8 Practical Customer Service Lessons I Learned on Vacation

January 18, 2020 Customers, Marketing

8 Ways to Improve Customer Service In Small Business

As consumers, we each have a story about the time we were treated like royalty just for buying a cup of coffee. And, unfortunately, we all have a memory or two about that time when we weren’t pampered at all, even when making a large purchase. So, what is good customer service, exactly? As we’ll discuss here, every business has its own answer to this important question. Even so, it is often from our experiences that we can learn how to improve customer satisfaction in our own small businesses.

This truth was made abundantly clear this past holiday season when my wife and I decided to get out of the cold winter weather and spend a week in the Caribbean with our family. Even though we were on vacation, I couldn’t help but pick up some juicy business lessons along the way, beginning shortly past 4 in the morning when we left for the airport.

The tips for improving customer service that follow are truly universal. So, whether you’re a small business owner just trying to up your game, or you manage an entire customer service division at a large company, I’m confident that you’ll find this list useful. Let’s get started…

1. A Customer’s Experience Influences Their Future Decision Making

Because our itinerary had us departing early in the morning from one airport and returning to another. we elected to use a popular ride-sharing app to get to and from the respective airports. It was 4:20AM when we requested a ride, leaving us plenty of time to make our flight. At such an early hour, we expected to wait a few minutes for our ride to arrive. Our driver was confirmed and was 15 minutes away.

After 10 minutes and with the driver en route, though, the app automatically redirected our request to another driver. We’d had this happen before, but only for a driver who was closer. Surprisingly, the new driver was again 15 minutes away. Bothersome, but we still had time.

A few more minutes went by and the app again redirected our request to a third driver, who again was further away than the previous one. Getting nervous, we called the driver who confirmed he was en route.

By this time, more than 20 minutes after our planned departure time to catch our flight, we continued to wait. Several minutes later, though, with the driver only a mile from our home, the app changed drivers on us yet again! And, the new driver was further away once again. A quick check of the other major ride-share app also showed a 15-minute wait.

At this point, we had a decision to make – continue to wait for our ride to eventually arrive or jump in the car and deal with retrieving our car from the departing airport once we returned home.

We made the split-second decision to drive, so we were in control. It was now 40 minutes after our planned departure time. Further, we knew we’d lose additional time parking the car and taking the shuttle to the terminal. But, we had lost confidence in the reliability of the ride-share app at that hour and felt it was the best decision.

By the time we finally found a place to park and arrived at the airport we managed to check our bags with just 5 minutes to spare before the cut off.

The Customer Service Lesson: A customer’s experience with your brand influences their decisions in the future. Now, I’m not going to claim I know better than the ride-sharing app companies who no doubt employ people way more intelligent than I am. That said, I have encountered early-morning issues with the ride-share app previously. While the prior instances I had considered a fluke, this experience got under my skin.

Having now experienced dependability issues on multiple occasions with ride-sharing apps for early morning flights, I am reluctant to consider them again in the future. Certainly, ride-share apps are tremendously convenient under normal circumstance. But from my own experience as a customer, the ride-share products are not reliable enough in early morning hours when time is of the essence.

As business owners and managers, we need to remember that every interaction our clients have with our business can shape their future relationship with our organization – for better or worse.

2. The Ability to Give Customers Peace-of-Mind Creates Differentiation

Our early morning transportation headache and subsequent late arrival to the airport was not the desired start to a family vacation that we hoped for. Once we boarded our flight and caught our breath the next logical question entered our mind.

“Do you think the bags made it?”

Moments later, my smartphone buzzed, and the question had been answered. It was a notification from Delta Airlines that our bags had been loaded onboard. There would be no concern during the 4-hour flight that our luggage was left behind.

The Customer Service Lesson: The ability to give your customers reassurance of your product or service helps you stand out against the competition. Giving customers confidence in their purchase can be a major customer delighter. Certainly, the investment Delta had to make in order to provide this level of baggage tracking was not small, but the value it creates for customers boosts Delta’s reputation.

Could we have flown another airline and arrived safely at the destination with our bags? Of course. But had we flown an airline that didn’t offer this little added perk, we would have not known whether our luggage would be there waiting for us until we landed.

Other examples of how companies differentiate by giving peace-of-mind include:

Shipping companies who provide tracking numbers for packages
Child day-care companies who have live camera feeds so parents can check on their children at any time
Product warranties and money-back guarantees

3. Charging a Premium Price Requires You Provide Premium Service

The holidays are a known busy season at our Caribbean destination. We elected to stay at a high-end, well-known international brand resort as a treat to the family. The hotel was indeed busy, and sold out for the nights we were there.

