It’s always refreshing when you have a good customer service experience. I usually go into customer service situations dreading the experience ahead—so it’s nice to get a friendly person who knows what they’re doing. Can they take it too far?
Recently, I went to lunch with my boyfriend at a well-known restaurant. We walked in and were promptly greeted by a friendly woman who asked if there were just two of us and if a booth was okay. We agreed and were approached by a man holding two menus accompanied by a smug, squinty-eyed smile. He slowly led us to our booth, almost tip-toeing (I’m assuming so he seemed “fancierâ€) in a back corner and gently threw his arm out as to show us “THIS is where you’ll be having your dining event this afternoonâ€. I felt like we had just followed Count Dracula into the back of his creepy castle. We were seated and the man lingered awkwardly, smiled, said “enjoy your mealâ€, and briskly walked off. My boyfriend and I just stared at each other wondering what had just taken place.
The point I wanted to make with this story is, be friendly, be personable, but don’t try too hard… especially in customer service. Trying to hard comes across as being fake, weird, and kind of rude. Find that good balance of business professionalism and being personable.
What do you think? Have you ever had an experience like this?