Managing Customer Expectations

Do all the organizations achieve customers’ expectation? What does customer expects and how to fulfil their needs and wants? According to Harris Interactive through Customer Experience Impact Report, it claimed that ‘Even in negative economy, customer experience is a high priority for consumers, with 60% often or always paying more for a better experience’.

A close Chinese colleague of mine simply loves Biryani. He would try almost all the new outlets to find the best Biryani in the town. What craves him so much to this particular Indian authentic food? He stated that when he was young he ate Mutton Biryani and he felt the taste is still in his throat that is unmatched till now. He had even highlighted to several restaurant proprietors for improvements if it is cooked below expectation. It is crystal clear that he wants only quality Biryani even if he had to pay high price. Based on the Biryani example, my colleague has set an expectation but his likings may differ from others. However what he may like may not necessarily suits other customers and vice versa.

In this modern age it is competitive to accommodate all the customers but we should try to at least match their expectation as their needs and wants can change. Organizations should always listen to customer feedback because without any feedback we may never improve the quality of our services. Feedback can be either positive or negative but organizations should use it as advantage to improve their products and services. Management have to remain receptive and understand customers concerns rather than ticking off customers’ appreciated feedback. Organizations can conduct a survey poll to analysis if their offered product and services fulfils customer requirements and expectations. Organizations should consider engaging expertise or third party individuals such as consultants and trainers to conduct gap analysis and provide recommendations to improve their products and services. Management should not only store away customers’ or consultants feedback but be brought to the next stage of action. It is vital to acknowledge the highlighted area and work towards the reformation of the required changes. Improvements or changes can be attained if organizations are committed in integrating supportive solutions such as technical assistance, quality ingredients, technology gadgets, financial allocation, skilled manpower and trainings. The management should also consider developing customer blueprint to ensure a systematic process to done in line with achieving customer satisfaction. Customers expect management to provide precise and accurate information when arises doubts and clarification. Customers do not want slow response to their queries but demands fast and concrete action. If the management did not act fast to rectify the highlighted issue, they may lose another customer and just imagine if the disappointed customer spreads his unhappiness to others. The employees’ should be trained in communication skills especially techniques on handling unhappy customer. Tackling tactfully with a caring attitude should be instilled within all the employees whenever they want resolve their brought up queries. Even at times when price hikes are bound to occur, customers are willing to pay extra for quality product and service. Thus if management is unable to fulfil customers’ expectation or undertake effective measurements, it can be met with harsh response as dissatisfaction continues to mount up.

According to an article by White House Office of Consumer Affairs, Washington DC it is reported that ‘Happy customers who get their issue resolved tell about 4 to 6 people about their experience’. Each customer has different perception, lifestyle, taste or liking that accommodates their needs and wants. According to Timothy Heffernan through http://timothyheffernan.net, he claimed that “Despite 40 years in digital photography,  Kodak went bankrupt because they failed to monetized new products that allows consumers to save and share memories but instead focused on its core dying product, film’. If an established organization such as Kodak itself had went bankrupt for its failure to fulfil customers’ expectation, imagine others that did not suit their product lines.  No organizations can take things for granted and always must be innovative in matching customer needs and wants. Throughout the years customers’ expectations have changed dramatically to suit the modernization of global appeal for lifestyle suitability. Your organization may be small, medium or large but you have to constantly track customers’ need and want especially re-establishing the products and services cycle to fulfil customer expectations and remain competitive in the market.

Smile Makes A Difference In Customer Service

A good smile is influential in creating exceptional first impression and positive environment in customer service. How do you feel if you are entering a shop, and the shopkeeper gives you a cold face, stoned expression or sharp look? However the expression can change if the shopkeeper adds a smile to his actions. Similarly if we feel welcomed or sense of belonging when we entered a hotel and be greeted with a greeting smile by the front office staffs.

Smile has the power to attract or change the perception of an organization. Smile can be either beautiful or fake? Customers can differentiate if we are genuine in our hospitality. Smile brings out the best of sweetness, pride, friendliness, happiness, love, welcome and feel good atmosphere at the outlet. However several smiles are done in force or by involuntary acts of nervousness, frown, blushing, embarrassment or awkwardness in an uncomfortable way. All the industry has emphasized the importance of smile when they deal with their customers. A smile can be used by employees when they greet, talk, acceptance, declination, in deep thought, consideration, openness or honesty when dealing with customers.

