Bill Gates and Warren Buffet often vacation together. On one occasion they went to China. Wherever in the world Warren Buffet travels he always brings his favorite beverage, Cherry Coke. On this specific trip Buffet and Gates left the luxury hotel they were staying at to take a rented yacht down the Yangtze River. Some hours into the cruise it was discovered that Warren Buffet’s inventory of Cherry Coke had not been transferred from the hotel to the boat. The captain radioed the hotel which immediately dispatched a staff member with a case of the soft drink. The hotel person headed down river to catch up with the boat in a rented cab. When the cab came to the end of the paved road and the boat was still further down river the hotel person paid for the use of a bicycle and quickly loaded the case of soft drinks in the basket and headed off to the find the boat. Eventually he sighted the yacht, paid a fisherman to row him out to the boat and delivered Mr. Buffet’s Cherry Coke.
Question: Is this an example of extraordinary customer service on behalf of the hotel and the diligent and resourceful staff member? Or, is this a case of poor customer service by the hotel for not transferring the soft drink in the first place?
Let me know what you think. Have you had a similar customer service challenge in your business?
Well, I don't think this is an 'either / or' it is a 'both /and' situation. Leaving Warren's Coke behind was amazingly, breathtakingly stupid. But, once that error was surfaced, no amount of effort would have been too much. After all, it's Warren Buffet! If you are in business, and you can't take proper care of the richest guy (is he still the richest?) in the world, then you might as well just pack it in and go home.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, two things I wonder about. First, did the guy who delivered the coke attempt to make it effortless in the eyes of the client? Cause, if part of providing a service involves pointing out to the consumer how hard you worked, then you missed the mark. Second thing I wonder about: would the guy delivering the coke have tried as hard if the client were a merely wealthy but otherwise obscure and unknown guest?
Congratulations on launching your blog Mike!
Regards,
Mike C
Mike,
ReplyDeletePoints well taken.
But I think more to the point is the expectation of the customer. Part of the expectation is derived from the reputation of the service provider. Example; Do you expect the same level of service from Applebee's as you do from Morton's? Both are dine-in resturants. No, so there is a spectrum from none to outrageous customer service. So under-promise and over-deliver is a key componet to customer service.
Do you agree?
I agree it was both ... to error is human , it's how you responded to that error that separates the CHAMPS from the chimps . If you try to act like it's not important or it hadn't happened , your reputation is shot . Customer service in the customer service industries is not the only thing We have to worry about , but it is the most important . Mario Andretti put it best ( if you're in total control you're not driving fast enough ! ) Richard P.
ReplyDeleteOK, if we agree that it is both good and poor customer service, the question is: "What are the determinate factors, what is the criteria that describes customer service?"
ReplyDeleteBTW Thanks for the Mario Andretti quote. I thought it was only me that felt out-of-control most of the time.