Customer service, stuck in economy
I recall three articles that appeared in the newspapers way back in 2012 statistically comparing Sri Lanka’s soaring performance in tourism in that year. What caught my attention; in particular, the following, and, I quote, “Tourist ‘Arrivals’ during the first five months of 2012 was up 18% over 2011 month todate. ‘Earnings’ from tourism grew at a rate of 25.7% during the first four months this year over the same period last year, and, ‘Revenues’ from tourism receipts in 2011 increased by 47% (up to USD 850 million) from a low USD 400 million a few years ago” Unquote.
What interested me the most however, was the news that the service charge which directly co-relates to revenues had shot up dramatically with some hotels paying over Rs 40,000 per person per month. I am extremely happy for everyone employed in the hotel industry, especially those in the non-executive ranks for reaping the financial benefits from the increase in the service charge collection. However, as a customer who frequently patronises several hotels and restaurants, I fear the quality and level of service one encounters has barely improved. Let me explain.
When settling the bill after dining out, a relatively high percentage of what we pay for is service. This begs the question; ‘Did the waiter do enough to make the experience sparkle?’ Was the service skilfully delivered to make one enjoy the meal? When did you last leave a restaurant – thinking how nice it would be to come again because of the pleasant and caring staff? Unfortunately, it doesn’t happen as often as one would expect it to. We diners want to be treated specially, and our expectations are simply not mind-boggling, merely reasonable, particularly if we are called upon to pay for service - even when indifferently delivered. How does one home in on good service? Admittedly, the whole craft of service is hard to pin down, but it has to go beyond the basic, ‘Welcome, Thank you and Goodbye’, that the majority of restaurants mistakenly take cover in the belief that this can pass muster as good service. Hardly! These expressions merely demonstrate good etiquette and behaviour. Even then, how many times have you resisted walking out of a restaurant when not acknowledged within minutes of arrival?
On the high end restaurant side, I am often surprised at how little attention is paid to the art of service. Would you bake bread without specific knowledge of what proportion of each ingredient to use, how to mix them, what temperature to bake, and for how long? By the same token, why don’t restaurant operators recognise that the craft of serving diners which is inherently a more complex, interactive and difficult process, is vital to deliver a superior guest experience?
‘When something stinks, it’s usually the head’. This fishing phrase has interesting applicability to restaurateurs. People’s performance from restaurant to restaurant has more to do with the quality of the management than the innate quality of the people themselves. A frequent whine from people in operations is about the inability of HR people to hire proper staff. HR people counter this with the complaint that managers don’t know how to train, retain and get the best out of new recruits whilst on the job, and so the blame game goes on.
Someone once said ‘never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and it annoys the pig’. Hire people who have a positive attitude, who are committed to service (not resigned to serve) and a desire to be part of a winning team. I often ask restaurant managers ‘since when did you last observe and correct someone on service?’ Seldom do I receive an answer with a degree of conviction, Managers must work by example, command respect, share the big picture, lay down a clear set of standards, persist with ongoing and and-the-job training, shower appreciation and recognition; take responsibility for decisions and support to be the best.
Oh, by the way, let’s not forget empowerment. This is a real toughie’. It is virtually impossible to oversee service as it occurs during ‘moments of truth’. It is a real time process that usually occurs from the watchful eyes of management. There is no control over its circumstances. The key to providing fabled service is to get the decision making done as close to the guest as possible. This means that you have to entrust your guests to the front-line, entry-level people – and you have to equip these people to do the job. However, a sobering reality: Your lowest paid, shortest tenured, entry level employee usually has more interactions with the guest than the higher titled, smarter attired employees!
Ordinary people doing ordinary things ordinarily will keep your restaurant in the ‘Service Economy’. Ordinary people doing ordinary things extraordinarily will let your operations soar to the ‘Experience Era’.
Shafeek Wahab - Editor, Hospitality Sri Lanka, Consultant, Trainer, Ex-Hotelier |
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