Customer Service UK v US

[Ashley_Price]

I keep hearing how customer service in America is much higher than here in the UK.

So, I want to know what it is they do. I mean I know this is UK Business Forums, but I am sure there are people here who have lived and worked in America.

The reason I want to know is obviously I have hundreds (thousands?) of competitors selling exactly the same products, so I want to be able to give a real first class level of service (I already think I give a reasonably good one from the testimonials I have received), to stand out against all the other firms.

So, anyone got ideas or advice?

 

[Newchodge]

I was in America about 35 years ago. In those days customer service consisted of the waiter saying 'hwello, my name is Cameron and I am here to look after you today' followed by the same level of service as you would expect in most british restaurants. But with the added annoyance of continual commentary - would you like fries with that? which dressing would you like on your salad? is everything OK? can I get you anything else? All of which I found more than annoying as it interrupted what may have been a very pleasant meal. And appeared to me to be totally artificial. Of course we get something very similar in restaurants in this country now. Not what i call good customer service.

Good customer service is simple. ensure that your customer is enabled to get what they want, even if they don't know what they want, and that you do everything to help them , without getting in their face.

 

[STDFR33]

In many jobs in America, they rely heaving on tips. They go overboard (like everything else they do) to try and give a 'good service'.

What some find to be a good service, others find suffocating and annoying.

 

[JamieM]

If you want to improve customer service then get an ecommerce site. Is there a reason why you don't have one?

 

[Newchodge]

I think the Enterprise car hire advert is an interesting representation of this. I also had american waiters check the tips they had been left and sneer if they weren't acceptable. I understand that these people need the money to live on, but I would rather pay more for the meal so the staff can be paid a decent wage without having to rely on charity.

 

[cjd]

I keep hearing how customer service in America is much higher than here in the UK.

Probably from Americans.

In fact there's very little difference - there's a similar amount of both good and bad and I have never seen anything that I'd wish to copy.

With the obvious exception that you're supposed to tip anybody that performs a totally standard service for you in the US; that pollutes everything. We have nothing to learn from them. Create your own standards. The very best is "do as you would be done by."

 

[Ashley_Price]

If you want to improve customer service then get an ecommerce site. Is there a reason why you don't have one?

The business had an e-commerce site for nearly two years. The amount of hits it received were minimal (one or two a day), and the sales didn't cover the monthly cost to maintain the site - there was only one regular customer who bought through the online shop. The majority of customers still preferred to email or phone us with their orders.

I stopped the site in May and haven't notice any loss in business.

I actually offer a "personal shopper" approach now, where people can just ring or email with what they are wanting and I do the work for them.

 

[Ashley_Price]

Probably from Americans.

Not just Americans. Checking articles on the internet often apparently English people make comment over the higher level of customer service when they visit America.

 

[STDFR33]

I actually offer a "personal shopper" approach now, where people can just ring or email with what they are wanting and I do the work for them.

Can that be scaled whilst still maintaining margins?

 

[andygambles]

As a visitor to the US I would say staff are often more polite than here in the UK. The service itself is often similar.

What I would say is us Brits are pretty rude customers, especially the older generation.

When you are next in a queue listen to how others treat members of staff. Very few please or thanks you's. Often barking instructions at the member of staff. This belief that those working in retail or cafe's are stupid people (even though many of them are at university and working to pay fees - probably your next doctor).

I know many people who comment how shit they have been treated while at work. Often why they don't feel like going "above and beyond".

 

[Ashley_Price]

I think the Enterprise car hire advert is an interesting representation of this. I also had american waiters check the tips they had been left and sneer if they weren't acceptable. I understand that these people need the money to live on, but I would rather pay more for the meal so the staff can be paid a decent wage without having to rely on charity.

I was chatting with a YouTube artist (Wheezy Waiter) who, as his name suggests, used to be a waiter. He was saying that in America, tipping is the norm, and the absolutely minimum should be 10% of the cost of the bill, and more if the customer feels they got exceptional service. Waiter/esses, can earn another $50-$100 a night from tips, depending where they work.

