Service Standards

I am noticing what seems to be an increase in bad service. Or maybe the better way to say it is a decrease in quality service. Either way you look at it, people working in the service related industries are just not living up to what their real jobs are. Sure they do their "job" and get the customer what they want, but there is very little service, as in serving, to the customer.

What made me think about this today is I went with my friend Eugene for coffee. We went to a different place just for a change of pace. The girl that served us did her job and got our muffins, Eugene's coffee, and my bottle of water. She went through the motions and did what she was supposed to do. Later, while we were enjoying the light jazz music playing, pleasant conversation, and watching people walk past the window outside, she came out to clear two coffee cups from a table next to ours. That was it. She just came to get those two coffee cups. She did not look or smile at us, she did not offer to take away our empty plates, she made no effort what so ever to acknowledge we were anywhere near her. On our way out the door I looked at her behind the counter and smiled to her, she glared at me, not offering any sort of "have a nice day," and continued her conversation with another employee. Eugene commented, as we got in the car, that he now knows why the parking lot was so empty. I thought of the people, potential customers, walking past the window.

To contrast this, at lunch time we went to another place and the girl there was very friendly. She offered us choices and included positive comments and compliments on what items she had available, which wasn't very much. We made our choice and enjoyed a nice, tasty hotdog and soda for our lunch. As we left, even though we were about fifteen feet away from here, she looked over the shoulder of an employee she was talking to and actually shouted in our direction, "have a good afternoon, guys!" Can you guess where we will go again and where we will never do business again?

The lesson I learned today?
Up scale, trendy coffee house... No.
Cheap hotdog and burger joint... Yes!

Quality of service is much more important than whatever items you are selling.