Mary's Gone Old School On Us!

“Steve!  How are you?  I’ll be with you in just a minute!”

That was where I learned the beauty of great customer service. 

Many years ago, when we lived in Dayton, I would go to My Favorite Muffin in Centerville on Friday mornings as a treat to myself at the end of the week.  I’d get a latte, a muffin, and that was how I’d end the week.

The one day when I went in there, this woman yelled to me when I went through the door, “How are you!  We’ll be with you in a minute!”  Now, for those who don’t know me, I’m an introvert, and I’m really not much for a lot of social interaction.  I was a bit taken aback.  She then proceeded to engage in chit-chat, asking my name, asking how my day was, just being way too friendly for early on a Friday morning.

I went back the next week, and instead of a non-descript greeting, it was personalized, she shouted out my name.  Again, I was a bit uncomfortable, she was pushing me out of my comfort zone. 

But, you know what?  I started noticing something.  Each time I’d go into My Favorite Muffin, I would be transformed.  I’d get that greeting when I’d walk in the door, she’d interact with me and ask about me, my family, she’d ask about Laurel (yes, she even found out my wife’s name), and I found myself transformed by her effusive personality.  I noticed that as I was pushing the door open to leave, I had this huge smile on my face. 

The funny thing was, it changed my behavior.  Instead of just a Friday treat thing, My Favorite Muffin became a 2-3 times a week thing.  I loved the greeting, I loved the interaction, I loved hearing my name shouted out, “Steve, how are you!  We’ll be with you in a minute!”

That is where I learned, customer service really isn’t that hard.  We all want to feel special, and the first part of that, is our name.  Our name is special to us, we love to hear our name, and anytime a customer service representative uses our name, we feel special.  That is clearly the first part of it.  Learning a little bit about that person and acknowledging them as a person and not just a sale is also important.

Let me take it a step further.  There are various companies that like to collect your birthday in their records.  Many will give you a free something when your birthday comes, which is nice.  But what about those companies or stores that make sure they say something to you when you come in on or around your birthday?  Anytime that happens to me, I know I’m impressed with the personalized attention I get from that company.

As I’ve traveled a lot, I’ve built up a bazillion miles, points, etc.  What annoys me is when something goes wrong at an airline or hotel, and the simple or quick solution is to give me miles or points to appease me.  That is the last thing I want in these situations.  Rather than a quick e-mail and points, I’d much prefer a simple acknowledgement of the mistake, and a commitment to do better in the future.

While we all can come up with reasons or ways to bash various companies, I’ve found that Delta does an amazing job of dealing with issues like this.  If you travel 50% of the year, there is no doubt, something does and will go wrong.  I had one instance last year, where Delta really screwed up, and again, I travel a lot, and almost exclusively with Delta, so it was bound to happen.  I complained, and a Customer Service Manager responded with a sincere apology and an acknowledgement that, yes, they did screw up and they were sorry.  To be honest, that’s all that I would ever ask of anyone.  I don’t want points, I don’t want anything other than, yes, we made a mistake, we are sorry, and we will do our best to do better in the future.

Recently, my wife Laurel and I were in our Starbucks.  Mary came out and greeted me, she greeted Laurel, she knew my drink, and she knew what drink Laurel normally gets.  After she took our order, Laurel said, “Mary’s gone old school on us.”  Laurel was right, Mary is definitely old school, and that’s a good thing.

I hate to admit it, but I spend way too much time in Starbucks, that is a huge monkey on my back.  Years ago, Starbucks was big on knowing the customer, knowing their name, knowing their typical order.  Something changed along the way, and that all went away.

The Starbucks that I typically frequent has gone through many changes over the last 5-10 years, which is normal in this line of business.  But the store manager, Brian Federico, has done an amazing job of training his group of people.  They are really good, probably the best crew that has been there since I’ve been going to this store.  They are just so good at customer service, they know my name, they know Laurel’s name, they know my drink, they make me feel special every time I go in there.  That is great customer service, which comes from great leadership, it’s like I’m back at My Favorite Muffin in Centerville, Ohio.  And it has transformed me, it used to be I’d go to two or three local Starbucks, but now I go to this Starbucks almost exclusively because of how I’m treated.

As I often like to do, I have to at least share a learning moment that I experienced, where I failed, and in this case, it reflects that customer service, or kindness, can go both ways. 

I went into my Starbucks the one day, and there was a guy ahead of me in line that was texting, and calling and doing all sorts of things to determine an order for whomever was on the other end of the line.  I’m very much a Type A, I struggle with people who delay my progress.  His lack of clarity and purpose was disrupting that, and I was getting really tense wanting to move forward.  I looked to my left, and it was Max making the coffee.  That really set me over the top, Max was new, Max was slow, I was never going to get out of here.  I finally got to place my order, and I tried to calm myself for the long wait until Max finally made my coffee.  As I turned to my left, Max was standing there holding a drink, and said, “Here you go Steve, Grande Nonfat Latte, right?”.  I was amazed.  Max had grown up overnight, and had become a champion at customer service.  Since then I’ve discovered, Max is incredible, he really does a great job, and unfortunately, I didn’t have the patience to allow him to learn and develop as we all need to do.  Yeah, no doubt, I’ve beaten myself up many times over my lack of compassion for those trying to learn a new job, and this was a major learning moment for me.

I know, I know, I know, I’ve way oversimplified this.  Jerry Collier, our Vice President of Sales Operations at WIKA, would probably be telling me, “Steve, you don’t know jackshit about good customer service”.  And Jerry’s probably right because Jerry does know great customer service.  But I do know how I like to be treated.  And I do know, for the most part, when I treat people well and when I don’t.  I just don’t think good customer service is that hard because at the root, at the core, is simple kindness and compassion and getting to know your customer.  Treat people how you would like to be treated, and I think you’ll capture 98% of it.  And as I learned, it goes both ways.