For those of you that have been following my most recent maylay with poor service in the automotive industry: wait no longer!

 Lucky us! Quick recap: The VW Jetta TDI is leased out of Georgetown, Ontario. Given the distance to get to Georgetown for us, my husband and I usually have it serviced by the Brampton VW dealership. The last time we had the car in for formal service with Brampton VW, the service/lube,oil,filter was done and the "service now" light came on as soon as we drove off the lot. When we returned to the service department they assured us it was just a glitch and was to be ignored. Of course, the "service now" light has never gone out.

 Last Saturday the car started but wouldn't stay running. It officially died at the bottom of the driveway. Over the mileage for the warranty, imagine our surprise when we were informed that the turbo was gone at the 120K mark. Most service individuals we've spoken with are surprised as well.

 Well, the service department has gone through a gammit of possible things that need to be fixed/replaced - the turbo, cam shaft, intake valve, thingamabob, doomahickey. You name it - it feels like it was on the list.

 So, we approached the sales manager to determine what would be involved in buying a new vehicle and getting us out of our current lease (7 months left, and we're significantly over the mileage, valued at about $2,000). There's some minor scraping on the drivers side.

 We asked what would be involved in rolling all this into the purchase of a new vehicle. (let's not forget that before the car broke down we called the customer experience manager a full week before there was a problem just because we were curious about moving onto a new vehicle and he didn't return my husband's call...but I digress).

 The sales manager informed us that to get us out of the lease and move us to a new vehicle they'd need $8,000-10,000 down. Holy crow!!! Does that equate to "helping us out" in any way? Not from where we sit. That exceeds the amount of the lease outstanding, the mileage, the service and who knows what else.  BUT... if we were willing to consider going into another lease, we could talk. Well, we don't want to go back to a lease given how much we drive. Baffled, we declined and bought elsewhere.

 So... I went to pick up the VW at the dealership today, post surgery. Interestingly, after discovering there wasn't going to be a sale after all, suddenly the camshaft doesn't need replacing - just the turbo and an intake valve. So... $3,000 later, I got into the car to find... wait for it... the "service now" indicator was on. All of this after repeatedly telling us "we have the #1 tech in the country for VW". The customer experience manager says that it's just that we need a our regular maintenance and that it's best that he not reset the light so that we don't forget to do it. HOW DO YOU SPEND $3,000 ON SERVICE AND HAVE SOMETHING LIKE THIS WAITING FOR YOU IN THE PARKING LOT!!!???

Wait for it... we now have to take the car in for servicing. Even though this same light is exactly what was supposed to have told us there was a problem with the turbo, I ended up driving the lemon home with the beckon of hopelessness mocking me. Oh, and let's not forget the incredibly helpful note on one of the service outlines telling us that "it does have a very bad tire shake, the l/f tire is in bad shape". Wouldn't it have been nice if they'd offered to put the full-sized spare on? And isn't it more than a little ironic that the only way you get that weird wear and tear is if the alignment is done poorly (per our mechanic friend). Wanna guess where the last rotation and alignment was done??? Congratulations! You win a prize. I'd give you the VW as a prize, but that's not fair to you, my reader.

On my way out the door from the dealership I mentioned in passing that I've had fun with this in my blog and that I'm about to put a whole bunch of lemon magnets on the car. I'm about to become a 7 month-long lemon banner for Georgetown VW. That had the customer experience manager bolting out the door after me to discuss how they could fix it. After the quick mental discussion I had with myself (let's see, they have my money, they get the car back, we've spent $500 on a rental for two weeks and I feel abused, how could they fix it? What's left? Maybe a nice tree shaped air freshener)(for those keeping score, I'd like extra points for using my filter and not verbalizing that discussion!!!), I finally told him there's nothing that can be done. The relationship is over. Finally I agreed that they were welcome to follow-up with us on our experience. That can't end well, can it?

Hey, ultimately we're just one consumer relationship. They'll have others to replace us. But I can absolutely assure you that there isn't a chance in heck that I'll ever be back and the RF Fleet will never be VW.

 In all of my years in dealing with service matters for many consumer segments, nothing baffles more than when you're only heard when they finally understand that you have a viable outlet for your gripe. <insert headshake here>

I finished reading a Robin Sharma book today that really got me “jazzed” about my passion — the customer experience. The book is called “The Greatness Guide”. See, Robin get’s it. The book is filled with little “gotchas” that make you think about yourself and how you affect the people around you and how you choose your responses to every situation – good, bad or indifferent. 

Too bad we can’t clone Mr. Sharma and put him in every restaurant in the world.  

I challenge you and your staff today to take a mental step back and look at your customer a little differently. They’re not just money in the till and someone to clean up after. We’re all the same. Flesh and bone, looking for an appreciated gaze and a little acknowledgement of a job well done. Sound familiar? It’s likely that they’ve worked hard during the day and their time in your establishment is a chance for them to spend quality time with friends and family or just to get away from the situations that caused that crease in their foreheads. They made a choice to give you the opportunity to make their day complete. Huh. That kind of changes the interaction, doesn’t it? 

I dare you to go that little bit over the edge today. Give a second cherry on that sundae. Give them a little sample of the item they didn’t order but were contemplating ordering. Find a way to express to your customer that they were the reason you got out of bed this morning.  To quote Mr. Sharma, “…in this ‘experience economy’ we now live in, the customer must be taken on a journey from start to finish that makes them go “wow.””  

Go get your “wow” on. Please drop me a note to share what you did and how it made you feel. I suspect you will be pleasantly surprised. 

Have a great day. 