Would you be happy with the cost of your meal being increased, but then getting lousy service from the waiting staff? The advantage with tips, is you can reward the waiting staff for exceptional service, rather than just everyone getting the same price no matter how well or badly they performed.

After all, although the origin is not completely clear, one theory is that "TIPS" were a payment, made in advance, "To Insure Prompt Service".

 

[STDFR33]

I was chatting with a YouTube artist (Wheezy Waiter) who, as his name suggests, used to be a waiter. He was saying that in America, tipping is the norm, and the absolutely minimum should be 10% of the cost of the bill, and more if the customer feels they got exceptional service. Waiter/esses, can earn another $50-$100 a night from tips, depending where they work.

Would you be happy with the cost of your meal being increased, but then getting lousy service from the waiting staff? The advantage with tips, is you can reward the waiting staff for exceptional service, rather than just everyone getting the same price no matter how well or badly they performed.

After all, although the origin is not completely clear, one theory is that "TIPS" were a payment, made in advance, "To Insure Prompt Service".

The problem with that is that tipping should be a reward for good service.

When it becomes normal practice, a tip is an expectation regardless of the service provided.

In America, if you received a terrible service, you would still be expected to leave a tip.

 

[Ashley_Price]

Can that be scaled whilst still maintaining margins?

Yes, it's wouldn't be a problem. This year I am planning to promote the business heavily (expect a cold call any day soon, to see if I can get your custom. ). So, I have thought about scaling up, etc.

I want to go back to the traditions of the customer being the most important and customer service being first class. Yes, you can buy cheaper from Amazon, eBay, etc., but if it takes you a long time to find the items you want, then any saving you have made has probably been cancelled out by the time it took to place the order.

With me, customers can send a very basic email (if they have previously placed orders or quote with me) just saying something like "Can I have 2 black inks, 2 red inks, 1 yellow ink and 1 blue ink and our usual paper." (which one customer actually does send), and I will know that customer actually wants "toner" and the brand and thickness of paper they always order.

Also, unlike many of my bigger, more well known, competitors, my customers have until 4pm the day they placed the order to make changes or additions. I also look for items on behalf of customers.

So, I am really trying to focus on taking the hassle away from my customers. One customer has said to me I save her up to an hour each time she wants to place an order, compared to the firm they used to use.

Sorry, the above started to sound like a sales pitch. But I just wanted to show the current level of my customer service.

 

[webgeek]

Having spent a couple decades in both UK and USA, I must admit that people are making these statements about USA service being better than UK because they're founded in fact.

However, it's not that a high end UK restaurant has better service than a USA one. But it's all the lesser places one might eat, whether it's pub grub, neighbourhood restaurants, or similar.

In UK you order at a till, wait for someone to drop off your food, then never see another soul again until you go back up and pay for it.

In USA, they come to your table, take your order, return with drinks and food, checking in on you multiple times during the meal, refilling drinks, bringing the check when the meal is complete and generally 'earning' their tip, which they wouldn't get in the UK, because tipping is almost a crime here, and because their service is negligible.

------------

In USA, you tip the barber, the bellhop, the taxi driver. They give great service, you tip them. In restaurants, service staff are paid a fraction of what they are worth as their hourly wage/salary and must make it up in tips or they starve to death.

In UK, service staff make a minimum wage (double the USA) and don't get tips, don't expect tips and do little to earn tips.

The attitudes of the patrons are different, the customs are different and the service levels are different - unless you're at a high end establishment, at which point they are indistinguishable.

 

[Ashley_Price]

When you are next in a queue listen to how others treat members of staff. Very few please or thanks you's. Often barking instructions at the member of staff. This belief that those working in retail or cafe's are stupid people (even though many of them are at university and working to pay fees - probably your next doctor).".

I can understand this perfectly.

Just before Christmas I gave a Christmas Card each to two of the Polish ladies who work in a local hotel, that my Rotary Club meets at. The owners of the hotel won't spend any money that they don't need to. Therefore, even at their busiest times, the hotel has a near skeleton staff. The two Polish females work very hard often covering the bar, tea shop and restaurant all at the same time as serving 30-odd Rotarians their main course, then pudding, and then clearing away afterward.

