Boxcar Social Skills found missing!

I get it,  Boxcar Social. After three decades in the service industry, eight of which were devoted to achieving award-winning service at the cafés I owned and operated, I get your challenges. What I don't get is the service attitude I experienced yesterday.

... to the next coffee spot

When wrapping up a long walk in the Rosedale 'hood with friends, we reward ourselves with a hot beverage at the Boxcar Social. Well, we did. Some of us frequent Boxcar Social several times a week. It's not busy anytime I've gone in during daylight hours, but I hear the place is jumping at night, offering adult beverages and a popular hangout. Business is thriving. I was happy to hear of a viable coffee shop nearby that purports to care about offering a gathering place.




My socks haven't yet been knocked off, but until yesterday, I was happy to support the business and stay open to the possibility they'd be about cultivating good experiences for their customers. Not any more.

Two of us came in first yesterday morning; we were the only people at the counter. There were three people working behind it. What a great chance to find the joy in caring about one's customers, right? 'Don't think the three guys behind the counter saw it that way. It was like we were interuppting them - no one greeted us until we spoke, and the 'wired-to-delight' gene wasn't evident in anyone. We ordered - and we ordered for our friend that would be joining us in a few minutes. I kidded the chap that he looked like someone we used to work with, and that he might mention this to our mate when he came in shortly. Yes, I get that part, too. I know I can augment my service experience by being a friendly and appreciative customer.  I asked to be charged for a tea and to let me know if that's not what was ordered and I'd make up the difference. After laying down $12 and change for three teas and a croissant, I dropped a toonie into the tip bucket. The two of us sat down. Until our friend joined us a few minutes later, tea in hand at the table, there were no other customers. I asked him if he was told it was paid for. He told me he'd paid for it and no one had said anything.

I decided to mention this double-payment on the way out and enjoy the time with my friends. Managing my own disappointment at what I perceived as inattentiveness and being non-plussed - there will always be time to reflect on how challenged some service providers are to understand the basics. As I stress when I'm training and doing needs analysis for service strategies, 'comfort' and 'being seen' are key things that turn customers into repeats and regulars, and are essential steps to creating a raving fan of one's business. I'm missing the committment to the bottom line here, folks. No repeat customers, no word of mouth ultimately spells no business. The plate needs to be kept spinning - great sales one month can disappear quickly when a ball is dropped. Yes, even for a cup of tea. It may be easier to sell a few high-end items rather than cups and cups of hot beverages, but that's what this business is built on - creating a great experience folks want to return to - one cup at a time.

As I left, I went up to the counter and said, "I'd pre-paid for my friend and he paid for his drink himself, as no one said anything to him." OOOPS! Another opportunity squandered, Boxcar Social. This is where you get to sieze the opportunity to create a raving fan. It wouldn't have taken much!! I would have settled for an apology. Offering a refund or a credit would have demonstrated I mattered as a customer. Eye contact thrown in for good measure would have communicated it mattered at all... but instead, I got an off-hand, "Oh, really." Nothing more. What an excellent opportunity to leverage a bad situation into creating increased business! You blew it, and you let your business everyone who depends on its success down. Why on earth would I return?  The 'hood has no shortage of coffee spots.

What I lost:  The comfort level of feeling welcome when walking into a favourite place I once frequented and feeling valued as a customer. My intention to treat my friend and surprise him, even a little, thwarted by the lack of caring service providers.

What Social Boxcar lost: Me. A customer and supporter and cost-free marketer of Boxcar Social who won't return. My goodwill. Gone is my perception that Boxcar enhances the 'hood. 

Oh, Hillebrand-Trius Winery, your food and wine are marvellous - and the service anything but

 
Start with a May 24th weekend, the two of us eager to show off our home province. Add two dear friends freshly arrived from Germany on their first trip to Canada. Stir in their abundance of positive energy, charm and curiosity, pumped to explore Niagara-on-the-Lake. Sprinke the promised forecast of cloudless skies with highs of 26 C. You get the idea - we're alive with anticipation, expecting to make our visit a stellar experience.  We're any service provider's dream customers!

Warm and welcoming folks greeted us at the Harbour House when we got settled before lunchtime. After enjoying a tasty al fresco lunch at The River Bend Inn we walked around the 'prettiest town in Canada'. - The River Bend's service and ambience struck a welcoming chord. Our friends were struck by the exquisite view of the flat expanse of vineyards that contrasted their home town's steep wine growing hills. We took our time sampling the local offerings and sunk in to the lazy warm afternoon.

