Customer Service & Anti-Service

by James Mayfield
President of ResNexus

I was recently out with a friend shopping at Walmart and Home Depot. At each store they offered self-service as well as cashiered lanes. At both stores I went to the cashiered lanes and both times I told my friend, "I like to be served." Deep within us we enjoy being cared for and feeling that we matter, no matter who we are. That is what customer service is about.

Now, there are those that love the self-serve lines. They scan and pay for their items without having to have a service person come help. They rely on their abilities. They are do-it-yourself types; I am that way too, yet I like being greeted by a cashier and to have my items bagged by someone trained to do so. When I scan things, I just toss them in. I don't separate meats, bread, etc. In addition, if I have questions, someone is right there to help. And if an item doesn't have a bar code, they call someone to go find what it is.

Hospitality is about service. It's about being friendly and kind no matter our mood and situation. There could be a toilet overflowing or a fire in the kitchen and we keep our cool. Hospitality is about charisma, energy and charm. Our jokes are funny. Our smiles and greetings are sincere. We are experts. We are here to help and to serve. It is our pleasure to make you feel valued and appreciated. You are important to us because without you, there would be no us.

Yet anti-service is the natural state that we have to fight all the time. Anti-service is a lack of effort and energy. It's about us, not them.

I have visited hundreds of bed and breakfasts, hotels, and vacation rentals. I love to ask where I should eat and I enjoy the recommendations and wonderful food. To find the best food, ask a local, right?

On one trip to a bed and breakfast, I asked my normal, "What restaurants do you recommend?" The front desk worker (who claimed all workers were managers - very progressive and such) replied, "Just walk down the street. There are a few places to eat."

It was strange. Normally, someone would tell me about a favorite business and even a favorite dish. To be told by a supposed manager to "just walk down the street" was even more off putting. Obviously that business has some training issues and maybe an employee issue that they don't know about.

What is Anti-Service?

Businesses that focus on hospitality and eliminating anti-service find greater success than those who don't.

Anti-service is putting our needs and desires before those of our customers. And most of the time we don't even know we have created an anti-service protocol within our businesses. Customer service makes things easier for our customers. Anti-service burdens the guest.

Normally, most anti-service policies start with, "Guests must..." The opposite would be "We must..." Much like government, we can have over regulation at our businesses. Guests must park in an exact spot, must tell us what their car is, must let us know when they are going to be late, etc. We often tell ourselves we make rules for their benefit, but in all honesty, they are for our convenience.

I'm not saying we shouldn't make policies, but it's why and how we think and implement policies that helps us navigate the narrow line between excellent customer service and anti-service.

Using parking as an example, let's say that you have very limited parking, one per guest room. First of all, the policy has a valid reason. You don't have any extra parking stalls. As guests check-in, you can explain the parking situation with assigned stalls to ensure they have a space.

If policies are just a means of control, you are likely practicing anti-service. We have to fight anti-service and constantly uncover policies and practices that breed anti-service.

Too many regulations and policies can do more harm than good. Think of the grocery store where the cashier has to tell you about their daily special. They have to ask you if you want to hear it. You know they are being forced and that they will get into trouble if they don't ask you. That is anti-service, right? The special is to help them at the expense of my convenience.

Often a policy can be polished, a process that takes it from anti-service to customer service. Let's use the specials offered by a cashier example. Instead of asking if it is OK to tell you about the daily special, direction can be given to pitch it instead of regurgitate it. "Thanks for coming in! I don't know if you know but our fresh bread comes out every hour." "Thanks for coming in! Being cherry season, we have a special on cherries right now. They are one of my favorites, but only here from June through August."

A Tale of Two Hotels

There are those in hospitality that are anti-service by nature or have lost the battle and have become toxic over time. It's like a salesman who can't sell. He stands in the mirror each morning psyching himself up only to end up in the hospital from hypertension because he thinks he is having a heart attack. He is providing for himself and his family, and yet it would be best if he were in a different occupation. Others are young or clueless to the world of hospitality. Because of this, we have inhospitable owners, managers and employees in the hospitality industry.

I visited Colorado years ago and met a hotel owner that was depressed, negative, low energy and uninspiring. As I visited with him, nothing seemed to be going right. He didn't have enough money to fix up his place to get enough occupancy to afford these improvements. The economy had it out against him. His staff kept leaving.

Interestingly enough, across the street, there was an even bigger hotel that was simply one of the nicest hotels I've ever visited. The parking lot was full. It was older yet well maintained. The staff were super polite. We visited them and had the opposite experience: business was good and how could they help us.

Ironically, the rundown hotel had an opportunity to piggyback off of the marketing and efforts of the other. Instead of complaining about repairs, he could have grabbed some tools, especially a paint brush, and little by little he could have improved his estate with minimal financial investment. As a do-it-yourself and repair anything person, labor is the big cost most of the time and he had plenty of time. Instead he sat in his empty lobby, convincing himself he was a victim and that he had no power to change his circumstance.

