Basil Fawlty would have been proud with this level of service

I was at a conference last week and heard one presenter after another, from economists to marketing experts, confirm that changing times and an uncertain business world would be the norm for some time to come.

High levels of customer service were given as the anecdote for these uncertain times, keep your customer happy and your business will survive and thrive, so I was appalled when a few days later I experienced the WORST kind of customer service.

For more than 12 months I’ve met my members at a certain golf club on the north shore for a healthy light lunch - until last month when, for some obscure reason they served us an unhealthy lunch of fried fish nuggets and chips! As our plates hit the table there was an embarrassed silence, which I quickly filled with an apology, assuring them this is not what I had ordered, nor the usual standard of fare. 

A few weeks later they sent me an invoice for the meal, surprised they hadn’t called me to discuss I immediately rang and again raised my concerns about the meal. I mentioned that I would have to compensate my guests for the food - I promise a light and healthy lunch and they got fried food.  The functions manager who is a lovely but powerless chap said he had no authority in this matter and he would refer it to the general manager.  I received an email saying  "there will not be any possibility of financial compensation".  No phone call, no discussion! Annoyed they didn’t have the decency to call me I fired back with this:

"Your general manager obviously has no idea how to keep customers.  What was served up was a disgrace!  I could get better food at the local 2 star hamburger joint and as David will testify my members felt similarly as the food was still on the plate when he cleared the tables.  It was inedible.  Please have your general manager call me as soon as possible to sort this out". 

I didn't hear a word.

I wondered whether I was going a little crazy, expecting too much from this north shore golf club so I spoke with a few mates of mine in the restaurant business to get their perspective.  Their jaws dropped in horror!

I persevered and put in another call to the general manager who finally deemed it important enough to call me back.  Not really helpful though as this was all he said:

"I will not discuss this with you until the invoice has been paid in full, I will not discuss this with you until the invoice has been paid in full, I will not discuss this with you until the invoice has been paid in full".

When in huge frustration I said "I can't believe you won't conduct a conversation till I pay the invoice he said with great sarcasm "you're a quick learner, you've finally got it, and no I won't discuss this till the invoice is paid in full".  At this point I knew there was no return so I finished the phone call.

I’m obviously frustrated by the experience, particularly because NO ONE WOULD LISTEN TO ME, so what's the cost of ignoring your customers?

I will never return - a regular monthly booking for local businesswomen

I have told the story many times over to friends and colleagues

I will mention it to my extended network

I could well publish a blog about it.

And all because they wouldn't listen to me, speak to me, offer a compromise, show empathy and understanding of the embarrassment they created in front of my members and guests.  I wasn't going to ask for a full refund I just wanted a fair hearing and a sympathetic ear.

We can all learn from this experience.  You don't need to work in the realm of 'the customer is always right' but you do have to listen, learn, show empathy and understanding and god forbid apologise when it doesn't go right.

I'd love to hear your thoughts.  Is this the norm in Australia?

Innovation ... or failing quickly

Good morning Wonderful People

As many of you already know SHE Business is a partner of Commonwealth Bank Women in Focus and last week I had the pleasure of attending their 2nd Annual Conference.  We heard from some amazing people on incredibly diverse subjects - we were inspired by Ronni Khan from OzHarvest and Cathy Burke from The Hunger Project, we were entertained by Andy Lark and Emma Lo Russo as they explored the social media rampage and we were given business insights from Deloittes, McKinseys and the chief economist from the Commonwealth Bank.

We heard from people traversing a constantly changing business market and the sort of attitude and skills required to do it successfully.  Innovating and having a structure for innovation was given as a core ingredient for success so having heard it from the experts I thought I'd share their 6 top tips:

1. Innovation is the oxygen of progress - eloquent and so very true.

2. Innovation has altered the conventional business lifecycle - it's called the 3 Horizon Model
          Horizon 1 - The business of today
          Horizon 2 - The business of tomorrow
          Horizon 3 - The business of the day after tomorrow (this is where breakthrough innovation occurs)

An attendee at the conference who had previously been using the old business model was able to clearly project the end of a lifecycle of one of her products by using this new model.

3. Failure is inherent in innovation - get ready to learn the valuable lessons and get used to processing failure powerfully.

4. Testing the market is integral to innovation: setup, prototype, test the market, refine and retest, evaluate your findings.

5. Innovation is required in 3 areas of business - People, Processes and Technologies

6. Diversity is key to innovation

Innovation is key whether you're providing products or services, whether you service B2B or B2C.  If you've previously viewed innovation as something only technology companies need to consider, think again.  Creating a culture of creativity and innovation is an essential tool for business success.

For me the greatest 'take out' was being able to create a powerful framework for failure!  We all need to be prepared to test the market and if somethings not working be prepared to pull it from market without worrying about what others may think.  The most successful entrepreneurs understand that 99% of success is failure.

Have you been successfully innovating in your business and do you have a structure for innovation?

Love to hear your thoughts.

PS Creating powerful contexts for honest and open discussion is just one of the benefits of a SHE Business membership, why not find your nearest chapter and discover what else a SHE Business membership can do for your business.