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Good Customer Service Goes a Long Way
This week in class, it was my turn to lead a discussion, and I chose to share this article written in The Huffington Post about an Olive Garden waiter who went above and beyond to help out a family who was having a tough time. Robert Davis didn't even know that the baby had just been in the hospital when he volunteered to help.
Four-month-old Ellee French and her parents were eating at an Olive Garden in Arkansas, after a long day at the hospital, when the baby spilled her bottle all over the floor and her mother. Davis, their waiter, came by to help. He told the parents to keep eating their meal, while he prepared a bottle and fed the baby. Ellee's father took a photo of this, and her mother posted the story on Olive Garden’s Facebook page a few days later. The waiter was identified, and the post has since gone viral.
What this story has is unexpectedness. No one could've predicted the waiter's reaction to this tired family, and this random act of kindness went viral because it was surprising. The story is also a heart-warming one, and people aren't used to hearing positive news. The moral of this story is that exceptional customer service is the key to success. Olive Garden received a lot of positive publicity because of this one waiter. He gave the company a kind face that the family, and those who saw the story on social media, responded to. I've said before that customers want to connect with people, not faceless companies, and this is one way to create that personal bond with customers.
It doesn't take a lot to make your customers feel special. I was just on vacation in Puerto Rico with my family and a friend, and almost every morning my friend and I would go down to breakfast in the resort we were staying at. By the second day, the host already knew our room number, and the waitress remembered what we had ordered the day before. That was really amazing, and it made us feel like "regulars." We felt known and unique, and that's exactly how loyal customers want to feel all the time.
Luckily, social media gives companies a chance to interact with many customers, around the world, 24/7. Through social media, companies can get to know their customers and form relationships with them, just like they would in person. You don't need to go above and beyond to connect with your customers (though, I do believe "exceptional" customer service should be the norm). All it takes is a friendly, professional personality and some kindness and respect toward your customers.