Some people seem to have a natural ability to provide genuine service. You can recognize them by the genuine smiles and eye contact that they give you, the open body language, the willingness to take time to listen or talk to you. There is a woman at the Safeway I shop at that is this way. No matter how long the lines or hot the day or grouchy the customer, she always seems to have a ready smile, lilting, upbeat voice, and positive attitude. I go out of my way to stand in her line when I see her working, irresistibly attracted to her energy and the knowledge that when I leave her line I will feel just a little bit lighter. There is the busboy at the restaurant we went to a couple of weeks ago who was balancing an insane number of dirty plates on his tray, yet took the time to look at each of us as he removed the dishes from in front of us, give us a slight nod and a smile. Or Manny, our amazing gardener extraordinaire who is always so busy but makes the time for us when we need a fence repaired, a tree planted, or help with our sprinklers.
We are blessed to have people like this in each of our restaurants, naturals who need no further prompting to do whatever it takes to ensure our guests are delighted. But not everyone is a natural. The Disney company has service down to a science, and has books and even a training program for companies to learn how to perfect customer service. If you have ever been to Disneyland or Disney World, you may not realize how much has gone into the training to create a magical experience for you. The always crowded parks are a testament to the success they have been able to create and maintain. With so many employees have they been lucky and attracted only naturals? I think no. But you can teach people what great service looks like.
We are definitely in a service business, but really isn’t any business? If we use as models the people that exemplify great service, and teach our team how to duplicate it, can we be like Disney? No matter what your thoughts are about the theme park (crowded, expensive, crowded) I don’t think anyone would argue that as a model for service and success in business, they have it down. We have taken the qualities that identify great service for our type of business, and listed them out on paper. We train our team, the naturals and the rookies, as to what great service looks like. We focus on great service, and service will improve. It’s the way it works. Where focus goes, energy flows.