by Peter Lauria, Corporate Speaker and Partner-Customer and Buyer Journey
I recently had the pleasure of experiencing firsthand the importance of delivering a great customer experience and seeing someone who “gets it” in action. Great customer experiences often show up in the little things we see.
I was giving a speech recently at a luncheon to a group of business owners in an event room at a restaurant. One waiter was assigned to work the event and to serve lunch to a group of about 25 people. There was a time constraint since they all had to get back to work shortly after my presentation. The waiter had his hands full taking everyone’s orders, serving the meal, filling water glasses, getting beverages, replacing a fork, tending to everyone’s needs, and doing the things that most waiters tend to do. Yet he still made time and was kind enough to help me set up my presentation, hand out surveys, and help with setting up and positioning my video tripod. I didn’t ask for the help, he just provided it with a smile.
Throughout the luncheon this waiter single-handedly demonstrated a number of points that I talk about in my speeches and promote to my clients:
- Clearly this young man enjoyed the work he was doing. You can’t expect employees to deliver a great customer experience unless they’re working in an environment with a great employee experience.
- This young man was showing a great deal of empathy towards me and the group as a whole, knowing there was a time constraint and helping me set up so that everything ran smoothly. I was in no way in a rush or running behind schedule. He offered to help simply to help.
- What impressed me the most, and I can’t stress enough the importance of this, was that he showed a great deal of integrity and respect by quietly walking around the perimeter of the room to serve guests rather than walking across the room in front of me while I was presenting. This is a particular pet peeve of mine as I find very often when I speak to business groups in restaurants the staff ignores the fact that there is a speaker addressing the group as they walk around, sometimes bumping into me, loudly clanking plates and cups, and frankly, being rude. I find it rather inconsiderate to upstage someone presenting in front of a group, blocking people’s view, and otherwise being disruptive. This happens far too often, but it didn’t happen here. This waiter consciously showed respect to both me as the speaker and to the audience listening to a presentation.
The whole experience made me want to return to that restaurant as a customer with my wife and some friends for dinner. At the very least I know the service will be outstanding. And yes, the food was very good too.
The lesson here for business owners (not just restaurants) is that your front-line employees are the ones who interact with customers the most and ultimately deliver either an extraordinary customer experience or they deliver a mediocre or even a bad one. How are your employees making your customers feel respected? And are you providing the kind of work environment that makes them feel comfortable doing so?
The math and logic are simple. Deliver an amazing customer experience and people will appreciate it and come back. Do it poorly and they won’t.
Have you ever felt respected by an extraordinary customer experience? Leave a comment and let us know what happened.