As a society, let's face it...we aren't the most gracious lot out there. Customer Service isn't our forte, in fact, in the "to-improve" list, its probably the last thing any business owner would pay attention to.
The older generation running shops comes from a culture that prizes cost-cutting and routine. To them, they are used to their ways of doing things and "if it is not broken why fix it" mentality. They care mostly about running their business point-blank, they see a straight line in terms of getting the job done and they do not care about things the younger generation care about: customization, flexibility and efficiency.
Take today for example, never mind that the personality of the shop owner was as MATERTERAL as can be. (A characteristic that is extremely annoying to me by the way and it is mostly seen among the baby boomer generation - In hokkien it is called "Ah Soh") She refused to listen to what my sis and I were trying to say to her (we wanted to reduce her work for her) but all she cared about was... you are paying for service A, B and C and it is preposterous to say you only want service A and B for the same price. Or the fact that she needed to repeat the timeframe of when the job gets done and our requests which we had personally submitted to her. I can still hear her going, "Confirm ah?Confirm ah? Confirm ah?" (does she really not know how irritating that is!)
At the end of the day, her brusque way of dealing with us and I suspect the rest of her customers make it an altogether, extremely unpleasant experience. It ruined the entire mood for the next few hours because we honestly wanted to take our business elsewhere. We didn't mind paying a few dollars more for better service and we did look around for other alternatives. Even she, herself was left in a bitter mood as our tone with her became sharper and it was clear our annoyance showed.
The younger generation on the other hand, have an all too easy attitude going on, to them, they are self-absorbed, living in their own world and have no qualms lazing on the job. They do not think for the business in terms of doing what is best for the operations. While they have the potential to make things better, do things faster and apply more thinking to the job, they do not if it doesn't benefit them or they simply do not think beyond what they have been given. And this is especially true for those with jobs that are more menial and lower-paid, like a simple waiter-ring or behind the counter job. To them, customer satisfaction means nothing because it does not affect my pay, this means I do not need to be efficient, I do not need to think of my feet, I do not need to give any value-added services. I can take my time behind the till and move as slow as I feel like it.
I guess at the end of the day, the best kind of business comes from managing your people on the store front. They directly affect the perception of the shop. Instead of concentrating on teaching people how to use the equipment, what is the process flow of A to Z, managers can benefit more from basic courtesy and customer service training, i.e. simple things to say to people if things don't go as planned or when they look agitated. I would certainly have appreciated being told statements like "I don't know if that is possible but let me find out if that can be done" or a "I'm sorry I'm still learning so please give me some time on this, I want to get it right for you". It really does make all the difference.
The older generation running shops comes from a culture that prizes cost-cutting and routine. To them, they are used to their ways of doing things and "if it is not broken why fix it" mentality. They care mostly about running their business point-blank, they see a straight line in terms of getting the job done and they do not care about things the younger generation care about: customization, flexibility and efficiency.
Take today for example, never mind that the personality of the shop owner was as MATERTERAL as can be. (A characteristic that is extremely annoying to me by the way and it is mostly seen among the baby boomer generation - In hokkien it is called "Ah Soh") She refused to listen to what my sis and I were trying to say to her (we wanted to reduce her work for her) but all she cared about was... you are paying for service A, B and C and it is preposterous to say you only want service A and B for the same price. Or the fact that she needed to repeat the timeframe of when the job gets done and our requests which we had personally submitted to her. I can still hear her going, "Confirm ah?Confirm ah? Confirm ah?" (does she really not know how irritating that is!)
At the end of the day, her brusque way of dealing with us and I suspect the rest of her customers make it an altogether, extremely unpleasant experience. It ruined the entire mood for the next few hours because we honestly wanted to take our business elsewhere. We didn't mind paying a few dollars more for better service and we did look around for other alternatives. Even she, herself was left in a bitter mood as our tone with her became sharper and it was clear our annoyance showed.
The younger generation on the other hand, have an all too easy attitude going on, to them, they are self-absorbed, living in their own world and have no qualms lazing on the job. They do not think for the business in terms of doing what is best for the operations. While they have the potential to make things better, do things faster and apply more thinking to the job, they do not if it doesn't benefit them or they simply do not think beyond what they have been given. And this is especially true for those with jobs that are more menial and lower-paid, like a simple waiter-ring or behind the counter job. To them, customer satisfaction means nothing because it does not affect my pay, this means I do not need to be efficient, I do not need to think of my feet, I do not need to give any value-added services. I can take my time behind the till and move as slow as I feel like it.
I guess at the end of the day, the best kind of business comes from managing your people on the store front. They directly affect the perception of the shop. Instead of concentrating on teaching people how to use the equipment, what is the process flow of A to Z, managers can benefit more from basic courtesy and customer service training, i.e. simple things to say to people if things don't go as planned or when they look agitated. I would certainly have appreciated being told statements like "I don't know if that is possible but let me find out if that can be done" or a "I'm sorry I'm still learning so please give me some time on this, I want to get it right for you". It really does make all the difference.
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