Customer Service
- Thread starter drifterreno
- Start date
Giving good customer service, whether at US Airways, Home Depot or the DMV, comes from what's within the employee and possessing an innate common sense. On the job experience will improve an employee's common sense skills too. Anyone employee with these skills had them before they were hired.
And this is where the problem starts. Existing managers and employees sort of represent a cross-section of the overall population. Some are smart, some stupid, some care, some don't. The hiring process isn't designed to find people with good customer service skills. Pay level as it is, working conditions as they are, they'll take just about anyone. They'll net some good people, for sure. And lots of bad ones.
And think about it, managers are like anyone else. Some are good, some bad.
Finally, customer service and common sense can't be taught. You've got or you don't. If you have it, it means you have possess empathy, have an intellectual curiosity about the industry (this brings technical expertise) and one must be wise, communicate well, perceptive and think logically.
And this is where the problem starts. Existing managers and employees sort of represent a cross-section of the overall population. Some are smart, some stupid, some care, some don't. The hiring process isn't designed to find people with good customer service skills. Pay level as it is, working conditions as they are, they'll take just about anyone. They'll net some good people, for sure. And lots of bad ones.
And think about it, managers are like anyone else. Some are good, some bad.
Finally, customer service and common sense can't be taught. You've got or you don't. If you have it, it means you have possess empathy, have an intellectual curiosity about the industry (this brings technical expertise) and one must be wise, communicate well, perceptive and think logically.
FlyGuyBWI
Advanced
- Feb 12, 2003
- 237
- 13
Giving good customer service is as simple as treating your customer as a guest in your home.
Behaving like a good house guest will get you better customer service EVERY time.
Just my opinion ...
(P.S. The "Magic Words" still work wonders on both sides of the beverage cart -- not enough of us say "Please" and "Thank You" to each other these days.)
Behaving like a good house guest will get you better customer service EVERY time.
Just my opinion ...
(P.S. The "Magic Words" still work wonders on both sides of the beverage cart -- not enough of us say "Please" and "Thank You" to each other these days.)
How does one initiate all of this with strict limitations to all that is provided?
One used to be able to tell the same difference with original AL and original PI employees. Original AL employees were very transaction focused - generate the boarding pass, make the reservation, etc. with no fluff and move on. I believe that was referred to as "Cool Northern Efficiency."
Original PI folks took a few extra seconds to be nice about it and make the customer feel welcome.
My wife is from MSY, and she always says the sign of a good Southern lady is her ability to tell you go F yourself and to have you say "thanks" when she's done because she said it so politely and with such grace.
A quick comment in reference to the Japanese corporation post...
US corporations will never be run as efficiently or care about customers and employees like Japanese companies. Japanese companies are always looking 2 years down the road, and they know that their short term actions have long term consequences. Japanese people and companies have lots of STRUCTURE, and they think about every possible ramification, and are willing to take short term losses for long term gains.
American companies are focused on immediate results and immediate returns... The CEO's and executives need to suck the lifeblood out of the company as soon as possible, because they aren't in it for the long haul, they are in it to get rich and bail... A Japanese executive, and the employees make a career choice when choosing to work for a company.
I have worked a lot with Japanese companies, and they are WAY different.
I had made friends with one of the Japanese guys that I used to work with, and he told me that generally when you accept a job, you work there for about 6 months, and then you and the company both decide if you want to keep the job. If you keep the job, it is meant to be a LIFE LONG commitment. The company makes a commitment to you, to make sure you have everything you need to live, and you make a commitment to the company that you will work as hard as you can. Japanese companies also will not lay off people unless it is necessary. They are more likely to hold on to you for awhile and see if things change. In the US, we're disposable, and in return - that is about the level of effort people give back to the company...
He told me that if you quit a job, that virtually makes you UNEMPLOYABLE. It basically says you can't be trusted.
Very interesting...
