Host's Note: Ryder captioned this note as "Adding to LO 13308", but I
don't think that is the right msg link. ...Rick'
I would agree both with your choice for car servicing and
the criteria which determined your decision. In adding to
the 'just what is service' theme, which I think is the
question you are asking, we can all think of personal
instances like the car dealership which remind us annoyingly
of what it is not.
An Amex ad states, "Good service is not difficult, just hire
nice people," which is a large part of it, but even nice
people spouting friendly messages cannot hide the
insincerity of an uncommitted or solely profit oriented
organisation behind them. It is evident not just in
attitudes expressed in moments of pressure but the
reflection of restrictive policies ("I'm sorry I can't do
that, the computer/policy/boss won't let me"). As my
organisation has found to its chagrin, lashings of customer
service training only frustrate the employees further by
insulting their natural friendliness and intelligence.
I have been living out of the country (USA) for some years
and have returned to a service environment that is far
different from that when I left. Now I fight my way through
a maze of computer-generated touch tone phone messages
looking for a human being (heaven help you if your situation
doesn't match one of the options!) and the one I get is
reluctant to listen to the out of the ordinary situation,
let alone help with it. A colleague of mine believes that
it is the litigious environment which prompts in-the-box
action; 'if I step out of the box I could make a mistake and
be held accountable for the consequences'.
I apologise if I have assessed your initial question
incorrectly and given an off-the-scale reply; however I do
appreciate your indulgence in letting me do so!
Ryder
--Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>