trip). When I got to that store, two customers were walking out without ever having been waited on. Not enough technicians.

I hung in and got to Dustin, who informed me the problem was with the battery and that I wasn’t insured for that. Worse, Sprint doesn’t sell batteries for cell phones, which feels akin to not selling t- bones with a bone to me. He informed me that the best place to purchase a battery would be Batteries Plus, which was one mile on the other side of the original Sprint store on Keystone.

The guys at Batteries Plus did a good job for me and the lady ahead of me.

I spent a lot of time chasing my tail for something I would’ve thought Sprint might handle in one visit. I understand the idea is to sell me a warranty and have it run out right before the battery runs down. But I don’t understand taking the techs out of the Keystone store and then not having enough techs at the store where you send them. And I don’t understand not making batteries available to your customers, thus forcing them to make yet another stop. But maybe that’s just me!

If this were my railroad, I’d sell batteries for the phones I sell. That would have saved me the third stop and I’d have felt better. Also, I wouldn’t leave my Carmel store customers without a technician. Finally, at the Noblesville store, I’d have enough help to keep customers from walking out. Then again, that’s just me! You have to wonder if Sprint cares enough to escape the CUSTOMER SERVICE HALL OF SHAME. I’m betting they don’t! Make sure your business doesn’t belong to the Hall of Shame. Learn from Sprint’s mistakes.

Danny O’Malia
Indy’s Trusted Servant
(317) 413-9062
fax (317) 815-8755
www.indystrustedservant.blogspot.com