rom the time I bought my Volvo
three-and-a-half years ago, I've been more than satisfied with the
service I've gotten from the dealership. So when they fouled up on
something a few weeks ago, I forgave them.
I took the car in for its scheduled service at an hour when I
was told I could wait rather than having to take a "loaner" car or
trouble anyone else to pick me up and bring me back later in the
day. The dealership has a clean, attractive service department with
plenty of seats for customers. It even has Internet access for use
while the car is being serviced.
They told me it would take about an hour-and-a-half to service
the car. I sat down, checked some e-mail and surfed the Web for a
while, and then picked up my book to read a few chapters. After an
hour- and-a-half, I checked back with the service people. They
found my paperwork, settled up my bill and sent me on my way.
When I got into my car in the parking lot, I decided to check my
office voice mail and found a message from the car dealer -- phoned
in a half-hour before I had inquired about the status of my car --
telling me I could pick the car up anytime. Clearly, someone had
forgotten to tell someone that I was sitting in the waiting room
and they thought I was back in my office, about 45 miles away.
Because the service I had received for several years was
impeccable, I was surprised this happened, although it wasn't a big
deal. I'm at the point in life where I treat minor inconveniences
as, well, minor. But I think the main reason I didn't freak out and
start yelling at anyone was that my car dealer had done so well in
the past that I could forgive the oversight.
The episode helped to persuade me that providing quality service
isn't about being perfect every time you deal with a client. It's
about your batting average. A baseball hitter can fail 70% of the
time and be considered a top-notch performer with a .300 batting
average. People overlook the 70% failure rate because they have a
set of expectations that accepts it.
Just like baseball fans, travelers have their own set of
expectations about how you will perform. But unlike baseball fans,
they won't accept a 70% failure rate or anything close. They might
expect perfection, especially if they're paying their own way
rather than traveling on business.
You can't give them perfection, and even if you think you've
done so, a portion of your clientele will disagree, at least on
some details. But you can give them consistently good and,
occasionally, better-than-good service.
At the end of the day, they will forgive the occasional gaffe
and measure your batting average.