A few weeks ago I was in a suburb of Philadelphia. I was doing some TV production work and needed to get my gear back to Southern California. So I went to FedEx. I was astonished at the superior, super-wonderful help the woman in front of me received. In fact, I was flabbergasted!
The woman in line had rushed into the office and explained in broken English that she had run out of gas in her rented car. She didn’t know what to do, who to call or where to turn. She chanced into FedEx. Boy – was she lucky.
I need to point out that there was no package, no letter, no bundle, no pack, no “anything” to be delivered – FedEx was not going to make a dime. Here was just someone in trouble needing help.
The FedEx staff, without missing a beat, told the woman not to worry. One of them picked up her cell phone and started guiding the woman out the door. She told the others she’d be right back.
This customer was so obviously grateful she happily ran out of the building with her new FedEx friend. A few minutes later, while I was finishing my paperwork, I noticed some Enterprise car keys on the desk. Yep, in her haste, the woman left to get gas without her car keys!
As if in a performance by a Broadway choreographer, FedEx rep number two stepped up to the plate. She called her compatriot and told her about the keys. They decided to meet in the back of the building to help this woman on her way.
I wanted to hang around to see the end of this drama, but I left knowing that there are people who care. The three FedEx employees were beautiful women in their middle years.
Here’s why I was so surprised at the amazing service. Recently, my local FedEx changed staff. Instead of the people I’ve worked with for years, there’s a gaggle of young people (under 30) running the place. I miss the old familiar faces, the smiles, the “hi” and the friendliness of the place. It’s gone now.
And service is sticky. It’s not as smooth as it was. There’s always a glitch and no solution offered. Frankly the problem is almost always my fault. Filling out forms – even on the computer – trying to make a shipping deadline – seems to be beyond my abilities. The old staff would chuckle, make some marks on the forms and I’d be on my way.
The new crew makes me feel like I did something stupid in school. Okay, I did do something dumb (like putting in the wrong zip code for New York), but I’m the customer. Try not to make me feel dumber than I already feel.
Here’s the point: Growing older doesn’t make someone a better service provider. Growing older does give a person the experience to know that service is really the only thing separating them from the competition. Time and time again I get poorer service from younger customer service reps than I do with older ones. In fact, I find that older reps are more likely to go out of their way to do more than what’s expected. After all is said and done, all I really expect is a smile.
Service is an area that I talk about a lot. Have you had a good or a bad experience with a young or old rep? Let me know how you feel about the people who serve you.