When in unfamiliar environments, we often have "different" experiences from what we are used to. For example, when waitstaff does something that you, as a customer, is uncomfortable with, is it the differing culture that is the culprit, or is it legitimately bad service?
Of course, we all benefit if we are constantly aspiring to engage in new cultural experiences from the different perspective - all for the sake of genuinely improving our abilities to embrace that valuable diversity (while still not denying our own culture - which is the topic of a different conversation!) What if, in the face of an unfamiliar environment, the "foreign" delivery of service is uncomfortable to the customer? The question is: At what point can we rightly judge a service experience was good or bad?
The issue here is twofold. First, you will benefit by being open-minded about the natural tendency to feel a little uncomfortable with anything different from your standard experience. Is the discomfort simply because you aren't used to it? Sometimes an experience isn't good or bad - it is merely different.
Secondly, the bottom line in any service situation is that the customer dictates the standards of quality. The customer alone is the one who determines if the service was good or bad. For example, if someone who had never been to a city before went into a five-star fine dining restaurant and was completely unfamiliar with etiquette and the use of silverware, etc. and a typical five-star service was delivered - without consideration of the wants of the dining customer - and that "uneducated/ignorant" customer disliked how they were treated, it would rightly be categorized as a poor service experience. The key to this scenario is that the server was not considerate of the guest's desires. That alone dictates whether or not the service was good or bad. If the customer walks away unhappy, then it was bad. Period.
This illustrates why it is so vitally important to truly understand the guest's point of view. We cannot appropriately exceed their expectations until we know what the criteria is.
Are you delivering "service" based on your criteria or that of your customer?
Think about it. But more importantly, do something about it...today!
Of course, we all benefit if we are constantly aspiring to engage in new cultural experiences from the different perspective - all for the sake of genuinely improving our abilities to embrace that valuable diversity (while still not denying our own culture - which is the topic of a different conversation!) What if, in the face of an unfamiliar environment, the "foreign" delivery of service is uncomfortable to the customer? The question is: At what point can we rightly judge a service experience was good or bad?
The issue here is twofold. First, you will benefit by being open-minded about the natural tendency to feel a little uncomfortable with anything different from your standard experience. Is the discomfort simply because you aren't used to it? Sometimes an experience isn't good or bad - it is merely different.
Secondly, the bottom line in any service situation is that the customer dictates the standards of quality. The customer alone is the one who determines if the service was good or bad. For example, if someone who had never been to a city before went into a five-star fine dining restaurant and was completely unfamiliar with etiquette and the use of silverware, etc. and a typical five-star service was delivered - without consideration of the wants of the dining customer - and that "uneducated/ignorant" customer disliked how they were treated, it would rightly be categorized as a poor service experience. The key to this scenario is that the server was not considerate of the guest's desires. That alone dictates whether or not the service was good or bad. If the customer walks away unhappy, then it was bad. Period.
This illustrates why it is so vitally important to truly understand the guest's point of view. We cannot appropriately exceed their expectations until we know what the criteria is.
Are you delivering "service" based on your criteria or that of your customer?
Think about it. But more importantly, do something about it...today!
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