Basking in great company and fun, we headed to dinner at the Hillebrand/Trius Estates Winery  that evening. We were offered a cool, formal greeting. I had written ahead to explain we were celebrating the birthday of one of our guests; no welcome given, no names used, nothing that demonstrated the host was happy to see us, and no acknowledgement of the birthday happened that evening. We were seated outside on this lovely night, anticipating a view of the sunset. The seating was fairly tightly packed, with a row of empty tables along the periphery of the patio. We asked if it would be possible to be seated there instead. The server we asked rolled her eyes and said, "Ahmmm... there's no cushions on those chairs."  With a grin, our friend asked if we could perhaps move the ones from our chairs to those ones and sit there. "That's not allowed." "Perhaps you could check with the manager," I said, raising my eyebrows in silent pleading. I felt perplexed and uncomfortable. She fetched the manager after some time, and he told us, "We don't usually seat folks at those tables 'unless we are full'". Wha'?? Smiling, I slowly got out of my chair to face him and softly said we had brought friends from Germany who were in Canada for the first time, and it would be really nice if we could max their experience and ours by moving us to the table ten feet away. He shrugged, grudgingly complied and proceeded to display body language so we'd know he was being put out. Being moved to the other table was the thwarted satisfaction one feels when a sweetheart finally arrives with flowers after weeks of making the expectation known. How different it could have been if the staff demonstrated a vested interest in creating the best evening possible! How simple it would have been to generate a delightfully satisfying transaction for everyone involved on both sides. We felt embarassed for Niagara-on-the-Lake and our country. Our friends were gracious, raved about the delicious and beautifully presented food and the wines we sampled. They shared our disappointment in the service. What seemed like an opportunity for the restaurant to super-charge the experience of four easily-pleased people was squandered. Our experience has guided us to choose different restaurants in the area ever since.

To the recruiters at the Winery - I'm confident your service is inconsistent with your vision. Hiring folks that are wired to delight, trained and empowered to offer each and every guest knock-your-socks-off-service would make your vision manifest. I'd be happy to partner with you in making raving fans of your guests. Ask me how!

My Breakup with Zara

Oh, Zara. It didn't have to be this way.

In Berlin at a conference this past June, the weather suddenly turned from deliciously cool for exploring to languid and hot. My next destination promised more sticky humidity; the comfort quality of the clothes I stuffed into a carry on weren't consistent with hot weather walks. A shopping adventure always feels like fun - and a chance to check out Berlin's "Mitte" shops. I stumbled upon a brand I know and trust. Floaty-light bottle-green pants and a matching top caught my eye when I walked in to the Zara shop near Alexander Platz. They fit beautifully! I could be in and out and make it back to the next conference session in time!

Armed with shopping-justifying self-talk, I bought the matching outfit which I could enhance perfectly with a scarf I'd brought. I wore it to the event scheduled for that night. The compliments (yes, more justification!) I received made me enjoy wearing it even more on the flight to Stuttgart the next afternoon.

By the time I reached Stuttgart, the pants part of the outfit were, in fact, in tatters. It seemed the inside seems had no allowance and they simply fell apart. Gah! I had another few days before I left for London, and I thought that outfit would be great to wash out and wear home to Toronto. Down to the warm clothing choices again. I also understood I'd have work to do to get my money back for the pants.  I had a slim chance of getting a refund on the top that matched. My strategy was to approach requesting the refund without making anyone wrong and to explain it was an outfit without including the top in the request, thinking inviting someone focused on my experience to turn my disappointment around offered the best outcome would offer the best outcome for all involved. My choice of store felt reinforced as there's a Zara store back home in Toronto within walking distance. I knew this because I shop there as often as anywhere else on Bloor Street.

Before heading home, I wrote an email to Zara's customer service department using a link on their website and received no response after a few days. I wasn't able to include pictures of the pants and the original receipt using the form. When I got back to Toronto, I took the receipt, pants and top back to the Zara store on Bloor Street. As a service guru, I know well how a transaction works better with positive and friendly energy from both sides of the service equation. My approach to the counter was friendly and inviting (yes, I do get who the customer is in this story) and I told the salesperson very clearly what had happened. My heart started to sink a little receiving no smile or eye contact from the person who I'd initially assumed was hired and trained to increase Zara's sales. You know, hired for being wired to delight, trained to focus on the customer's experience by being attentive and caring. There was no hesitation on her part after I'd told my story (only five days had passed since the original purchase in Berlin): "Unfortunately, if you bought them in another country we can't do anything for you."   

