l CAN'T – After receiving a steady stream of mail from a major bank to one of its customers, I gave up marking envelopes "incorrect address" and returning them to mis-sorts. I finally picked up the phone and called the bank in question to notify them of the error.
This happened three times, and each time I was told to bring the mail to the branch and the matter would be dealt with. It wasn't. On the third go around, I asked why the error still had not been corrected and was informed, quite curtly, that only the customer could make the change to the postal address.
I then asked the obvious. Since the customer was clearly unaware of the error, why couldn't the bank check its files for a phone contact and simply call the customer for verification? At which point the employee slammed the phone in my face. I took the problem to the vice president and the misdirected mailings have ceased.
What was the missing link? Initiative – the ability to take action on one's own to solve problems without waiting for someone to spell it out for you. Employees need to be taught to stop sitting on their hands. If they see a problem, they have a responsibility to report it or fix it.
l DON'T KNOW – The second experience involved one of the daily newspapers. I visited the publication's circulation department to check a story in a back issue, and the employee in charge was able to assist me without any problem.
But then I made the mistake of asking how far back the archives went in case I wanted to check other past issues. "I don't know," was the reply. Could I go back 10 years? No. Could I go back two years? Yes. Could I go back five years? No. And so it went on until, by a process of elimination, we were able to establish that I could go back as far as 1999-four years. Did that mean that the newspaper's policy was to archive newspapers for four years at a time? "I don't know."
This employee was not rude, just vacant. The lights were on, but nobody was home. She wasn't even making eye contact once the questions moved beyond the routine. What's the missing link? Initiative. If the Bahamas is a service economy, then the phrase "I don't know" should be erased from our vocabulary and replaced with "I'll find out."
HOLD, PLEASE – The third experience involved a well-established car repair business. I take my car there for regular servicing, but I'm always annoyed by the open-ended billing. Seeing that two other businesses had started packaging basic services for a flat fee, I called my garage to find out if there was a package deal for an oil and filter change. Here's the conversation.
That's $47. Is that the total price? No, that's just labour. Parts are extra. How much extra? I wouldn't know. Could I get a rough idea? Hold, please. (Employee No.2). What's the total cost of an oil and filter change? Hold, please. (Back to employee No.1). I put you on to parts. But she didn't answer my question. Oh. So what is the total cost? I wouldn't know.
Again, this employee was not rude. But you expect the "I only woiks here" attitude from government offices, not private businesses. What's the missing link? Ini-tiative. Customers should never be passed around an organisation, from one disembodied voice to another, trying to extract information like teeth.
And if customers appear frustrated with the answers they are receiving, employees should be trained to spot the sales opportunity so the business can package products and services in ways customers find most convenient.
Unfortunately, these experiences are the norm rather than the exception. Does this mean that Bahamians are innately lacking in brain cells to do the job? Far from it. The fact that Nassau's leading home centre consistently outperforms its competition has a lot to do with pricing and selection, but more importantly with the quality of service customers receive. I have yet to come across one employee who did not take the initiative when assisting me, even when my questions were outside that person's department.
Everyone says good help is hard to find. No, good training is hard to find. People can be taught initiative, but our culture neither promotes nor rewards it. That has to change if we want to survive in today's highly competitive global marketplace.
Just look at what tourists are saying about us. According to the Ministry of Tourism newsletter "Visitor's Voice," we are receiving comments like: "I found hotel associates, vendors and waitresses to be at times annoyed with questions asked of them." Another said: "Biggest disappointment was particularly hotel staff who were rude, unhelpful, petulant and unbearably lazy." Still another complained: "Found most staff uninterested in their jobs, just going through the motions."
The common denominator-the missing link-in all these cases is initiative. And this is where the Bahamas needs to focus its efforts if we expect to pull up our socks internationally.
By Catherine A. Kelly
Dollars and Sense, The Punch
Monday, September 29th, 2003