You’re a Human Resource Manager for a major restaurant chain.  You have a lot of experience working in corporate environments and have had your share of both star employees and “troubled” employees.  Both have been quite easy to recognize:  the stars shine through and their manager takes notice; the more inefficient troubled staff struggles to complete their work satisfactorily and their manager takes notice.  One set of employees is up for promotion, the other set; well let’s just say it’s another posting on a major online job board to find someone better suited for the position. 

The sound of the phone ringing brings you back to reality.  You have a lengthy conversation with the Director of Operations for your region and she’s upset - revenue is down 35%.  Ok, so the economy isn’t great right now.  Of that 35%, your organization attributes about 5% to the poorer economy.  Don’t we wish the entire 35% can be attributed to the economy???  That would make our lives much easier.  But it’s not and we have a 30% decline that we can’t account for.  We’ve already account for spillage and food waste in our revenue calculations along with a number of other miscellaneous charges typical of a restaurant.

Your mind wanders back to your star and troubled employees.  Maybe we have a customer service issue with our employees.  How can that be?  We offer a wide variety of feedback avenues:

·     paper based surveys at the location but no one wants to take the time to organize the very few we receive;

·     online surveys where the customer can win cash or other assorted prizes but they’re rarely completed;

·     “secret shoppers” but they don’t capture the entire experience. 

You’re faced with a big dilemma:  identify the reason for the decline in revenue, or post your resume on one of those online job boards!  You can’t watch your entire customer facing staff all the time.  How do we identify the stars vs. the inefficient troublers?

With Rewarding Feedback (RF) the process is simple.  We offer a cost efficient service that measures every customer interaction with every member of your front line staff.  And it goes beyond that.  With our unique survey offering, you can measure not only the quality of the service provided but also the ambiance of each location, the quality of food served and almost any other item you wanted surveyed by your customer.  And it’s all done anonymously.

How does this simple process work?  Prior to providing the bill, your staff will take the portable survey unit to the table and ask the customer to provide their feedback on any number of the items mentioned above.  Once complete, the customer selects a reward for providing feedback, such as a coupon for a future visit.  The data is uploaded real time for measurement by you, the client.  You can identify, by employee, how many good or bad customer service experiences they’ve had with clients.  This is a definite benefit to you, the HR Manager.  This gives you the necessary information to not only reward employees for excellent work but also provides you with the opportunity to re-train staff that may need further assistance and make decisions on staff that are performing poorly. 

With today’s market flooded with employees, you want to be sure you have the best available.  Let Rewarding Feedback help make your decisions easier!

You know the scene. You’ve let the boss “see” you working hard all day, the traffic was atrocious, you couldn’t find a parking spot, but finally you got into the restaurant only to find a long wait. The staff was rude, the food was cold, your order was wrong or the place wasn’t clean. So… the money you earned today is down the tubes on a nasty experience that you and your therapist will discuss for weeks.

THAT SUCKS!!!

So, you mention it to your server, who looks at you with a glossy vampire-like fog on her face. She suggests you speak to the manager. The manager. Hmmm…. Good thought, but you don’t want the embarrassment of a “scene”. You just want customer revenge! So, you fill in one of those paper surveys, figuring someone will take your concerns to heart.  But then there’s a fear that pops up in the back of your mind – “they’ll have my personal info – my email address, my phone #! Oh no!! They’ll even have my name!!!”

“If I fill this thing out, I’m sure to be banned from every restaurant in the world, have my picture on a Wanted Dead or Alive poster on the wall at the post office or ten years from now, when I win the Oscar or become President of a country, these survey details are sure to be leaked to the press and ruin my dreams.” So… do you decide against it, pay the bill and slink out of the restaurant with your tail between your legs and a bitter tale to tell you great grand children 50 years from now or do you take the chance, roll the dice and fill it in?

You rebel! You reach deep within your aching soul, borrow a pen from the little old couple in the booth next to you and bare your thoughts, thankful that you wore your superhero underwear today to give you courage!

You pay the bill, begrudgingly tipping the waitress and leave the survey for the establishment. Good for you! This is where your personal knowledge of the story ends, and ultimately, you will survive with the belief that you’ve saved another customer from the same experience. Dreamer!!!

Here’s what we know, that you don’t:

That survey that you labored over is now put to one or more of the following uses:

1)     At the end of the shift your survey will be lovingly processed into art – folded repeatedly in origami fashion – to make paper planes, birds, hats and even boats.

2)     If you’re the 10^th person to have complained that your table wobbled more than a drunk on stilts, your survey will be folded 4 times – to just the right depth to fix the wobble. Not bad news. At least it served some purpose and was actually read!!!

3)     Your survey has been tucked away in a nice manila folder for senior management to see during an audit. After all, yours is one of the few without swear words and without comments about the manager’s “mama”, so it’s a keeper.

4)     Your survey is reused at a local wedding. The restaurant industry is struggling in these economic times, so everyone has a “side business”. Confetti production is profitable.

THIS SUCKS!

Oh wait… maybe you’re one of those individuals who takes the receipt home because there’s a website survey option noted at the bottom.

Good thinking! You’re already angry, so it’s best that you stew over it and fill in the survey later. So, you get home, get into your jammies, feed the cat, load up the computer and complete the survey. Damn… where did you put that receipt? Let the hunt begin. Oh good. By some miracle you found it in the same pocket as the mints your server gave you for dessert.

But there are the voices again… “Why am I bothering?” “I know I’m never going to step foot in that place again.” “Oh wait, it says that I can win $1,000 or an IPod.” “I wonder if anyone other than family of the staff ever wins these things.” “Have I ever heard of anyone winning?” AH! Stop the voices!!!

THIS SUCKS!!!

It’s time to STOP THE SUCKAGE!!!