On my visit to Bali Thai Restaurant at Singapore, I felt the customer service was good even when the outlet was crowded. Since it was my first visit there, I enquired several times on the choice of the offered menu but the waitress continued to assist us with a friendly smile. I noticed there were improvements at Starbucks outlet at Kulai as the counter representative named Tikka served us with welcoming smile. She did not refrain from smiling and continued to explain with ease when I enquired the best possible beverage for that particular time. Whenever I am going to Tea Garden outlet at Johor, I always feel relaxed especially with the smile and customer service provided by Ram Prasad, the outlet’s supervisor. In one of the hotel that I trained, I noticed that their bellboy did not even smile to any of the local visitors except to foreign visitors. A Mamak restaurant near my lecturing university possesses the same typical customer service, hardly any smile when communicating with their customers. Another incident that is related to poor smile service was when I and my friends were dining at a Chinese restaurant at Johor Bahru. We noticed an elderly Singaporean Indian couple who seemed very jovial steeped into the restaurant. After glancing through the menu, they decided to order but an unexpected twist occurred when the elderly lady pronounced one of the food names wrongly. The waitress who was there to take the order smiled cynically and sheepishly which angered the husband. They decided to walk off from the restaurant immediately and complained to the manager that smiling cynically means looking down on them.

When we discuss about Service Tax, we feel exceptional customer service that includes a good smile but are the staffs aware the importance of delivering the right facial expression? The management should ensure that the employees’ are always smiling when they engage with their customers. Smile is precious and it adds justifiable valuation to your branding. There are various types of smile such as smug smile, contented smile, proud smile, half smile, tight lips smile, cheered smile, naughty smile, open mouth smile, amused smile, superior smile, happy smile, considerate smile, beautiful smile, sweet smile, love smile, sheep smile, hyena smile and anxiety smile. Employees should be trained to smile because each smile interprets different messages to customers. Even when we are on telephone conversation with our customers, a smile in a voice makes the communication pleasant.

SMILE is not reserved for special occasions because it has to be natural all the way long when we serve our customers. Smile is free but if organizations do not train their employees on various types of smiles, customer shall feel a robot alike customer service or worse a similarity when we used a vending machine. When we insert coins in a vending machine we get the ordered product, thus in future if the Management is not committed to do changes in the organizations, customers have to even pay to get a beautiful smile from the employees.

Are Customers' Complaints Addressed Effectively?

Are all your complaints being addressed effectively? To whom do you complaint? Is the officer in-charge is an experienced person in managing complaints? The common customers’ complaints include facility faultiness or defects, lack of product knowledge and poor customer service skills. According to Michael Hill through www.customerfocusconsult.com, he claimed that ‘A study carried out by the Warwick Business School revealed that 53% of examples of outstanding service resulted from complaints handled well by a business’. However do all the customer complaints are taken positively by the management?

Poor handling of customers may only foresee customers to voice out their dissatisfaction up to maximum level. The new age of customers especially the frustrating ones goes to extent of inserting their comments being heard in social network. Customers can be hysterical, loud, abusive or screaming when they demand for changes. Managing complaints can be a stressful task if the employees are not given the right guidance and authority. Sending newcomers or novices to resolve customer complaints shall result backlash as their inexperience’s may invoke further anger among customers. In one of my visit to a cafeteria, a customer seated beside my table ordered Ice Kacang. She tried the Ice Kacang and felt that the corn had bitter taste. She called the waiter and explained that the corn might be tainted and the waiter just nods her head in acceptance of the explanation. As a waiter or management team what would you do? The common practice is to apologize, change the whole set, recommend other products and give complimentary items. However the waiter came back with the same Ice Kacang by only removing the corn from the bowl. The customer let her frustration burst and the whole cafeteria had the spotlight on her table. The supervisor rushed and had to calm the situation down but the customer went off angrily.

Based on the situation, the waiter did not have the right guidance on what to do if the product is found tainted. The waiter is also new to the place and does not have the adequate knowledge to address customer complaints. By the time the issue exploded, the customer had enough of the justification and subsequently vents her disappointments at other channels. The management should be held responsible for their employees’ incompetence in resolving customer complaints tactfully. Organizations should never take things lightly on customers complaints and always be prepared when such situation arises. All employees should be well prepared when encountering customer complaints especially the person in charge should possess the right experience, capability and expertise in engaging complaints. Poor on-job training also contributes to the lack of poor management of customer complaints. It is the responsibility of the management to ensure their employees are well-briefed and trained in handling customer complaint. Management should also meet customers in private to ensure the complaints are resolved.

In Malaysia, if customers are unhappy with the provided services they can also voice their complaints to National Consumer Complaints Centre through www.nccc.org.my. The agency provides customers to register their dissatisfaction through E-Complaint, email and tele-conversation. According to Lee Resource Incorporation ‘91% of unhappy customers will not willingly do business with your organization again’. Judging from phrase, we should ask ourselves “Are we committed in tackling customers’ complaints for continuous sustainability of our business or simple ignorance that leads losing customers and revenue on long run?” 