They have been there eight years and although their English is excellent, they still have strong Polish accents. I have often heard how others speak to them, just as you said, like they are stupid or don't understand.

In fact, I took a man to task once after he started swearing at one of them because the beer had run out. It wasn't her fault and she was waiting for someone to change the barrel.

So, I gave them each a card (they were the only ones in the hotel I gave a card to) and said I just wanted them to know that at least one person appreciates all that they do for people. They were completely taken aback and didn't know what to say.

I know many people who comment how **** they have been treated while at work. Often why they don't feel like going "above and beyond

The difficulty is though, if you work in these industries you know you are going to get rude customers, etc., and you just have to "deal with it". You can't treat everyone the same, and just because the last customer was swearing at you, it shouldn't (but I can understand it does) affect how you treat the next one.

 

[webgeek]

As far as norms go for restaurant tipping in USA:

15% is standard for good service, period.
20%-20% are for outstanding service, particularly when one is entertaining guests and wanting to look generous.

If you get marginal service then under 10% is expected.
If you get absolute rubbish service then you leave 1 penny.

If your waitstaff was somehow offensive or the food was inedible, then the 1 penny goes into a water glass, which is then flipped upside down using a coaster, before placing back onto the table (without the coaster). This is one I've heard about many times but not done personally - it's just a bit over the line, but is done all too commonly.

 

[Ashley_Price]

The problem with that is that tipping should be a reward for good service.

When it becomes normal practice, a tip is an expectation regardless of the service provided.

In America, if you received a terrible service, you would still be expected to leave a tip.

The thing that really gets me angry in this country is when a service charge is automatically added to the bill - and they won't take it off even if you have a genuine complaint about bad service.

I had this a few years ago at a very posh restaurant. The service was terrible. We were a party about 30 people (and we had pre-booked). Some tables were getting served 10, 15 even 20 minutes after others. Some people were forgotten. I stood at the bar for 10 minutes waiting to get a drink (I timed it). The bar wasn't busy, there was just no staff serving.

When we complained, they refused to remove the service charge and just wanted to give us a "discount" off our next meal. We said we wouldn't be going back.

 

[STDFR33]

The thing that really gets me angry in this country is when a service charge is automatically added to the bill - and they won't take it off if you have a genuine complaint about bad service.

I share your sentiments on this.

I was with friends at a restaurant in Leeds a while back. We ordered two pints of lager to be told 'pitchers only'. We got the pitcher, and on bringing it to the table she spilt it - mostly on the floor but some on my friend. No apology at all but she cleaned it up and brought another one over.

Throughout our time there, she was generally rude and miserable.

On getting the bill she had charged us for the one that was spilt. We queried it to be told "it spilt so you had two".
She would not have it that she spilt the pitcher and we shouldn't have to pay for something we didn't have through no fault of our own.

She just wouldn't have it and we eventually got the manager over who eventually removed that item.

They then wouldn't budge on the service charge (10%) that was added without knowledge. Apparently it was compulsory but was not mentioned anywhere in the restaurant or on the menu. I didn't feel that we should pay it under the circumstances.

I eventually had to tell them that I'm not arguing over it, and left them the money for the food and drinks that we did have and walked out.

 

[Ashley_Price]

I eventually had to tell them that I'm not arguing over it, and left them the money for the food and drinks that we did have and walked out.

Another thing I make sure I do now, is I tip the waiter/ress direct, I don't add a gratuity to the payment on the bill - especially when paying by card. So many of the big chains only pass on a percentage of that gratuity to the relevant staff.

 

[Mark T Jones]

I haven't read all of the replies above, but my take would be that customer service in America is different, rather than better. the general tendency for tourists is to take in all that is different as wonderful.

Once you've spent a few months in it it becomes (in my opinion) grating and insincere - and what you are after is presumably long term relationships?

