Have you ever seen a grown man frothing at the mouth? Well if
you’ve ever been to one of our workshops you’ll know that’s me when
discussing the ‘quality of service’ we enjoy (or endure) in this
country.
Because of tourism-boosting events like the Olympics, an additional 5.3m foreign tourists are
expected
to visit the UK this summer. When each one of these tourists fly into
one of our major airports (mostly Heathrow), where do you think they are
going to experience their first treat of good old British hospitality
and food service?
That’s right: a motorway service station. Ugh!
When I visit these places my blood starts to boil. First I have to find a vacant table, then I have to
clear
away someone else’s empties and crud, slipping on discarded chips on
the floor in the process; then I have to queue for an age simply because
the trainee worker wasn’t taught how to operate the till properly my
dining experience begins as a nightmare and rapidly develops into a
farce as I find there’s no cutlery left and then being charged premium
rates for the privilege (and all this when I’m hungry).
Why is this country so expensive, yet the service so poor?
Is it because we confuse ‘to serve’ with being ‘subservient’? It’s just not British! Even in one of our
most
jingoistic of national ditties we’re taught that ‘Britons never, never,
never shall be slaves.’ It might explain why we get the cringe-inducing
‘Hi Guys!’ as a greeting in restaurants these days – it indicates
customer-server equality designed to make the server more comfortable.
If
we had an international Olympics competition for food service and
hospitality, we wouldn’t even qualify – let alone win any medals. But
most importantly, what international reputation are we projecting when a
Chinese or American tourist simply can’t find a clean table in a café
after walking around for hours? They would be ashamed if they provided
the same service in their country – which, of course, they never do.
But what can we do?
Well there’s two things, actually.
The
first is: COMPLAIN FOR BRITAIN. Aim for a gold medal in it. Let service
providers know if there’s something wrong at every possible
opportunity. I know this goes against the national psyche of
stiff-upper-lip in the face of waiting 45 minutes for your re-heated cod
and chips – but if we never tell them they will never know! You’re
doing them a favour by complaining. So complain, complain, complain!
Your country needs YOU (to complain!).
And secondly: SERVE EVERYONE LIKE KINGS. What? I hear you saying. Aren’t we meant to be the ones being served?
It’s a common misconception that an organisation’s service ethic starts
at the point of purchase. It doesn’t. It starts at the heart of the
organisation, with colleagues serving colleagues, bosses serving
underlings. Good service begins at the top of the organisation and
cascades down. That’s why we need to serve each other well – and if we
do that, our customers will feel it too – at the point that matters
most.
Ghandi once said: ‘Be the change you would like to see in the world’.
‘Nuff said.
Any comments? Email conferencenews@mashmedia.net