Visit Malaysia Year 2014

Malaysians should be geared for year 2014. The year 2014 scales Malaysia’s tourism industry through Visit Malaysia Year 2014 campaign. Surely Malaysia are not shortage of locations because we boast captivating attractions such as Langkawi, Tioman, KLCC Twin Tower, Batu Caves, Pagoda Temple, Desaru and the list goes on. According to News Straits Times dated 1^st January 2014, the Ministry of Tourism and Culture aims to attract 28 million foreign visitors to Malaysia.

Despite the exotic tourism appeal in Malaysia, one area that shall be under the frame of microscope is Customer Service. Public and private sectors should instill the importance of customer service to ensure the campaign is successful. Customer service ranges on the offered products and services that include product quality, customer care, facilities, equipment’s, technical installation, warranty, hygiene, grooming, communication, body language and reliability. This may provide the related industries to extend their promotional scales to attract customers to their outlets.

However several outlets may tarnish Malaysia’s image in this campaign by offering over priced products with poor quality services. We do not want our visitors to be cheated which shall reflect negatively to our campaign. The ministry should have a continuous monitoring on such outlets and take necessary actions to curb unreasonable price hike. Visitors that are treated excellently shall be referral to other customers. According to Lee Resource Incorporation ‘91% of unhappy customers will not willingly do business with your organization again’. Thus we do not want to lose even a single customer and everyone should be treated fairly without diminishing the service quality.

This campaign also requires all ministries to work closely as the responsibility does not solely falls upon the Ministry of Tourism and Culture. For example, the Health Ministry is required to conduct numerous inspections on all restaurants to ensure it complies with hygiene and safety regulation. We also do not want our foreign visitors’ to complaint the bad odor at Malaysia’s public toilet. According to www.thestar.com.my dated 20^th November 2013, the Urban, Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Ministry conducted inspection on 10 257 public toilets and claimed that majority of it are still dirty with 1086 facility failed to even make the cut. Worse the Ministry reported that no food premises were chosen for the gold prize under the ministry’s 1Malaysia Clean Toilet Awards 2013 as none had fulfilled the requirements.

The ministry should firmly ensure that all organizations especially hotels and food related operators emphasize the valuation of customer service training to their employees’. Training and development can mold the employees’ skills otherwise if the employees are unprepared, surely it shall jeopardize the overall campaign objective. As Malaysians all of us have to be co-operative and ensure that the campaign is successful in terms of revenue and hospitality. Failure to do so may harm Malaysia’s image in global eyes and in return affect all the industries that ranges from airlines, hotels, restaurants, tour operators, tourist agencies, transportation, entrepreneurs till trishaw riders in Malacca. Finally I would like rephrase a quote from Sam Walton, the Founder of Wal-Mart who claimed that “There is only one boss. The CUSTOMER. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.”

Customer Feedback-Does It Serve Its Purpose?

Why are we gathering customer feedback? Is customer feedback an important tool to analyse customers’ opinions? According to Whitney Wood, Managing Partner of The Phelon Group "If you handle it right, the dialog between you and your customers can become the lifeline of your business. To establish and maintain a healthy flow, customer feedback must result in change your customers can see. Change is the most powerful currency to reward vocal and consultative customers."

Customer feedback form is designed to provide informational input to analyse improvement on the provided product and service. We can obtain feedback through various techniques such as telephone surveys, engaging a third party, survey form, questionnaire and online response. However, I always wondered if the managements are devoted in tackling customers concern through the highlighted feedback.

Few months back, I went to a pizza outlet, only to be left disappointed with the poor service from the waiter. The waiter poorly handled the order procedure and showed grumpiness when I expressed his poor service. He even placed the cutlery angrily. Upon leaving the outlet, I informed his superior on the waiter’s service and demand for improvement. I even wrote the feedback on the given customer satisfaction form for their record and future references. Within one month I had an opportunity to go to the same pizza outlet again with my colleagues. Deep down my heart I expected there shall be improvement in the service but once again the same waiter wined out the same poor service. After ticking the waiter off, we called the manager and explained the situation. Recalling the previous incident and satisfaction form, I demanded if the manager had taken any steps to improve the service especially from the waiter. Dumbfounded expression was enough to ensure that the manager did little to neither mend nor rectify the situation.