I may be stating the obvious, but one thing stationery firms (and car parts delivery) do is simply to put sweeties or biscuits into the box - which is highly effective!

Overall, I'd say that being friendly, open and reliable are what Brits value in customer service

 

[ChrisRM]

It doesn't directly apply to your problem but on my visit to the States (NY & DC), I found the customer service good but insincere.

It was over the top. For example, the purchase of a simple good, such as purchasing a coffee, were accompanied with a 'Have a great day' in over enthusiastic tones from the server.

I like good service and people hoping I have a good day, but the delivery was OTT in my view.

 

[Ashley_Price]

I may be stating the obvious, but one thing stationery firms (and car parts delivery) do is simply to put sweeties or biscuits into the box - which is highly effective!

The previous owner of Pavilion used to do this for each order, as she did all the deliveries herself (but she had a very local customer base).

When I took over, the way the deliveries are handled changed, and means that I am not able to enclose sweets, as customer orders are sent to them direct from my suppliers.

There has only been one customer that noticed they no longer got sweets (but still buys from me).

 

[Ashley_Price]

It was over the top. For example, the purchase of a simple good, such as purchasing a coffee, were accompanied with a 'Have a great day' in over enthusiastic tones from the server.

I guess it's all down to culture and what the customer in that country would expect.

For example, when someone calls my business I answer "Good morning/afternoon Pavilion Office Products".

Now, I know someone who sells stationery supplies in Australia, and apparently they prefer "Thank you for calling [COMPANY NAME]." (I tried this a couple of times, but it just sounded false to me)

When I had the call answering service, I came up with the idea that we would call all our customers on a fairly regular basis (once a month or so) to check they were happy with everything, if there were any changes or feedback they wanted to give us, etc.

However, the first time we did this, many of the customers couldn't understand why we were bothering to call, saying if there was a problem or any feedback, they would let us know. Only a couple of them (out of nearly 100) actually said they appreciated the call.

 

[Annoying Donkey]

I may be stating the obvious, but one thing stationery firms (and car parts delivery) do is simply to put sweeties or biscuits into the box - which is highly effective!

Not for the customer on a diet...!

Ashley, one thing that you might consider is becoming a "connector". You have contact with multiple businesses that you supply. Are there businesses who could work together to cross promote to each other customers? Or work together in other ways. Helping a customer to get more business is a great way to gain loyalty...

 

[webgeek]

It doesn't directly apply to your problem but on my visit to the States (NY & DC), I found the customer service good but insincere.

It was over the top. For example, the purchase of a simple good, such as purchasing a coffee, were accompanied with a 'Have a great day' in over enthusiastic tones from the server.

I like good service and people hoping I have a good day, but the delivery was OTT in my view.

Believe it or not, in general, Americans are just more outgoing in their expressions about things.

Show them a cool gadget and they'll say, "it's awesome" or "holy crap, I'd love one of those".

The enthusiastic tone is only 'over enthusiastic' to someone who isn't from around there. In your case, they seemed OTT, and were OTT because it was outwith your expectations and not something to which you could relate.

Make a big sale and the rest of your sales team will say, 'nice one' or 'good on ya' in the UK. They may even ring a tiny bell, big enough for a good sized dog collar.

In the USA you'd hear whoops and cheers, high-fives, "that's awesome" or "fantastic" and maybe even everyone doing 'the wave' and ringing a giant gong, if it was a big enough sale.

Enthusiasm is rampant in America - it's not insincere, it's a way of life.

 

[JamieM]

The business had an e-commerce site for nearly two years. The amount of hits it received were minimal (one or two a day), and the sales didn't cover the monthly cost to maintain the site - there was only one regular customer who bought through the online shop. The majority of customers still preferred to email or phone us with their orders.

I stopped the site in May and haven't notice any loss in business.

I actually offer a "personal shopper" approach now, where people can just ring or email with what they are wanting and I do the work for them.

Obviously you didn't market the site properly then. To be in office supplies and have no ecommerce site is insane in my opinion.