Unfortunately? For whom? She didn't look like the misfortune of a bad product was any of her or her store's concern. I asked if I could speak to the manager. 15 minutes passed. Guess what? Identical response, including the kick off with "Unfortunately". The manager also told me that they 'had nothing to do with what was sold in other countries, and we wouldn't even exchange it even if we had the same thing stocked here'.  Woah. Going out of one's way to make the customer wrong.  Assume no responsibility. Is this how Zara trains their sales staff? Why on earth would I go back to any of their locations?


 I returned to my house and found an email response from Zara's head office advising me to - you guessed it! - return the pants to a store in Toronto for a refund. I wrote back to them, included the pictures and scan of the receipt and told them I'd been refused any help whatsoever. In fact, my experience was that they couldn't have cared less. Zara's head office asked me for more details and there was a lot of backing-and-forthing. To their credit they offered to pay me the amount for the pants in a bank draft (my experience being paid this way years ago while teaching on-line English was that much of that would be lost in transaction fees, so I asked that they credit the amount to my credit card. They finally said they would do that, and would I email them all the details of my credit card? I asked them to call me, as giving them the card and its related back-of-the-card number and expiry date made little sense. They finally acknowledged they had what they needed to process the refund. It didn't appear on any statements, so I emailed them again and was told 'it was being processed'. Someone from the accounting department wrote me back and asked for information again, leaving me wondering. If I hadn't followed up, would I have ever received the refund? I doubt it. The refund for the pants appeared two months later. I'm stuck with an expensive top I haven't worn since the pants self-destructed. What does Zara have? A refund from their manufacturer, or small loss? What else did they lose?

What I lost: A lovely outfit, at least 6 hours of my time seeking a refund from the store and the head office and the comfort level of feeling welcome when walking into a favourite shop I once frequented and feeling valued as a customer.

What Zara lost: Me. A customer who made a purchase at one of their stores at least four times a year will not return to any of their locations, ever. Not when there's a sale, not for gifts for any of the 20 or so young women in my life. My goodwill. Gone is my perception that their brand would stand by its products and care about their customer. Gone is my trust in the brand - and the trust of others who read this or talk to me about Zara.

Preventable and unnecessary losses. Service transactions are stories. Stories get shared. This story could have been so different. I would have loved to tell the story about Zara creating a raving fan of me! What a missed opportunity to demonstrate at Zara on Bloor Street or their head office to take a potentially negative experience into a stellar one. Turn it around - you know, by putting the customer's experience first and foremost and trying to stand in the customer's shoes. "Gee, how would I feel if I'd bought a two-piece outfit for close to $200 and one of the pieces fell apart in a day? I would want my money back and an acknowledgement of my purchase gone wrong. Then I could buy another outfit - I might even shop at Zara for it - and buy additional items while I'm there."  Take action - offering to 'make it right' for the customer creates more than a satisfied customer - it creates a raving fan. Someone who tells everyone they know how fabulously they were treated and how they can't wait to go back. What an excellent opportunity to leverage a bad situation into increased business. You blew it, Zara - your representatives let me and your brand down.

Zara, I can help our relationship get back on track. Contact me www.farrantservicesolutions.com to find out how to make raving fans.

'Lifted' before taking off - thanks to folks at Haneda Airport

Racing through the airport in Tokyo, we discovered my husband had left his jacket containing his passport on the shuttle bus from the other airport. Yikes! A major problem! The bus had departed by the time we realized the jacket and passport were missing. Speeding through our minds were thoughts of a delayed departure, a call to the Canadian Embassy, hotel vacancies, potential work missed. We asked one of the staff at the shuttle bus counter if there was anything they could do, and the individual got on the phone immediately. Of course, we didn't understand much of the communication, and we were feeling anxious. We were told 'don't worry' that he'd be paged. Tokyo's Haneda airport is anything but small, so we decided sticking to a radius of 50 feet of the shuttle kiosk was our best bet. 90 minutes later, we heard my husband's name paged, and barely had time to look up and start back to the kiosk when a young man came up to us, bowing and offering the nicely folded jacket with the passport on top to my husband's gob-smacked face.

Someone owned the problem (when clearly it was my husband's problem, his fault for being forgetful) and took steps to have the bus intercepted once it stopped downtown, secure the jacket and bring it back to the airport. I'd loved Japan until that point; now I was smitten. I did return, and will again. Feeling welcome and wanted as a guest in a airplane, an airport, a hotel, a restaurant or a store are what makes a tourism industry flourish. I've added an article by Sarah Green, an associate editor at Harvard Business Review on this site in the 'helpful articles' section. These are the stories of Service Leaders manifest, told by grateful and appreciative customers. Imagine an organization filled with empowered folks with this kind of wiring and alignment to a service culture. Imagine a world like that.

