Just recently I witnessed two small organizations deliver bad service, which made me think about how service is offered in small organizations. Most larger companies understand that it is a critical success criteria, and they focus time and energy on ensuring that their service levels at least meet acceptable levels.

Small companies, however, not think about the topic partially because they are closely focused on producing their product or service to customers, or they don't have someone in the organization who has thought a great deal about customer service. In both cases, service doesn't get talked about to the degree that is required.

One situation I observed was a small delicatessen in San Francisco run and operated by the owners. While I was picking up a sandwich, they proceeded to yell abuse at someone who came in asking for directions. The impression it left on me was not positive, and if I were regularly in that neighborhood, I doubt I would return to that deli again. I doubt the shopkeepers had any idea as to the impact of their behavior on their "customer." 

The second situation was a bit more complex. It began with a telephone call from the TMI office to a photo reproduction shop. The woman we talked with on the phone was curt, unhelpful, and on the brink of being rude. She smacked her lips loudly and sighed a great deal making us also think she was also rolling her eyes at having to handle our request. 

When I went into the shop to pick up my photo proofs, she was on the telephone with a private call. She remained on the telephone for a number of minutes before saying into the phone, "Well, I have to go." She then walked over to a far wall where orders are stored. She yelled at me across the distance: "You 're here to pick up photos, right? What is your name?"  I never once received a greeting from her.

More copies were made than I had asked for and I didn't want to be charged for those, so I asked for an explanation of the bill. She didn't answer my question and put the credit card charge down for me to sign. I told her I wanted to know how the charges were calculated. "What's the problem?" was the response I got.

I told her that I didn't think she was being particularly friendly, at which point she said, "I don't want to talk with you." Now we had a battle going on. "Fine," I retorted. "Let me speak with your manager." She turned and walked away, and then said, "They only charged you for one copy each." I asked her why she didn't just tell me that in the first place, and that in any case, I still wanted to talk with her manager.

When he arrived, I told him what happened. He proceeded to tell me that they never have heard this about this clerk before. 

In A Complaint Is a Gift seminars, we make the point that a defense stated this way makes the customer feel that they are the problem. Besides which, if one has any understanding of how few people actually complain, they would know that one person complaining is probably the spokesperson for another 26 people who haven't said anything. Rarely are customer service problems isolated incidents.

I don't want to go back to that shop. I have to in order to complete my photo package. I am going to suggest to my photographer that he consider a different developer himself or at a minimum to talk to the print shop's owner.

Small companies stand the same risk of losing customers from rude and ineffective customer treatment as large ones do. Unfortunately, they generally spend precious few resources on ensuring that their personnel know the minimum standards of good service. I know this photo shop has great equipment and a solid reputation for developing high quality pictures. The impression they leave with poor customer treatment, however, is that of a beautifully groomed man or woman who also has a large glob of spinach stuck to their front teeth. It ruins the entire effect!

Janelle Barlow, coauthor
A Complaint Is a Gift 
 
 

Previous "Complaint Is A Gift Corner" pages: 
 

#1	Overselling Service
#2	Not Listening to Complaints
#3	Plastic Chicken
#4	Complaints You Can Do Nothing About
#5	A+ Complaint Handling
#6	Beware! Others are Watching You
#7	At Least Keep Talking!
#8	Let Customers Know You'll Tell Someone
#9	If You're Going to Apologize, Then Mean It
#10	Keep Front-life Staff Well Informed
#11	Don't Set Goals to Reduce Complaints
#12	Products Used During Special Events
#13	Best Practices of Complaint-friendly Organizations
#14	Complaints About Mother Nature!
#15	Socially Offensive Situations
#16	A Complaint Is a Gift in Action
#17	Information Systems  Users' Complaints, I
#18	Information Systems  Users' Complaints, II
#19	Creating an Internal Service Culture
#20	When Your Customers are Industrial Buyers
#21	Customers Who are Poor Complainers
#22	Complaints That are Difficult to Talk About
#23	Do You Mistreat Your Customers?
#24	Fairness: Treatment of Staff
#25	Expectations and Complaints
#26	Successful Toll-free Experiences

We invite you to submit your "best" examples by fax or e-mail. We won't print any company names with the "poor" examples, because we believe that every organization fails from time to time. We will give credit to companies delighting their customers. In the case of the "poor" examples, we'll comment on how we think this situation could have been handled better. If you want us to list your name, please tell us that is what you want to do.

A Complaint Is a Gift, The Training Program 

A Complaint Is a Gift, The Book

Note: We have been getting e-mail from our readers asking us to list the names of the companies who get complaints. Our policy is to never list names. The reason for this is because every company fails from time to time, and we wouldn't want to tar some company's name just because of one bad example. Furthermore, we are dependant upon the writer's side of the story. We don't know for sure what happened, and in the name of fairness, we will not post names. Furthermore, the purpose of this corner is not to pass complaints along to corporations. This Complaint Is a Gift corner is designed to look at examples of good and bad complaint handling so we can learn from these experiences. Please, if you have a direct complaint you want a company to learn about, contact them directly. In many cases, we have never heard of the company in question and have no idea how to reach them. Janelle Barlow

tel: 702 939-1800

fax: 702 939-1804

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