Episode #399: Elements Of Outstanding Customer Service In Japan - Part Two

In Part One, we looked at some of the elements we need to be working on in providing excellent customer service, and so now let’s continue.

1. Friendly

This would seem to be a very basic requirement in customer service, but often the wrong people are placed in these roles and many of them don’t like people. Even those who do like people can suffer brutal invective from irate customers and this can impinge on their joy for the work.
In Japan, the land of the “customer is God”, we now see legislation against harassment of workers by customers. Dogeza is where you get down on your knees and bow by putting your head on the floor and is the ultimate sign of apology in Japan. In Chinese culture, we know it as the ‘kowtow”. Angry customers have been known to force staff to do the dogeza to apologise for the unsatisfactory service they have provided. It would be very hard to be friendly after being put through that experience. Japan is catching up in this regard and these types of outbursts will reduce as the system stops tolerating unbridled rage by customers.

2. Develop loyal fans

This is related to being friendly. The idea is to not just provide a great one-off service, but to enroll the customers as repeaters and make them loyal fans. All sales should have this as the goal. In Japan, though, we receive aloof, but polite service. Those serving see their role in the dimension of providing the good or service, and that is it. There are very few cases where the person serving is trying to establish a connection with the customer and encourage them to come back. Maybe they think that is the job of the marketing department and nothing to do with them.

There are many instances where I frequent the same establishment, but the service is never personalised. It is efficient and polite, but impersonal. I am treated just like everyone else, and there is no recognition that you are a regular. Notable exceptions would be Ali Bab and Lindo near my office in Akasaka, Shinsen Hanten in Nagatocho and Elios Locanda in Hanzomon, but they are rare cases. How hard is it to recognise regulars? Not very. All the staff have to do is say “thank you for coming back, what can I do for your today”. I love Princi from Milano in T-Site in Daikanyama, go there very regularly and five years later, I am still waiting for the day they recognise me as a loyal customer. Obviously, in most cases, there is no training or guidance for this, so it is always by the manual and we the customer are left feeling flat.

3. Immediately responsive

Customers are all busy all the day long and they hate wasting their valuable time. Service provision, which is slow or late, is particularly a problem in this high-speed world we inhabit today. When there are problems, we want them fixed fast because we are losing time by not having the good or service work as we expected. I ordered some deodorant on Amazon and was contacted by Japan Post to tell me the package was wet, which meant there had been some interior damage. I went online and registered a problem and I was very happy to immediately hear from the supplier that they would refund my money and they told me to not accept the package. I was mentally bracing for trouble, prevarication, quibbling, and fudging, but their instant response was better than my low expectation. I was very happy, and that is the same with all of us – we want things fixed and fast. Staff need to be trained to provide it

4. Never combatative

I hate one thing in particular and I have hated it my whole life, and that is being told “no”. I am sure I am not the only customer who is like that. One of the great ways of telling a customer “no” is to reference third parties. When I was at the Shinsei Bank, sometimes the customers would want us to do something which was not possible. Banking, by the way, is a highly regulated industry with tomes of rules. If we said “no, we can’t do that”, then to someone like me, that is a red rag to a bull and I will tell you the thousand reasons why it has to be a “yes”.

Instead, we would firstly agree that we could do it. Then we would pause, reflect in an obvious way and then ask the customer what do we do about the Financial Services Agency (FSA) rule that prohibits that action. Now we have said “yes” at first, so they are relieved and their guard is down. Next, we have made it a problem between them and the FSA and not with us. Third-party direction works well if you can access it.

5. Seeking win-win outcomes

Win-win is an obvious best solution, but many systems are not designed that way. This forces the staff into confrontation with the customer and it creates unnecessary tensions. Staff training will not easily overcome a structural problem. Take a good look at your internal rules and systems and see if they are designed in a way to be a “lose” to the customer and a “win” to the firm. Change them or improve them if possible.

6. No excuses

Highly litigious cultures like the US are hard wired to never admit guilt or responsibility, which can drive the customer nuts. There are also some personalities who cannot admit being wrong and will try some mealy-mouthed lingustic gymnastics to avoid taking accountability. I hate these types of people in any form. As the customer we don’t want excuses. We want soutions, compensation or retribution. We want you to fix the problem and we want it now. Again, this is about how we train and empower people. The Ritz-Carlton Hotel chain is famous for giving staff a certain amount of money they can right off to keep the customer happy. It works, as I have experienced firsthand.

I was staying in their Washington DC property and I went down for breakfast at the 6.30am opening time but the waiter apologised that they were not ready yet. I said “no problem, I will just sit by the window over there and read my paper”. He later came and told me they were now ready. When I went to pay, the waiter said “complements of the Ritz Carlton because we have inconvenienced you by making you wait”. That was service, I thought, and here I am telling all and sundry about it, for them, years later.

In Part Three will wrap up this look at Outstanding Customer Service.