Customer service is a game of give and take

By Hannah Magola

A friend recently visited a public office to register her practice as a midwife. She was told to wait 30 minutes…an hour elapsed… her efforts to enquire how long it would take were futile as the staff, who were too busy bantering with their co-workers,  ignored her. 

She tried to communicate her needs and was answered with sniggers. Eventually, after four hours of waiting, they advised her: ‘You have got to learn patience’.

In another rather similar instance, my boss told me he was ordering some lunch at a popular joint. The waitress asked if he needed the menu; to which he jokingly responded: ‘I think that would be reasonable, since I need to order a meal’ She rolled her eyes at him.

Uganda, gifted by nature! For a country that espouses the richness of its natural resources it is sad that our ‘gifted’ brand is often limited to non-human resources, and very lacking in customer service. The notion that the customer is critical to business success is continually misunderstood. While simple common courtesy and helpfulness elude some employees, the opposite is also true, some employees behave like robots in their effort to serve customers – no creative thinking. 

They simply apologise even when they are wronged by the customer! True creative service is lost in the never-ending tug-of-war between the server and their customer. 

So what exactly lies at the core of this dilemma? On one hand, the customer wants an experience enriched by the relevance, accuracy and timeliness of information passed on to them. They want responsiveness to their concerns and consistence in attention. 

On the other hand, employees are continually left disillusioned and disempowered by what they perceive to be over-demanding, arrogant, rude, selfish customers who, in their view, have unrealistic expectations.

Previously, a manager’s job to align employee behaviour to customer expectations was easier, competition was not as stiff and the customer was not as informed as they are now. 

They did not have much choice either. Technology, procedures and systems were the core variables that influenced the customer experience. With the change in dynamics, employee behaviour is the nebulous additional factor that drives the quality of the customer’s experience. The employee’s value for customer results underlies this quality. But how can you drive excellent customer service in an environment where the employee and customer are engaged in an endless feud? What feud, you may ask? Is not employee behaviour a result of company value for the employee? Is it not effective motivational mechanisms such as rewards that that drive employees’ excellent behaviours and service?

That is true, but not entirely. While companies are tasked with creating an environment that encourages employees to improve their skills as service deliverers and rewards customer-centric behaviours to encourage employees to deliver a good service; in Uganda, there is one variable that diminishes potential positive results – customer behaviour.

Behaviour begets behaviour. We may argue that companies must ensure their employees deliver a good service. 

Surely any company worth its salt must work on this if it is to survive, for it is hard to stay on top if you are offering a crappy service. 

But I think customers are partly responsible for influencing employee behaviour towards the quality service they seek. 

To receive exceptional service, Ugandan customers need to stop picking petty fights with their service providers. 

In a country with scarcity of critical skills in business, service delivery, etc; there is a stretch on available human resources, yet customers consistently take a big stick and mercilessly pound these valuable resources. 

For any slight gap, we are quick to lash out and unleash statements like ‘Are you stupid?’, ‘Do you know that I pay your salary?’

We sometimes walk into service areas like we are out to settle a score. It is common to see a customer barking at a waiter: ‘You!’ with a tone so harsh. Some customer voices drip with sarcasm, as they comment on how the waiter is dressed or how they look. By the time the waiter reaches the table, the feeling is; ‘this is a fight’. Let us be realistic: It is hard to switch into the smiley-customer-service mode when the person you are supposed to serve is acting like they are your enemy. 

True, service providers do have their shortfalls. The bad service story is a never-ending tale. 

True, there is no excuse for poor customer service but, what if this behaviour has been perpetuated by the lifelong employee-customer feud? Without condoning the poor levels of customer service, I think we all need to take responsibility to influence the service outcomes. 

For example, why do clients walk into offices with a sour face and yet expect the receptionists to smile at them? Why do we want staff to greet us, when we never initiate the greeting? Or sometimes grunt in response? Why do we expect kindness when we are callous toward others? How can we demand dignity when we do not edify those at our service?

It is time to lay the weapons down and end the feud. The irate, abusive customer’s boxing gloves need to come off to shake hands with the unresponsive, sullen service provider – they are both equally responsible for service outcomes. This collaboration to build better services is long overdue. 

The writer is the director human resource and communication, IMG