A week ago, I took my car into the shop for some scheduled maintenance. Days away from tipping the 100,000 mile mark, the car needed a new timing belt, and I would need a rental car for the day.
I rent cars on a regular basis for work, but this time I took the dealer up on their offer, and went to the nearest rental car agency for a complimentary rental, not from my normal rental company.
It took me only a few moments to remember why I don’t like this company and why I won’t ever use them for my business rentals.
Their customer service feels fake. It feels forced.
They kept on saying how happy they were to help me, but their actions said otherwise. They answered every phone call, putting me on hold, rather than the person calling. Every employee took it upon themselves to provide me with “great” service, but what became really apparent was that they were all following a script.
“Car is in the shop, sir?”
“Yes.”
“What type of car?”
“Honda Civic.”
“Oh that’s a great car. They have a great staff there.”
I had this conversation four times while I was there, once with each employee present. It’d be fine, except that I also heard it 8 other times with two other customers, one with a Toyota Camry and another with a Nissan Maxima.
Meanwhile, everyone continued to talk of help, but no one actually did. Instead they talked about hitting their own sales goals and disgruntled past customers–all within earshot of me.
At one point while I was waiting, the fourth employee who had been outside, entered into the office. I was trying to answer some emails on my iPhone and was obviously busy typing on it–not just reading articles. He put his hand an inch away from my eye in an effort to shake my hand and immediately launched into the following sentence before I even had a chance to look up from my phone.
“Thanks for choosing us. Car is in the shop?…”
I know that many people working in this store are in a management training program–I’ve had a few friends that went through the same thing. It saddens me that this is customer service.
Saying the right things without the right actions is not great customer service.
I contrast this poor service with the great service I’ve received on the phone with the people at Zappos. They are real. They feel real. They respond to me and work to serve me, rather than giving me the feeling that I’m just a stepping stone for them on their way to bigger and better things.
I’m writing today’s blog, not as a rant against a company (I’ve purposefully left off the rental car company name), but rather as a challenge for us to be real and relevant within our own interactions.
Two things this rental car company could have done to improve their service:
1) Have one person focus on me, and let me have the “car in the shop?” discussion with him/her only.
2) Have one person spend time focusing on the phone calls allowing greater attention to be placed on the customers in the store.
What two things can you do today to improve your service?
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