“Have a nice day”: three lessons from US-style customer service

“Have a nice day”: three lessons from US-style customer service

Customer service in the USA and the UK compared

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There is an advert that has been running on British TV for a few years now for Enterprise Rent-A-Car and it features two employees, one British and one American.  As you can imagine, the advert amusingly sends up the differences between American-style customer service and its British counterpart: whilst the US employee is enthusiastic and slightly over-the-top, the other is less so, despite being unfailingly polite.

I have witnessed customer service on both sides of the Atlantic and the common belief is that US-style customer service outshines the British version on all counts.  In many respects this is very true and nowhere is this more apparent than in restaurants.  There is usually no waiting around to be acknowledged and also you do not have to go and hunt for your server when you require another drink or you need the bill, or check, at the end of the evening.

With US serving staff there is often more of a rapport and a greater degree of attentiveness and this is often lacking in the UK.  Partly this can be attributed to the fact that a server knows that their tip is directly related to the level of service that they provide – unlike the UK, where tipping is not obligatory, a tip upwards of 10% of the final bill is virtually mandatory. Knowing that a waiter might see a difference of a few hundred Dollars by the end of the evening, certainly helps ensure they are focused on you and your needs.  In the UK you would not normally expect to tip in a pub or bar, although you might be more inclined to tip in a fine dining establishment or a more up-market restaurant.  Some high street pizza restaurants in the UK were exposed for keeping servers tips, whereas others impose a standard ‘service charge’, which is the same whatever the level of service and usually doesn't see its way into the staff members pocket. This makes little incentive to give good service.

I am not suggesting that the cash nexus is the only reason that service in the USA is often better than that witnessed in the UK, partly it is a cultural phenomenon. I am also not suggesting that service in Britain is always bad, because I have experienced plenty of excellent and attentive service, and I have also been the recipient of indifferent and rude service in the USA.  There are also considerable differences between different types of establishment, but, on balance, I would say that customer service 'stateside' can teach us Brits a few lessons.

Firstly, as with the Enterprise employee, there is a greater sense of enthusiasm to US customer service when it is done well. Brits often mistake the ‘have a nice day’ stereotype as being fake, whereas it couldn't be further from the truth and is often symptomatic of a less cynical and genuine approach to giving the customer a good experience.  Enthusiasm helps to make the customer feel that their business of valued and this adds to the overall experience.

Secondly, good customer service is attentive. In the UK I have often found it frustrating that you ask for the bill, only to then sit and wait an interminable age for the waiter to return with the card machine.  Being attentive to a customer and taking charge of their experience goes a long way to giving a good service and anticipating the customer’s needs, as with the card reader, is definitely best practice.  Finally, there is the idea of responsiveness, which links to the previous point.  Have my needs been responded to and has a rapport developed? To British tastes the waiting staff trying to develop a rapport might be considered too intrusive, so this should always been tempered to different cultural sensitivities.

I am sure that there are other points that are needed to deliver good customer service, but from my own experiences, these would seem to be the main ones that strike me as being the hallmark of excellence. I do acknowledge that there is also good and bad service in the USA, just as much as there is good and bad service in the UK, so these are my personal impressions formed mainly from experiences in retail and catering.  I believe that it would not be a bad thing for us Brits to adopt some of the traits of US-style customer service and I have come up with a handy acronym to remember these points by, “EAR”:

E- Enthusiasm

A – Attentiveness

R – Responsiveness

What have your experiences of customer service been on either side of the Atlantic? I would welcome your comments.  And remember …

“Have a nice day.”

Written by Will Trevor, Founder and Training Consultant at Windsor Training

Email: will.trevor@windsortraining.net

Picture Credit: By allen watkin from London, UK (waiter) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons