this is not a question, but a story and comment.
by ed mendlowitz
202 questions and answers: managing an accounting practice
one sunday evening my wife and i went into a reasonably upscale restaurant and we had terrible service from everyone we interacted with.
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when we were seated, the table wobbled, and we asked if they could do something or move us to another table. ten minutes later, someone showed up with a wad of napkins that made it worse. five minutes later, they asked if we were ok and put us at another table. ten minutes after that, they took our order, but we asked for some drinks immediately, which we only got after complaining to the manager.
we were given some rolls, but no butter or oil, which came with the salads about 10 minutes after we got our drinks. we then asked for some water, which came when the main course was served 20 minutes after we finished our salads. we used up the oil and asked for some more, which never came.
we ran out of time and could not order coffee or dessert, and asked for the check, which came fairly quick but after sitting there with my credit card sticking out of the folder for 10 minutes we asked the manager to ring it up so we could get out of there and get on with our lives, which certainly were not enhanced by the lousy dining experience.
one consolation: the manager treated us to the drinks. also, the food was very good, except my wife asked for one change in the order and it wasn’t done. the way i see it, they lost a customer, lost the payment for the drinks, lost the sale for coffee and dessert.
and it wasn’t just one server who stunk – it was five different people, including the manager.
as a business consultant and observer, i place the blame on management, which started with their hiring unmotivated people. the entire culture was inattention to the needs of the customer or a lack of recognition of what the restaurant’s role was and why people went there. i seriously doubt that restaurant will remain open, but i don’t care because i will never go back there again.
now, my question to you:
do you treat your clients, i.e. customers, the way that restaurant treated my wife and me, or is everyone in your firm committed to providing exceptional service and an extremely pleasant experience?
you can personally be committed to this, but if it isn’t transmitted to your staff with that same attitude adopted by all of them, you will not retain your clients or generate the maximum revenues possible from them.
this attitude is called culture, and it applies to everyone. the person answering the phone after four or five rings, or sounding short-tempered, or an admin person inadvertently folding over the edge of the back cover of the report or tax return, or the postage meter indicia or address label placed crookedly on the envelope all create bad impressions.
now, really bad impressions are created when you miss a deadline, spell the client’s name wrong, send the report to a previous address, fail to return the clients’ original data or provide journal entries before you are asked for them. all of these actions ensure you will not maximize your revenues.
now ask yourself how you handle your clients. do you copy that lousy restaurant or respond the way clients expect to be treated?
a deadline is a promise and a missed deadline means you lied. keep your promises and get your work done on time.
you need a team behind you to expand your practice.
you could be the best there is as far as the client is concerned, but if a partner or manager neglects to respond to that client that way the client expects, your image will be tarnished. what i have found is that clients won’t necessarily drop you because of inattentive staff or team members because they like you so much or they remember the great thing you did for them 17 years ago, but they won’t recommend you.
so your great work and personal relationship keeps the client, but your inattentive staff loses the additional services your firm could have done for that client, the delegation you need so you could grow, and that client as a referral source for you.