Guaranteeing our return

 

Celebrations mark life's wonderful moments and reinforce blessings. Yesterday's celebration of the day we met focused on our shared joy and gratitude - discovering one another's perfection as life partners and the gift of close connection and our happy marriage.

Based on experience, we expected we'd get good service having lunch at Sassafraz, and that the anniversary mentioned in the reservation would receive minimal recognition. Exceed those expecations, and you make a raving fan, and exceeded they were at yesterday's lunch.

(At two different restaurants this year we made 3 reservations for birthday dinners and followed up with emails requesting that our guest's birthday be recognized... one birthday was acknowledged and made a fuss of by the restaurant; the other two went completely without notice - guess which ones we won't book birthday or celebration dinners at again?)

We stepped into Sassafraz and were greeted with "Happy Anniversary". Nice. We were offered our choice of tables, and the hostess as well as the maître d' came to our table at appropriate breaks in the service to wish us as well - very unexpected, and impressive. We felt honoured, appreciated for our custom - and, this is where the difference in knock-your-socks-off service always comes in - we were made to feel the service and special treatment was about us. 

We were presented with chocolates with our coffee at the end of the meal with 'Happy Anniversary' in chocolate icing written on the plate... and when we left, the hostess made a huge point of thanking us for coming - when we thanked her for the great lunch and service, she said, "No, thank you for returning here every year to celebrate with us. We love your story! We're so thrilled that you met here and come back to celebrate." 


WOW!! We were already delighted - closing the experience displaying a personal interest. How fortunate Sassafraz is to have her on their team. 

Sure, it's like water rolling down hill to celebrate meeting at the place you met (we did miss doing this on two anniversaries; one was after Sassafraz had a fire, and the other was when they closed because of a power failure in the area).... but we're not possessed of the idea we need to return anywhere where we didn't feel like our business mattered.

Yesterday's experience means we will be coming back to celebrate the beginning of our 17th year together - and guaranteeing we'll be coming back long before then. They made us delighted, raving fans of the restaurant and offered us a personalized celebration - the finest example of business development I've seen in a restaurant in a very long time.

Thanks, Sassafraz!

Turn-around Energy

Travel has been my M.O. the past 3 months, and it's great to resume routine and be engaged in two new projects, both in the area of teaching and training. I have just begun teaching business English to executives of a German company, and, extremely exciting for me, I have been contracted to join a project team initiative around service leadership within an organization that I already admire for its innovation and commitment to service.

There were several stellar service moments that stood out in recent months while enjoying the sights, sounds and deliciousness of Italy, England, Wales, Germany and Jordan, and I will write about them all. The most outstanding one involved the purchase of a hairbrush. What could have been a simple transaction turned out to win my loyalty to the brand and guarantee my next visit to Germany will include a purchase at the location I visited or another in the system. Douglas Parfumerie Website

I arrived in Frankfurt, but my (reminding me of why I rarely check a suitcase) luggage didn't. It was delayed by 9 hours; of course, I had no way of knowing how long it would take. I was cavalier, and bet on things going well; so all cosmetics and clothing, including walking shoes, were placed in my checked bag. It was wonderful to walk through the airport pre-flight, unencumbered by the wheeled suitcase.

 The weather was dry when we arrived, so my checked umbrella wasn't missed. I showered and put on the same clothes I'd traveled in. We went out for an explore, and I purchased a sweater, t-shirt and scarf (my jacket was also checked, and I knew the temperature would drop soon). I had no moisturizer or face cleanser, and so stopped in to the Douglas Pärfumerie, http://www.branchenkompass-frankfurt.de/branchenbuch/douglas-frankfurt-innenstadt-parfuemerien_6972.html a kind of slightly upscale looking but similar price base to Shoppers' Drug Mart in Canada; they carry posh name brands as well as more affordable ones. I also needed a hairbrush.  I picked this up from a display near the entrance, and was kindly asked by Stella Lückel, "Beauty Beraterin" (beauty consultant) if she could offer me assistance.

