QSR – Customer Service Management

How easy the words flow, “our company provides great service” and “service is what makes us better than the competition….” You’ve heard it before, and probably even said it yourself a few times!

Building a business which becomes known for its customer service is an admirable goal and ideal way to create competitive advantage. After all, it’s one thing to have a nice brand behind you, build an attractive storefront, serve good food and be in a great location - however, of the many ways to create a successful business, customer service excellence (creating memorable, consistent and high value customer experiences) is not only a most difficult strategy, it is also the most difficult to duplicate.

BUT - SOME COMPANIES DO IT CONSISTENTLY WELL !

How? And what are their secrets?

What we do know is that consistent customer service does not happen by accident (it takes more than a few good employees).

And no matter the level of your offering (fast food, counter service, café, etc.), service plays a critical role – as service is measured subconsciously by people in different ways in different settings…. By the way, when we say ‘service’ we mean the customer perceptions of service!

However - - Saying you will provide excellent service and doing it are two very different things!

This is where the field of service management comes in. It is a relatively new and multidisciplinary field of practice and research centered on customer service. There was no such field when I did my university study in the early 1990’s! Having spent many years working in and managing restaurants and clubs in the USA and Australia, I have always been passionate about customer service and I was so intrigued with this new discipline that I did a PhD on the topic!

What I learned is that not only is service delivery far more complex than most people realize (think about customer and employee emotions, understanding different customer needs, the challenge of motivating young part-timers), there are also many barriers preventing consistent quality service provision (such as poorly considered organizational rules and policies, lack of standards and training, reliance only on financial indicators to gauge performance).

It is this complexity - of not only understanding the many challenges of customer service, but also building a customer service focused organization which brings us to the purpose of my ongoing contribution to QSR: To help readers better understand the ‘why’s’ of customer service, some of the world’s best practices, and to distil current research findings into usable chunks which can help local businesses improve training, build a service culture and enhance customer satisfaction.

My interest and passion for service led me to my position at the University of Queensland (ranked in the world’s Top 50 universities) where I focus my research and lecturing time on the many aspects of customer service. I have also committed myself to imparting the wisdom of service management scholars back into service businesses through a Consulting and Training company, Shift Directions (shiftdirections.com.au)

I look forward to our next ‘session’, where we’ll get stuck into some of the really interesting and relevant service management principals which hopefully will provide benefits to all of you!

In Service!

David Solnet
Leader, Hospitality Management Department, The University of Queensland
david.solnet@uq.edu.au

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