Your "personal shopper" approach is just a nonsense label. That is the old school method of ordering which can probably be done at most local office suppliers.

I guess if you are happy with your existing customer base then you are fine but if you have any interest in growing the business then ecommerce is a must.

 

[Newchodge]

Obviously you didn't market the site properly then. To be in office supplies and have no ecommerce site is insane in my opinion.

Your "personal shopper" approach is just a nonsense label. That is the old school method of ordering which can probably be done at most local office suppliers.

I guess if you are happy with your existing customer base then you are fine but if you have any interest in growing the business then ecommerce is a must.

While I understand the sentiment, I am not sure it works for office supplies. The big players swamo the online business and are usually extremely cheap. To compete the others need something different and just another website won't do it.

 

[Ashley_Price]

Obviously you didn't market the site properly then. To be in office supplies and have no ecommerce site is insane in my opinion.

Interestingly, even some of my major competitors don't have online shops - there are also some who do, but you have to set up an account with them before they will allow you to view the site in any detail.

While I understand the sentiment, I am not sure it works for office supplies. The big players swamo the online business and are usually extremely cheap. To compete the others need something different and just another website won't do it.

That's it!

The new customers I have had since buying the business have nearly all mentioned it is the level of service I offer, compared to the big boys, that impresses them. Believe it or not, my service makes it easier for the customer, not harder.

People are talking about me taking the hassle away from them having to take time doing all the ordering themselves.

 

[JamieM]

While I understand the sentiment, I am not sure it works for office supplies. The big players swamo the online business and are usually extremely cheap. To compete the others need something different and just another website won't do it.

Just having an ecommerce site does not mean you must compete on price. It can just be an additional method of simple ordering for people who prefer to do it this way.

The new customers I have had since buying the business have nearly all mentioned it is the level of service I offer, compared to the big boys, that impresses them. Believe it or not, my service makes it easier for the customer, not harder.

People are talking about me taking the hassle away from them having to take time doing all the ordering themselves.

Maybe it is easier for the existing customers who are used to ordering that way but you are missing out on potential new customers who like to order online. When I'm buying office supplies good service is being able to see prices and availability immediately, ordering online and receiving next day. This is enhanced if a supplier uses a courier like DPD and provides excellent updates and delivery windows. There is no reason why you can't offer this as well as your usual service.

In my opinion if you want to offer the best service possible you need to keep up to date with technology.

 

[Ashley_Price]

Maybe it is easier for the existing customers who are used to ordering that way but you are missing out on potential new customers who like to order online

The statistics didn't bear this out, like I said for nearly two years the shop was averaging one or two hits a day (despite the address being advertised "everywhere").

When I'm buying office supplies good service is being able to see prices and availability immediately, ordering online and receiving next day.

Obviously, everyone is different, but the majority of my customers have mentioned how much easier it is just to send me an email or phone and leave me to deal with it than spend the time searching for items themselves.

Besides, I would need to invest a lot of money in having a site that was complete and accurate. The shop I had before was run and maintained by a buying group I was part of, but it could only display the stock from one of my three main suppliers, so two-thirds of it was missing and people had to contact me. It also didn't seem to be able to display accurate pricing - which was another reason for me getting rid of it.

Of course, I understand some people are always going to prefer to order online, and then they will probably go to Amazon anyway. But, if you're someone who wants the hassle taken away, isn't it easier to shoot me a one line email that says "Can I have a price for the XYZ printer toner?" and while you then get on with your fee-earning work, I will be able to check with my suppliers, find you the best price and reply within 15 minutes.

 

[webgeek]

An online ecommerce shop is just another channel, making it easier for people to order during off-hours such as late and night or on the weekend when your answering service might be active.

However, that's not your core business and as such is an after-thought which will require you to maintain stock level updates, new products being added, old ones removed and generally add a substantial amount of admin overhead into a business workflow which is NOT your core business.

In other words, it's a heap of sand in a world where you want to be focusing on big rocks.

Your service value add is that you're bringing a virtual assistant service to office supply procurement.

