Howard Raynor explains why we shouldnt give up hope of improving customer service and why a new approach to training is long overdue.
The front of house team is a key asset for any arts organisation, but how do you identify the right attributes and personal skills at selection and how do you reinforce the right behaviours during performance review or appraisal? If we really think service standards matter to our customers then we need to get some clear answers.
Strategies that fail
After 20 years of watching classic customer service programmes rolling out and making zero difference to the recipient, I wanted to know why they dont work and what would be better. In my experience, classic customer service programmes tend to be flawed because knowing good service in a classroom or workshop is actually pretty easy; performing good customer service in the workplace is altogether trickier. Technical skills, venue knowledge and personality are suddenly all put on the spot.
We tend to give up on the customer service issue because we are not used to observing performance in detail anywhere other than the stage, because great front of house skills are perceived to be intuitive (people either do the right things or they dont) and because management tends to be imprecise about addressing attitude, appearance and approach. Malcolm Gladwells excellent book Blink! sets out an interesting exploration of using our intuition and the risks of prejudice that come with it. The problem with a gut reaction in interviewing or performance review is that you cant actually focus on developing key skills because you arent observing the task in enough detail. This is something we have to address if we want to be truly world class in our field.
From theory to practice
Over the past year, it has been my pleasure to meet a host of excellent, committed service managers who share the same issues. We can all see the need to focus on actual performance in the workplace rather than theoretical performance in a written assessment, and we all want to develop precision in terms of what we are trying to improve. What I can now reveal is what we have been doing about it.
Being more interested in action than complaining, we have been working closely with Manchester College of Art and Technology (MANCAT) and their research partners to help team leaders identify, and in due course assess, the key behaviours of first class service personnel in the workplace. We did this in collaboration with some of the key employers in the lifestyle industries here in Manchester. The outcome was surprisingly consistent: workplace traits were identified as self-awareness, communication and social skills, empathy, motivation and the ability to manage ones own feelings. There is an added sixth trait for the real star performers, which is anticipation.
Assessing behaviour
What we were interested in doing was finding out if we all looked for similar evidence of these kinds of behaviours. For example, if one had to observe a member of the front of house staff and assess their self-awareness, what would one be looking for personal appearance, choice of language, spatial awareness, eye contact with customers, and so on? The aim was to pinpoint the key behaviours within each of these attributes so that we could assess an individual whilst they were carrying out a task.
The good news is we successfully managed to identify around 20 or more observable characteristics within each of these traits and we are now carrying out further work with MANCAT to develop this into a training approach. This is cutting edge in its field and is provoking interest from all sorts of people.
Value added
The other good news is that most of the forty employers with whom we work can see that we need to develop accreditation for this critical 21st century skill. After all, value addition at the point of delivery is going to be the critical advantage for retail as well as arts and cultural facilities and tourism. Not only do employers think its a good idea but the more switched on further education institutions are also seeing the merits. If we can alert schools and colleges to the key skills we need in our sector then that has to be good for us all in the long run.
In the short term, World Class Service Ltd is working to help design training programmes that focus on workplace assessment and this, in conjunction with well-written service standards, starts to provide the all important platform for much-needed service improvement. Its an argument not lost on other players in the lifestyle sector or, indeed, transport infrastructure. Can you imagine how it would feel if the ticket seller in the railway station actually wished you a safe journey or thanked you for your business?
Competitive advantage
By working with other sectors outside the arts I have learnt a great deal and ultra-competitive sectors like airlines and hotels have some interesting solutions that we could transpose and improve on for our own use. Over the coming years we hope to help facilitate the exchange both ways.
But for me there is another reason why we should be getting on top of this: we need to be adding value in ways that home entertainment never will. Not only do the performing arts provide an engagement with live three-dimensional artists, not only do we provide a social occasion to go out to, but we can also meet the human need for attention. By addressing customer service properly we can meet this basic human need for all our customers. We can provide a unique sense of welcome and belonging for the people who use our facilities, and this can only make us stronger.
Howard Raynor is Managing Director of World Class Service Ltd.
t: 0161 456 6007;
e: hkr@lineone.net;
w: http://www.worldclassservice.co.uk