Another example that I would like to share was having a tea at a popular cafeteria. I liked their warm service but felt they could improve especially on key salutation areas. I wrote down in the given feedback form and explained to the cafeteria supervisor the importance of greetings through salutation. On my next visit to the cafeteria, the waiters had applied the given feedback and thus it increases my likelihood to go often to the cafeteria. Upon knowing my arrival to the cafeteria, the outlet manager and supervisor thanked for my points. The manager stated that improvement shall be done to fulfil customers’ needs. It also shows that they are serious in tackling any deficiencies.

Based on both examples, customer feedback forms are used to address any views from customers except for implementation. Example A used the feedback form as mere documentation but Example B used it to improve and provide quality service to customers. In long term, which outlet shall gain from the improved customer service? Such concern shall remain not only for Example A but for all other organizations that continuously ignores the provided feedback. It is common for poorly trained officers to belittle the importance of customer feedback and in such case management should emphasize the importance of constant monitoring and control. It is their duty to train their employees especially with the current customer that demands perfection and exceptional excellent service. Management needs to be firm with their employees when applying changes for the betterment of customer service. End day, it is how a management perceives the customer feedback form - A piece of idiotic paper or VALUABLE INFORMATION FOR IMPROVEMENT.

Hygiene And Customer Service

When is the last time you experienced a poor hygienic outlet? Poor cleaning practices and employees hygiene awareness has major influences in attracting customers.

Richard Milne through Nordic Correspondent (Financial Times Limited 2013) stated that Noma, an exclusive restaurant in Denmark resulted 63 diners fell ill with vomiting and diarrhea which was due to poor hand hygiene and lack of running hot water. In year 2009, the Fat Duck restaurant at England had 240 diners suffered gastroenteritis due to contaminated oysters and handling of food by infected employee.

In the year 2003, Malaysia’s Ministry of Health stated that 1097 restaurants, 603 stalls, 92 hawkers, 76 schools canteens and 31 food manufacturers were closed due to unhygienic operation. Poor hygiene practices have increased the concern among shoppers and diners especially at supermarkets, hypermarkets, restaurants, cafeteria, food manufacturing plants and wet markets. Several unhygienic factors includes cleanliness of employees such as long finger nails, unhygienic food preparation, poor personal grooming, uncooked water, congested piping, poorly washed equipment’s or cooking pots, poor environment such poorly maintained air conditioners, dirty cutlery or attire, smelly washroom, opened food containers and lengthened food storage.

In one of my visit with a friend to a mamak restaurant at Skudai, I declined to order any food or beverage. My friend ordered teh tarik but he got puzzled why I did not order anything. I said the appearance of the waiter with poorly shaved beard or moustache, dirty finger nail, sweatiness, dusty floor and not cleaned attire is enough to reject the offer. I went to the washroom and could not resist its bad odour. When the waiter came back with the teh tarik, my friend told to the waiter that he did not want the drink and we went to another restaurant. Most outlet proprietors feel that customers should adapt to the current environment but it is the other way round. Outlet proprietors have a SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY to customers and maintaining good hygiene is part of essential customer service.          

Price vs Quality

Price determines the growth of any business in any industry. The phrase “Cheap product has low quality or expensive products has higher quality” remains intact in customers mind set. Lately the global price hike in petrol has resulted for most organizations to increase their products and services prices. 

My wife always grabs the opportunity whenever new restaurants are launched. She likes to try new food for whatever price as long it provides the required satisfaction. Recently she decided to try an Indian restaurant but was taken back with charges. She felt being vindicated because the food she consumed was charged double the amount compared to any normal restaurant. She felt the product quality was below par, poorly served and lacked the right valuation. She voiced those comments to the restaurant proprietor but she was snubbed claiming that the petrol hike means they have to increase all the prices. Most Indian restaurants in Johor have charged higher prices but failed to address on the quality measurements of their products. 

Another example was based on a regular cafeteria in where I and my colleagues would hangout for their famous Hainan Tea. Immediately after petrol price hike, the next day the cafeteria has new designed menu card with ‘new’ price for their products. For the next few days we noticed a big comparison in the cafeteria, the product quantity has reduced and the quality of the product has plunged. The content of product does not have many ingredients as before which could be termed as cost cutting measures. Even the price of Hainan Tea has increased but the flavour is missing the previous golden taste. The question remains “Has the quality being compromised despite hiking the product or service price?” Does the restaurant or cafeteria proprietor feels that customers shall buy for whatever prices even if the quality is degraded? 

Most organizations still maintain that products are priced accordingly and quality is not neglected. However as customers we can see the vast differences in the quality of the offered products whenever they increase the price. Majority of the organizations should emphasize that customers purchase their products with intent of deserved valuation or worth the money. Setting high price is acceptable but if the quality slackens, the word of mouth shall smear any organization in the bad books of customers.