For those of you that write blogs, or articles, or even books, do you ever come across a subject that you just love?  Well this is one of those subjects.  I love the idea of customer service.  Or is it customers and service?  Well that is what I am going to write about today.  I am going to pick my brain on places I have visited and the ideal of customer service.  There might be some lack of customer service - or just the right amount of customer service - or even over the top way too much customer service.

But imagine the ideal that you can in fact define your service level.  How?  Do the individual customers you are dealing with have different ideals of what constitutes good service?   These are a problem that all service providers deal with each and everyday.  Knowing what should or should not be done.  Understanding that each customer is unique and each employee providing that service is unique.  Wow, how can this be accomplished?  Or maybe it cannot? Let's look at some examples of companies that deal with customers:

Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts:  One of my favorites.  While attending a convention in Houston, I stay at the Four Seasons and upon my return the first night after being at the hotel once checking in, the doorman opens the door at 2a and says "welcome back Mr. Seitz".  I stop.  I look over at him and say "what did you say?"  Of course he repeats himself.  Wow.  How did he know that?  How many rooms or guests are staying there?  200?  300?  But it was not just him.  I go to breakfast the next morning.  No big deal.  I go the next morning.  The woman that seats me again says "Welcome back Mr. Seitz.  I just wanted to say I really like your earring."  What!  are you kidding me?  You not only remember me, but you saw I had an earring?  Damn.  You see Donna, not everyone thinks like you.  But the real lesson for me was their level of service was personalized, warm and welcoming.  When those of us that travel are treated not only with respect but understanding that this is home away from home, it makes a difference.  But we pay for this too - not to be taken lightly.

LL Bean: One of my favorite stores for service.  They have a simple guarantee.  You must be satisfied with your purchase from LL Bean or return it for a full refund.  Anytime.  Period.  No questions.  Really.  I mean it works.  I have done it myself - and have sat outside of the store in Freeport Maine watching as people bring stuff back for a refund.  Shoes that may be ten years old (and look it) and they get a full refund.  Hammocks that have been outside for years and look like they are really just a bunch of strings, and they get a full refund.  The problem with this?  I am a loyal LL Bean Customer.  If they have it, I buy it from them.  And I refuse to take advantage of the guarantee - but I expect that all retail establishments to be the same way - and they are not.  For example.

Designer Shoe Warehouse:  I don't shop their anymore.  I mean the people are nice and all - just got a bad pair of shoes there.  Maybe this is my fault - but I purchased a nice pair of dress shoes there - walked locally for a couple of days to make sure they fit and felt good - before taking them to London.  And I will never forget that meeting with a very large client, and my feet were in such pain I could almost not hide it on my face.  I will refrain from describing my feet, but you can imagine what they were like.  But there is a no return policy after you have worn them.  Now I understand the policy - hard to sell used shoes - but I just had a bad experience with something they sold me, and cannot ever forget that.  Because there was nothing I could do about it.

JetBlue:  I would be remorse if I wrote such a blog and did not talk about an airline.  I would like to talk about an airline that I like and understands customer service.  I think JetBlue gets it.  Now this is a bitch of an industry.  A lot of moving parts, things to do to make it work - and things to do to make a customer feel like they are valued.  But this is what they do that makes it easier:  One class of service on their aircraft so that you do not feel like you are part of a second class society when seated in coach.  You have entertainment at every seat which is included in the cost of your ticket.  You get one bag free to check in so that you do not have to rush onto the plane to grab overhead bin space.  You get a drink - and if the flight is long enough, the whole damn can.  You get snacks - as much as you want.  And then there are the employees - I have NEVER met a JetBlue employee that was not nice.  Imagine that on an airline?

Infiniti:  So I confess, I drive an Infiniti. My favorite car in my short lifespan so far.  Fun to drive, comfortable, and I look good in it.  Sorry about that last line.  What can I say.  But the real link to the manufacturer is the dealer.  The buying experience was easy and fair and good.  The service manager at my dealer (Rick) makes my long term experience worthwhile.  Which makes me think Infiniti should put a lot of money (and effort) into who their service managers are for their cars.  Rick would be that tipping point for my next car, all other things being equal.  The car has to deliver.  But the service has to deliver every 3,000 to 4,000 miles.  Now I also get a crap load of phone calls - from Infiniti people who are reading scripts.  Read:  DO NOT LIKE!  This is not service.  Rick represents the face of the company, he should engage more on behalf of Infiniti - but you better give him a raise - and every service leader for Infiniti in the US.  And please stop calling.

So what does this all mean?  It really means service delivery is about patience, understanding, friendliness, compassion, honesty, and openness.  Even a place like Designer Shoe Warehouse may have these things - but they were not able to meet my needs as a customer - and as such they chose to forgo me as a customer - which is their right.  Zappos has the same policy - and I know that I will not return any pair of shoes that have been worn - but they meet my needs.  So for every customer you have out there, I think you need to do these six things:

a) Patience - be patient with the customer in understanding their needs and wants.  Listen carefully - make sure you can meet their needs - or tell them to go elsewhere.  I have clients call me all the time and I just listen - and many times I tell them we are not for them.  They should call someone else because we will not meet their needs.  But I think I win them over with my patience and listening.

b) Understanding- Understand what your customer wants from you and then deliver it.  The four seasons understands that their customer is traveling and this is a little home away from home.  Zappos understands that shoes fit differently so they offer free shipping both ways.  The face of LL Bean is their products so they must stand behind them.

c) Friendliness- Do not be stuck up, or snotty, or mean - just be nice and friendly - it goes a long way.  JetBlue employees get this.  They seem to always have fun.  Even if they have a customer that is not fun, they do not let that bother them.  They just move on.  Smile and have fun and be friendly.

d) Compassion- have an understanding of what every customer wants and be compassionate to their needs.  Rick at my local Infiniti dealer knows I want a good estimate of the cost and time to fix my car.  He knows I want to have it looked over to make sure everything looks good.  I do not want to spend a crap load of time at the dealer - and he will offer me a loaner car if the service takes more than an hour.  He is compassionate to my needs as the customer.

e) Honesty- Be honest; pretty easily done in most cases, but if you lie it could come back to haunt you.  I remember once we screwed up something with a client.  Nothing but our fault.  I had to go to the client and say "we screwed up".  We do not usually screw up, but we did.  We wasted your time, and we will not be charging you for anything.  That cost me not only the first time (which was junk) but we had to do it again a couple of month down the road.  But we were honest and hopefully made it right.

f) Openness - Be open about the situation - sometimes it will be painful - but most will respect you for it.  Airlines did not get this one for years (or maybe decades) but they are starting to get it.  Be open about the situation - from leaving the gate to arriving at the destination.  Where are the bags?  Make announcements.  Why are we sitting on the runway?  Tell us.  Be open.

So I hope all of you reading this consider how you can deliver better customer service - and it will probably not always make everyone happy - but it will go a long way to make a few more of your customers happy!