US corporations will never be run as efficiently or care about customers and employees like Japanese companies. Japanese companies are always looking 2 years down the road, and they know that their short term actions have long term consequences. Japanese people and companies have lots of STRUCTURE, and they think about every possible ramification, and are willing to take short term losses for long term gains.
American companies are focused on immediate results and immediate returns... The CEO's and executives need to suck the lifeblood out of the company as soon as possible, because they aren't in it for the long haul, they are in it to get rich and bail... A Japanese executive, and the employees make a career choice when choosing to work for a company.
I have worked a lot with Japanese companies, and they are WAY different.
I had made friends with one of the Japanese guys that I used to work with, and he told me that generally when you accept a job, you work there for about 6 months, and then you and the company both decide if you want to keep the job. If you keep the job, it is meant to be a LIFE LONG commitment. The company makes a commitment to you, to make sure you have everything you need to live, and you make a commitment to the company that you will work as hard as you can. Japanese companies also will not lay off people unless it is necessary. They are more likely to hold on to you for awhile and see if things change. In the US, we're disposable, and in return - that is about the level of effort people give back to the company...
He told me that if you quit a job, that virtually makes you UNEMPLOYABLE. It basically says you can't be trusted.
Very interesting...
4merresrat
Veteran
- Apr 3, 2003
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Very interesting? Very Scary if you ask me. . .thank goodness we, in the U.S.A are FREE to change jobs if we want too, have FREE choice, YES! If you desire to change careers midlife you can't-you are "virtually unemployable" And frankly, I don't want some company to "make sure you have everything you need to live." I prefer to take care of myself and my family. Sorry, if you were trying to impress us with the Japanese way you did the opposite. Atleast for this independent free spirit!
This thread is making me sick...........I provide great customer service because that is what I am paid to do. I don't like the way my company treats me but I do not take it out on my customers, and I don't give things away to make them happy nor should usairways.
I can't believe that most of you think it's 1970's .....all you get today is a ride from here to there
Some are still in wonderland that you are deserving of some reward for flying.
So just buy the cheapest ticket get on the plane and stop whining.
I can't believe that most of you think it's 1970's .....all you get today is a ride from here to there
Some are still in wonderland that you are deserving of some reward for flying.
So just buy the cheapest ticket get on the plane and stop whining.
BoeingBoy
Veteran
- Nov 9, 2003
- 16,512
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- Banned
- #25
If they buy the cheapest ticket they might as well stop whining...US would be out of business soon. I guess that could have a good side - you wouldn't have to listen to those high yield "free loaders". There is absolutely no way for US to break even, much less be profitable, if they only sell the cheapest fares.
Jim
Oh, im not trying to impress you with Asian culture and business management, I just think it is fascinating, and like Piney said, if you could take the best of both worlds (American and Japanese), and actually get it to work, it would be a force to be reckoned with.
Japanese companies would rarely need to be unionized because the company would always be more than fair. The excess greed at the top does not exist like it does in our corporations.
Isn't it interesting that the company can find the cash to cover the costs of 2 management meetings (rah,rah) in Phoenix, but can not find the cash to keep some of these good people in their jobs. What's more important, having more bodies to provide better customer service? Or providing a good time for management?
Harry Callahan
Veteran
OP
drifterreno
Veteran
- Aug 21, 2002
- 611
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- Thread Starter
- Thread starter
- #29
Thank you so much Piney and NCFL--you actually made me chuckle. And I am a Southern raised lady though born in the heart of Pa. Hehe. Piney why are you so right just about every time?? Don't you dare tell your wife I said you were. Anyway, thanks for the positive comments about customer service. As for the last poster--you are the reason the new USAirways will never survive and I am the reason the old USAirways had a wonderful reputation and made money in the 80's.
OP
drifterreno
Veteran
- Aug 21, 2002
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- #30
Doc my last post was meant to mean you. Not anyone else. You need to learn good customer service skills. You're the reason US won't be profitable in the future.