We are not victims. We are in control of our businesses, our thoughts and our actions. Anti-service often happens because of various mental errors that we have formed over time. Maybe we believe that all our guests should care about is the price of the rooms or the location. Or we think guests just want to be left alone.

Energy is Contagious. Anti-Service Often is from a Lack of Energy

In my early twenties I had an associate that pulled me aside and told me that "energy is contagious." I must have been low energy at the time but what he said sunk in. I've seen when my boys turn 13 years old; the lobotomy fairy comes and sucks out half their brain and they go from being able to hold thoughtful conversations to just saying one word sentences. "How was your day?" "Good."

Smiles are contagious. If you smile at an infant or toddler, they can't help but smile back. The same with adults. If someone looks at you and you smile at them, they often will smile back, even those that are shy. And chances are, you changed their day. Hospitality is about making people feel welcome. Anti-service is about avoidance, which causes stress and anxiety.

Most anti-service protocols involve a lack of energy or negative energy. Good customer service is about tone, energy and caring. Take the example of the two Colorado hotels. The one that was struggling greeted us with, "What do you want?" The other asked how we were, welcomed us and asked how they could help.

I love animals, especially dogs. Dogs teach us that energy is contagious. If you come home and have high energy, greeting them with love and smiles, their tails wag. They want to be next to you and enjoy any affection you are willing to share. If you come home stressed and just walk past them, Their normal energetic greeting quickly dissipates.

It's not easy to have positive energy, but fake energy is easily uncovered. There is something to faking it until you make it, but it's better to take a moment and mentally get in the right mindset. "I'm stressed today. That's OK. I feel better when I serve others so let's work even harder at that today."

Pitching and Candor

I consider myself a pitchman. To me that means that I can put things into a positive yet realistic light. Poor pitchmen/women oversell and under produce. Good pitchers communicate clearly, undersell and over deliver.

Candor is the heart and soul of solid customer service. Telling a guest the real deal in a courteous and loving manner goes a long way. The opposite is to dodge and hope the problem works itself out.

One of the best salesmen I've ever worked with would shrug his shoulders (as a tell) when something wasn't a fit. Once at a tradeshow someone asked if our company could do something that it clearly couldn't. He thought about it for a minute, asked me what I thought, shrugged his shoulders and spent a few minutes with the gentlemen trying to think if there was another company who could possibly help him.

"I don't know if it would be a fit. Let's make sure that it is. The last thing we want is to both be in a lose-lose situation."

We can use pitching and candor to turn a possibly tense anti-service scenario into an impressionable customer service moment. For example, let's use late check-ins. Often I travel and arrive late and I feel terrible if it's a bed and breakfast that doesn't have a 24 hour front desk. I've let them know about my late arrival time when booking. Some call me all day asking time and again if the time is correct. Others let me know they are excited to have me. If I arrive after a certain time, they leave me with instructions on how to check myself in or a way for me to communicate that I am there so they can come assist me.

It's all about the pitch. A good pitch can take an annoying or inconsiderate situation to us and turn it around into training the guest to know our expectations and in turn, allow us to better serve them.

Is Automation Anti-Service?

Kiosks are coming to help guests check in instead of going to the front desk. But what if you have a question as you check in? The kiosk might have a frequently asked questions area, but then you have to search through it.

Some automation improves customer service and other automation is anti-service. Going back to the self-checkout lanes, it can be done both ways. A lot of stores have added self checkout lanes and then drastically cut back on cashiered lanes. Have you ever been in a Walmart with two open lanes and it's a busy time of day? You think, "Surely they could have a few more open!" The key is to not sacrifice the customer experience in favor of automation.

Automation is good because there are groups who will only use the self-checkout or book online. Leaning too heavily on this automation is folly.

When online bookings for hotels first emerged, no hotels cancelled their phone line and forced all guests to book online. Over time though, toll free numbers were cancelled to lower costs and because phone providers went to unlimited long distance calling.

I stay with my insurance agent, even though there is a local agent who is closer, because of the customer service. They know my name. I've been with them for 20+ years. Recently I bought a boat and the insurance company wanted to take a month to insure it. I called my agent and he worked a miracle so I could go use it the following week.

Cancellations & Anti-Service

Years ago we had a competitor that would treat customers rudely when they decided to leave him. Our policy was to always treat clients with kindness and let them know they are always welcome.

Most likely, the anti-service policy didn't come as direction from leadership, but the employees somehow thought it was acceptable behavior and that behavior spread from employee to employee.

Cancellation policies should be balanced. If you are a dictator on cancellation policies, you will scare off guests. If you don't set expectations, there can be some costly lessons.

Conclusion

Anti-service is the opposite of customer service yet we often find ourselves making policies that are anti-guest and lack energy to properly convey appreciation and sincerity. Through discipline and observation, we can improve our businesses by eliminating anti-service day in and day out.