How's my customer service?

Note: The following is the text of my speech for next Monday's Toastmasters' Contest. I won't be reading the speech and I won't be using any notes, so this probably contains more detail than what will actually be delivered, but my speech will follow this outline.

If you ask me, customer service has been in a steady decline for years. Whether it’s waiting endlessly to see a doctor…being treated like a number at your bank…or standing in line at a store because the customers far out number the cashiers…good customer service is fast becoming only a memory.

Mr. Toastmaster and fellow Toastmasters…imagine my surprise when I recently went to one of our local diners for breakfast on Saturday morning with a group including three of my wife’s uncles. After ordering and waiting for 30 minutes…to my surprise…only eight of the 12 people at our table were served their breakfast. I was one of the four that had to re-order…and wait another 30 minutes while plates of sausages, pancakes and eggs were served to people sitting at tables next to me who came in later than us.

In my profession, I’m not a doctor, a bank teller, a cashier or a server…but still I have customers. They often are the people I work with in my office, but sometimes it’s the media or people who work at utilities and mines.

At home, I also have customers. They include my wife, my children and my father.

At my church, my customers include my Sunday School class and others.

Even at Toastmasters, I have customers. I’m not a club officer, but I’m a club member and I have the responsibility to be prepared for the duties given me at the meetings.

So what can I learn from the poor customer service that I receive from others?

First, I need to listen to my customers. How much better my breakfast experience would have been if the server would have actually listened to me. Luckily for us, my family is in the habit of eating together. We’re a three-generational family with my father living with us…so meal time is special. In a way, every meal is a family reunion.

We have two sons in college, so it’s not every day that I can eat with my children. However, when they are home, it is fun to hear about college and their friends. Their stories remind me of my youthful days at college but their stories are also important because college is preparing them for their lives away from our home and our children like to talk about their challenges and their successes.

So I can’t help but wonder how much better would be the service in a restaurant if the server considered every group of people as a special gathering – like I do around our dinner table. And if it’s special, you’ll listen.

Second, not only is my family important but so are my co-workers, my church family and my fellow Toastmasters. Take a woman at my church for example…her name is Althea. She is in her 80s and requires a walker to get around…but she still gets around. Althea is part of the Q-tip generation. You know, white hair and white shoes. She puts me in mind of my own mother who died a few years ago of congestive heart failure. My mom needed a walker because of her weak heart and a proclivity to falling. So when I see Althea, I instantly think of my mom. While other people may look at Althea and see an older woman who takes a long time to get from point A to point B, I see my mom and her determination not to die of heart failure but to live in spite of it. So when Althea comes to church and needs some help as she navigates the steps, I'm more than happy to help her.

How much better would it be if we treated everyone as if they were our mom? Would we make our mom wait an hour before we saw them? No, we would make them welcome right away and be happy that they came to our office.

Third, remember that when you are busy, others are busy also…so don’t make being busy an excuse for not delivering good customer service. Thirty years ago I worked as a printer in eastern Montana. A cowboy came through the door and asked me when I could get some sales bills printed for his upcoming bull sale. I told him tomorrow. He looked at me and said these unforgettable words, “If I wanted them tomorrow, I would have come in tomorrow.”

Now, in fairness, he probably lived an hour or so a way from town and didn’t want to drive back in a day to get his printing. But knowing that he wanted them in an hour -- instead of a day --may have put a little pressure on me and the typesetter, but we were able to meet his expectations and he walked away from our office that day with his package and a smile on his face.

So how’s my customer service? Honestly, it could probably use a little work but if I stick to listening to others, treating others like they are my mom and remembering that meeting customer's expectations counts…I hope I can deliver the kind of service to others that I would like to receive as well.