Frankfurt is a big city. I may have had an expectation of brisque if efficient service, perhaps mediocre and possibly chilly. I carried very little expectation of being seen as someone who's experience in the store was important. If Stella had been up for a prize for most sensitive-to-the-customer-attitude that day and knew she was being observed, she couldn't have gone more full out. I explained I was looking for a simple cleanser, toner and moisturizer as my luggage was delayed; I wanted small quantities of their most generic brand. She expressed empathy for my personal effects not arriving with me, and told me that she could imagine that buying things were not part of the plan today... and could provide me with enough samples to last me for 2 - 3 days for free. I told her this was VERY nice of her, but unnecessary; she proceeded to ask me what my skin type was, what I typically used, and then garnered up a small collection of the three things I'd asked for and threw in 2 samples of a (as it turned out after trying it) very good quality 'serum'.  I paid for the hairbrush, everything was packed meticulously into a small bag (yes, this IS a German 'thing' that shines in my retail experience there) and I was sent on my way with a wish that my luggage would be 'waiting for me soon'. Stella didn't make as large a ticket sale as she could have that day.... she did win a customer, and she made someone's day. I expect she felt better for doing so.

I was blown away by the attentiveness and service orientation; what touched me most was the kindness I received. It turned my day around. All the reflexes of frustration and helplessness around the unfulfilled expectation of having what I had packed and thought essential, as well as the self-beating-up for being bothered by something so small in the large scheme of things.... dissolved. Gone. What I was left with was a stunning display of kindness and care that fostered gratitude and appreciation. I left the store and continued on the explore after raving to my husband about the experience when I met up with him in the square with a lighter step and a happy heart. I wrote to the head office of Douglas Pärfumerie shortly after and thanked them for my experience. No surprise (top-down model) they replied immediately and thanked me for my note, pledging to pass it on to Frau Lückel right away.

Caring service is not just good business... it's good humanity.

Spotting initiative.... or not

Fellow café owners were perplexed at how much time I spent on recruiting, hiring and training staff who we could all only reasonably afford to pay very close to minimum wage to. Most owners experience light-year type turn around rates; understandably the question is, 'why bother' investing time and money into the recruiting and training process when the individual is likely to leave in less than 3 months?  Who wants to work with a team that can't wait to quit?? It's a case of which comes first, the cart or the horse. Recruiting for someone who's wired to delight, that is inherently gets pleasure from enhancing or creating someone else's great experience, determining whether or not they are a fit for the culture of your business, and then supplying them with the tools they need to feel competent, confident and empowered creates success. Taking the time to recruit and train gave me the longest turn around rate within my franchise community, and I expect, in cafés in general. One of the highlights of running the business was the relationships I enjoyed with my staff, and as it can only follow, with my customers as well. I was delighted to see one of my former customers blogging about us on facebook last week.

One of the perks of driving and owning the success of a business is getting to create and sustain that culture, and enjoy working with a personally selected team. I do wonder why this isn't more mainstream. It's talked about and written about - as one who's had the pleasure of reading and listening to Tony Hsieh's 'committable' mission. I'm inspired, and frankly reinforced as I read and heard refinements on the big idea of creating a place where staff and customers loved to be. Tony drove his success by not wavering from the ideals; by enrolling others, empowering staff, and checking in frequently in order to maintain the culture and correct imbalances. The skills are the science - the wiring and attitude the art. I quote Tony Hsieh, "Every employee understands that part of their job description is actually to live and inspire the culture in others. A lot of it is done on the front end; during the hiring process we do two sets of interviews. The first set is kind of the standard -- the hiring manager and his or her team will look for someone to a fit within the team, relevant experience, technical ability and so on, but then we do a separate, second set of interviews with our HR team, and they look purely for a culture fit, and they have to pass both in order to be hired. We have passed on a lot of smart and talented people that we know can make an immediate impact on our top or bottom line but if they are not a culture fit, we won't hire them."

My most recent experience of this idea being absolutely removed from a culture was during a weekend visit to the gorgeous new grocery store near our cottage in Muskoka. I didn't know who to feel sorrier for, the young women who were floundering at the check out counter, not knowing how to ring items in, let alone bother with looking at the customers, or the customers themselves. There is another grocery store in Gravenhurst... perhaps the folks who manage the new Sobeys forgot that the Independent existed. I met up with my husband there as he was checking out - sharing the perplexed look of the two people who checked out ahead of him. I had used the washroom (the store is less than a year old) which looked like something at a campsite after Woodstock. I politely suggested to the two people who were adding up our grocery tally for my husband that they may want to let whom ever is responsible that the washroom is a mess. In an honest and somewhere-out-there-in-the-I-couldn't-care-LESS-about-your-experience-land, one of the young women looked at the other and said, "I'm not telling anyone, 'cause they might make me do it."  Got it.  Of course I don't go to Sobeys for the washrooms... but washrooms can speak volumes about how something is run... a little window into the culture, so to speak. Next time, the Independent.