However, despite being a known peak time of year and the fact that the hotel had been fully booked months in advance, one could not help but notice the staffing shortage at the resort. As the week would go on, the lack of enough employees became more and more noticeable, making the whole hotel experience a general letdown considering how much we were paying per night.

Were the staff friendly? Yes. Was the resort as attractive as the pictures appeared on the website? Absolutely. But, service lacked because the resort was simply understaffed. Tables in the restaurants went uncleaned as guest were clearly looking for place to sit. Drinks from the bar took 15 minutes or more. One night, we waited for 20 minutes just to get our check. And, long lines of guests formed at the front desk while a single person worked the counter.

While the facility was nice and comfortable, the resort’s inability to provide an appropriate level of service to guests who were all paying premium pricing was disappointing to see. On three separate occasions I overheard guests complaining and referencing how much they were paying to stay there. One guest even said he was checking out because he was so dissatisfied.

The Customer Service Lesson: The level of service you provide must meet the expectations for the price you charge. There were many resorts on the island where we stayed, so competition was high. The resort we selected was near the top end of the range. Based on the overall quality of service, though, we were left feeling like we overpaid. As a result, we would not likely stay at that resort in the future.

4. Commitments to Customers are Just Like Any Other Business Agreement

We decided to rent a car to access some of the remote places on the island. I went online to reserve a car from a major international car rental company for the next day. With the reservation made I printed a copy of the confirmation email. The next morning, I arrived at the airport rental counter at 9AM, right on-time for my reservation.

The man sitting behind the counter barely made eye contact with me when he asked how he could help. I said I was there to pick up a car.

“Sorry, sir, we do not have any cars” he replied.

Assuming he thought that I was just a walk-up customer, I handed him the printout with my reservation details.

“I see your reservation here in our system, but we are all out of cars.”

I asked when he expected the car to become available, thinking I just needed to wait a little while.

“I do not know, it’ s a busy time of year here. Perhaps you can try the next counter.” I was puzzled by how I was even able to make a reservation if they did not have cars to lend.

As I walked to next counter. belonging to another major car rental agency, it was clear the employee there had overheard our exchange. “Sorry sir, no cars here, either. It will be hard to get a car on the island this time of year.”

The Customer Service Lesson: Customers expect your promises (and reservations) to be fulfilled. Considering the state of technology today and how common it is for people to make reservations online or through an app, I simply couldn’t comprehend how I was able to create a new reservation from the car rental agency’s website when they didn’t have cars available. Further, this was one of the most recognizable car rental brands in the world, not just a local company that lacked a sophisticated inventory system.

As I walked away from the car rental desks in disbelief, I couldn’t help but feel bad for the two people I had just spoken to. They were going to spend their day greeting countless passengers arriving on flights, only to tell those customers that they could not fulfill their reservations, either. Talk about a bad day at the office!

5. Providing Exceptional Service Can be an Ambassador to Your Brand

Despite my inability to get a car for which I had a reservation, I didn’t want to give up. I decided to leave the airport and walk across a busy road to try my luck at another major international brand, Alamo. Though I had just been told that getting any car on the island was unlikely, I was delighted to learn that Alamo did have a handful of cars.

Given that two other major companies did not have a single car, I was in no position to be choosy.

Still, the sales representative treated me with utmost respect, as if I were the only customer they would have that day.

As he processed the paperwork, I told him about the experience at the other two car rental counters.

“Yeah, it’s a busy time. We actually shut down our website to avoid having customers reserve cars we didn’t have, as you just experienced.”

Needless to say, I rented a car from them.

My pleasant experience with Alamo would only be heightened. Upon returning the vehicle, the staff even drove me back to my hotel so that I didn’t have to cross the busy road and walk to the airport to hail a taxi.

The Customer Service Lesson: Providing exceptional service can significantly boost your brand and grow your business.

The pleasant surprise I had as a walk-in customer at Alamo was memorable. It was not a company I had ever rented from before but the positive experience I had will make me consider them first the next time I need to rent a car.

If clients perceive your brand as one that provides exceptional customer service, it not only helps you attract more customers, but also lets you charge a higher price.

6. Accommodating Customers is Good Business

Martin predicted it. We stopped at the tour desk one morning to book a day trip to see some local sites. Martin, who was manning the GL Paradiso Tour desk that morning, set us up with a booking. Before walking way, he wrote his cell phone number on our receipt.

“Just in case there is an issue, here’s my number so you can contact me. You know, sometimes, tourists need to reschedule, or they may eat something and get sick. Contact me if anything comes up.”

