Interesting how I had two encounters with mediocrity in a span of just one hour.
As with most Saturdays, my family usually visit a mall. The usual agenda would be; a movie, window shopping and a nice meal.
Our destination today was SM Aura. It's a plush version of the usual SM Mall for the masses. I would categorize Aura to be between a regular SM Mall and the higher class Podium.
We thought of watching the canine flick 'Max' at the SM Aura movie house. We got even more excited when we saw the movie listed under 'Directors Chair'. Watching a movie on a Lazy Boy is always a special and welcome treat.
There was a line to the movie cashier. My wife and I went to the back of the queue. Our seven year old boy ran around as his grandmother slowly chased behind. After five minutes, we noticed that the line was not moving at all.
We took a peak at the two SM cinema cashiers as we waited. We noticed that they were painfully slow in processing the customer in front of them. It seems that they were endlessly typing away at their computer. What was even more interesting is a third cashier who just sat a few steps away trying to avoid eye contact with the customers.
Clearly, staff training was not that good. Second, they did not take the initiative to relieve the pressure by adding a third teller even if only until the queue is gone.
Properly training your staff is not rocket science. Allowing employees to proactively help out when the need arise is also not rocket science. The sad part is that this is the same for all cinemas in the country. Once again, a mediocre service in a sea of mediocre services.
When it was our turn at the counter, we found out from the cashier that there were no more seats available for the time we chose.
Although we were not happy with it, we were not devastated. After all, we were already turned-off by the snail cashiers.
We walked by the nearest kiosk beside the escalator going down. My wife checked for the different restaurants in SM Aura. We noticed a familiar place 'Slappy Cakes'. We recalled eating at Slappy Cake last month in Singapore. The experience was very good.
We got our menus and started to order. When it was my turn, I told the server that I did not want rice or mashed potatoes with my meal. I smiled and told her that I refrain from eating carbs. I asked if she could replace it with more vegetables. She said that I could get an extra side order of veggies. I told the server I did not want an extra order of veggies. I wanted the rice replaced with veggies.
I always do this in other restaurants. TGIF would simply replace the rice for onion rings at no extra cost. Here, the server keeps thinking that I was ordering something additional. She could not comprehend that it was a replacement. The manager walked over and settled the issue.
Fifteen minutes after we placed our orders, the food started getting served. Unlike other establishments which confirms if all orders were already serves, this Slappy Cake branch did not reconfirm. A few more minutes later, I asked about my wife's dish. The servers just looked at each other as if I was speaking in a foreign language.
After asking the same question trice, one of the servers admitted that they forgot my wife's order. As I was about to get upset, my wife kicked me under the table. Clearly, she did not want me getting upset so I cooled down. I got back my wits and took a dose of my own medicine. I always tell my relatives, who get upset from terrible servers, that it is not the servers fault. It is always, and will always be, the management's fault. The management is accountable for their establishments customer experience.
The lesson behind all this is clear. Beating mediocre companies is not that difficult. Just make sure you provide a better service than your competitor and customers will jump ship. For one thing, I will never eat at Slappy Cake here in the Philippines. I will also avoid watching movies at SM Aura.
I encourage all companies to improve your customers experience. Go and get customers from the mediocre establishments. Two things can happen. One, your competitor realizes their lack of customer focus and will improve. Two, they will arrogantly stand their ground and keep blaming the customers instead of their inept management. Of course, number two will eventually fade away into mediocre land.
Ask your customers today 'How is your customer experience with us?'