When it Comes to Service, There’s No Argument!

 

Years ago, the Miller Lite beer brand aired a long-running ad campaign which posed the endless argument about the product whether it was popular because of “Great Taste or Less Filling?” TV spots included a number of celebrities and professional athletes debating that question and one even highlighted a comical knock-down catfight between two supermodels who eventually wound-up tussling in a pool. 

Since I equate light beer in the same category as vegetarian cheese or non-fat anything, as a decidedly non-consumer it really didn’t matter to me why people bought it. But over the years I pondered answers to some equally difficult product questions particularly those pertaining to customer service.

To wit: If you were a customer in a restaurant, would you prefer great service or great food? Most people including myself would excuse mediocre cuisine in favor of good service. Somehow when service slows to a proverbial crawl or is non-existent, the food quality is shuffled to near irrelevance.

Case in point: I was once dining in a well-regarded and oft-written about Park Avenue establishment with a senior executive with a Southern-based restaurant chain. Throughout the meal we were basically ignored (okay to be fair Diana Ross was seated at the next table) and I actually had to go to the hostess stand to ask for the check. The next day I wrote a column about my experience for the 65K or so readers of my then publication and from what I understood, the no-nonsense owner handed out a slew of pink slips to the waitstaff and had the executive chef personally call me to apologize.

But back to the customer service equation. I was recently having lunch with an old friend and occasional work-out partner who informed me he just dismissed his CPA. I knew he had been a long-time client of his and asked what happened.

“He doesn’t return most of my calls and when he does, it sometimes comes days later. I’ve been with him for 10 years and I think I deserve better than that!”

That was a hard point to argue particularly when client retention remains such a critical issue for most firms and practitioners.

Coincidentally, I heard from a past work colleague (and a former practicing CPA himself) who pink-slipped his accountant as well.

The complaints were similar to those of my fellow gym member only his complaints included his CPA taking a too-aggressive stance on a byzantine tax matter that drew the attention of the IRS and prompted a subsequent audit.

Whether a restaurant customer or CPA client, you can argue great taste or less filling all you want, but in the end, it is all about the continued client service. It’s not about getting what you expect, it’s getting more than you expect.

Even if Diana Ross is at the next table.