At 10PM that night, I texted Martin to tell him my wife had eaten something that did not sit well with her and that our planned early morning departure the next day would not work for us. I did not know what to expect but wanted to at least try to contact the tour company that night.

Within 5 minutes, Martin replied and said he was contacting the guide to see what other times were available. By 11PM, Martin had us rebooked for a different day, ensuring that my wife’s illness would pass and that we could still enjoy our adventure.

The Customer Service Lesson: Going out of your way to accommodate clients will make first-time customers into repeat customers. I contacted Martin late at night as a courtesy so he would know the situation when he arrived in the morning, but the fact that he rebooked us at that evening hour, to me, meant that Martin went well above the call of duty. We were grateful for his effort to accommodate us and will be sure to use that same tour company again the next time we are there.

For our own business and clients, accommodating unusual circumstances builds trust with the customer. This trust and willingness to go out of your way is likely to bring that customer back again.

7. In Times of Crisis, Over-Communicate to Your Customers

We returned to the hotel around 10PM after a long day, only to find that the water was not working in our room. There was no message from the hotel, nor was there a notice in our room of an issue, so we simply assumed there was some brief maintenance work going on.

However, after 3o minutes without water and no message from the hotel we decided to call the front desk.

“Water will be back on in two minutes!” the woman said.

The water did not come on for another 5 hours.

The next morning, I learned that water had been shut off to the entire hotel for nearly 12 hours due to malfunctioning equipment. And, while standing in the lobby, we couldn’t help but overhear several other guests expressing their dissatisfaction to the hotel’s front desk staff about how the situation was handled.

The Customer Service Lesson: Times of crisis require stellar leadership and effective communication. Certainly, an equipment malfunction was unexpected and out of the hotel’s control. But having no water for 12 hours is a major issue for any resort, let alone one that is a high-end, brand-name property.

Numerous opportunities were missed to handle the situation better and to provide customer service even in a time of crisis. There was no sign in the front lobby alerting guests of a problem. Nor was there an audio message left on our phone. And, there was no printed message slipped under our door or left on the table in our room by the hotel management to communicate the situation.

When facing an unusual situation (such as water being shut off to a 200-room high-end resort), communicating with your customers must be a priority. Even if you do not know the full details of the plan, at least communicate what is happening so your customers are informed.

8. Goodwill is Good for Business

The last customer service best practice we learned on our trip returns to how our vacation began. Once we returned home, my wife and I went to pick up the car we left at the airport. Rather than let my wife walk to her car through the large parking lot in the cold winter air, I grabbed a ticket to enter the lot so I could drive her to her vehicle.

I would only be there for a few minutes and simply planned to tell the attendant I was dropping someone off. Frankly, I thought nothing of it as it was something I had done on several occasions.

Minutes later, I was stunned when the parking attendant said the fee would be $3.

I looked at her and reiterated I was just dropping someone off and had just entered the lot moments earlier. She said she understood, but she had to charge me for entering the lot. Not wanting to argue or deal with asking for a supervisor, I grudgingly paid the $3 but politely let my dissatisfaction be known.

Will the $3 I had to pay to simply drop my wife off at her car on a cold day prevent me from making a mortgage payment? Fortunately, no. But, will that $3 she charged me for that few minutes I spent in the parking lot stick in my mind the next time I park at the airport? Yes, and I will decisively park elsewhere.

The Customer Service Lesson: Willingness to provide goodwill is good for business. I didn’t care about the fee itself. We were already paying them more than $100 for parking my wife’s car for the week.

What bothered me more was that the attendant still felt the need to charge me for having simply driven into the lot to drop someone off. The six total minutes I spent in the lot were clearly indicated on my ticket, but there was no goodwill gesture to let me go without paying. Can you relate?

If You Want To Improve the Level of Customer Service You Provide, Ask Yourself…

Many of the customer service tips on this list are common knowledge, if not obvious. Yet the experience we had on our tropical vacation using major and well-established businesses made me realize how much our experience as customers influences our future purchasing decisions as consumers. And, I had to ask myself about the type of customer service my team provides.

If your customers’ feedback suggests a need for improvement, or you simply want to boost your small company’s relationship with your client base, we can identify ways to improve customer service by asking some simple yet powerful questions.

If we were to poll your customers:

Would they say you’re fulfilling your promises?
Does your level of service match your price?
How would they describe your brand?
In what ways do you provide goodwill?
Are they happy with each interaction they have with your firm?
Do they feel you respect them as clients?
Do you accommodate them when unforeseen circumstances arise?

Your customer’s entire experience should be important, so make improvements in just one simple area can improve your overall ability to provide customer service.