As such, your ability to scour multiple sources to find them the best deals is going to save them time, and time is money.

Your knowledge of what brands and products are crap and which ones are the gold standard will save them frustration which they would experience in buying crap and learning hard lessons on what to avoid.

Your finger on the pulse of the market is giving you insights into new products, new features, new deals on old products, so that you can save them money and keep them up to date thanks to your knowledge.

So... Have a look at procurement services and see how they are marketing/selling their services, while also looking at the virtual assistant marketing/sales, since really, you're a combination of the two.

The 5 minute here and there required to find a product, order it, pay for it, adds up. In fact, for companies using PO's, the PO to Pay process averages a labour cost of nearly 100 GBP.

Obviously this isn't true of ordering a box of pens from OfficeMax using the credit card in your pocket, it does take time, especially with multiple products.

-------------------

Service value-adds are where you can provide insight into the spend, buying patterns, and so forth in either a regular report, or online dashboard that they can glance at in seconds and see what their cost centres are, where they're potentially needing to look at saving money or change processes, and generally get a better view of their expenses.

A great value add is auto-reordering and/or predictive recommendations. If they've got a regular purchase of x, y or z, and are manually requesting such every week, month, every other month, quarter, etc, then by noticing the pattern you can help them cut out their re-order time.

A friendly reminder email that they might be due for another ream of paper, set of employee badges, binder rings, or whatever, would be welcomed, if they could simply reply and say yes, please reorder.

If you suggest an auto-refill service, they get a new print cartridge at x interval, automatically, until they say cancel. That service would eliminate completely their worrying about inventory levels of office supplies and keep them topped up with zero effort on their part.

More service means smarter service and less effort or expense on their part. You save them time or money or both and they're gonna stick around.

 

[Ashley_Price]

A great value add is auto-reordering and/or predictive recommendations. If they've got a regular purchase of x, y or z, and are manually requesting such every week, month, every other month, quarter, etc, then by noticing the pattern you can help them cut out their re-order time.

A friendly reminder email that they might be due for another ream of paper, set of employee badges, binder rings, or whatever, would be welcomed, if they could simply reply and say yes, please reorder.

Funny you should mention that, it's something I've been thinking about and, actually, you have spurred me on to contacting at least one customer who usually orders pretty much the same stuff each month, but I haven't had an order since November.

I will see what the response is.

 

[Ashley_Price]

However, that's not your core business and as such is an after-thought which will require you to maintain stock level updates, new products being added, old ones removed and generally add a substantial amount of admin overhead into a business workflow which is NOT your core business.

Exactly!

I can supply over 30,000 products - the majority of which I get one or two sales for a year (for instance, I recently had orders for a wheelie bin, plus high visibility vests and hard hats). If I was to have an online shop, that listed every single item, I would be spending my days constantly checking all the prices, stock, etc., was up to date. That time can be used far more constructively looking after my customers and getting new ones.

Now, before someone says to me, you just need to have a feed from your suppliers going into your own website, my suppliers stock levels and even prices are occasionally not accurate. E.g. a particular brand of envelopes on one supplier's site was showing as 14 in stock, when I called them, there was actually only 11. This is why when stock levels get below 20, I will give them a call to check. I have had occasions where the last 4 or 5 of something has gone while I was placing the order.

 

[Ashley_Price]

Ashley, one thing that you might consider is becoming a "connector".

Yes, I am actually thinking of promoting this a bit more, because I do know someone in most industries and would be happy to recommend them to people (and I wouldn't expect a finders fee or other reward.)

 

[Deleted member 59730]

Try comparing service in New York with Capetown.

Try comparing a London taxi with a New York one.

Try comparing Paris with London.

Differences abound.

 

[RealDealHolidays]

I think Customer service has gone downhill in the UK espically in my sector, but generally it can be very good..companies like amazon have a 'customer obsession' statement and so they do focus on their customers..but then again their american in the UK...does it really count. I think you guys hit it on the head when you said that it is abound to diff cultures in diff countries and what one defines as 'good customer service'..