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Customer Service 101: This Can't Be a One-Way Street
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Customer Service Has Got To Play a Role
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By By John DiBartolomeo Photos by John DiBartolomeo |
Bear with me for a couple of minutes and read this opening dribble, before I get into the meat of this story. It's not exactly a “tech” issue, but it is one that should be important regardless of whether you race or not. When I first wanted to play golf, I had no idea how to buy a set of clubs. One day, I simply walked into this golf store near my house and stared at the many different sets available. Now, I'm not your average customer, no matter what I buy. I hate sales pitches, and I can usually tell when I'm being fed a line of BS. But the salesman wandered over in my direction anyway and asked if I needed any help. My first inclination was to beat him off with one of his clubs, but I thought it better if I might announce my intentions anyway. That guy sat there for a half hour and proceeded to feed me with enough info to really help me make a purchase decision. He wasn't even sure I was going to buy, but he stayed anyway. That's what I call customer service. After walking out of there with a set of clubs on my back, I just knew that anytime I wanted something pertaining to golf, I was going back to that guy. He made me a repeat customer. I relate this story for one reason: Customer Service is something that has been lost in this day and age. Take racetracks, (you did know this was going in that direction, don't you). Somewhere along the line, racers got this concocted image that they're “participants.” To a point they are, but first and foremost, you're a “customer.”
If you walk into my shop and pluck down some of that “green paper”, you'll expect me to perform a service or hand you over a part in return. That makes you my customer. If I don't, or treat you poorly, you'll either a) berate the living hell out of me, or b) never step foot on my premises again or never do business with me. Add in that you'll bad mouth me to every soul you come in contact with, and it might not have been such a good idea on my part to treat you like that. Now think about this one. You pull up to the gate at your next race and hand over more of that same “green paper” you tried to pawn off on me. For that, you expect to be able to go in and “use” the track for any number of reasons. That sounds an awful lot like what a customer does. Yes, you're “participating,” but first and foremost, you're a customer. Why is it sometimes so hard for people to realize this? This is what customer service is all about.
A number of years ago, I was having a conversation with a sanctioning body official; who is also a businessman himself; and I mentioned how some racers feel as if they're just a number. If they decide not to come to a race, there'll just be another trailer to fill their spot. Surprisingly, this official said to me, “That's a B@#$S@#$ response.” He related to me that, like any other business, for things to be successful, he knew that he had better take care of his customers.
Maybe it was the glut of the 80's, where money seemed to flow everywhere, that caused this type of thinking. But in case you just woke up, this isn't the 80's anymore, even though you're probably still wearing those bell bottom pants. Successful businessmen know that in order to survive, true customer satisfaction is a must, and not just lip service. There's a saying that you have to put your money where your mouth is. And in this case, that means, not just preaching customer service, you actually have to practice it. As a matter of fact, I don't even want to hear you tell me how great your service is, I just want to be shown.
And don't think this type of thinking is relegated just to sanctioning bodies. Anyone you do business with should; maybe not literally but in theory; at least bend down a little to kiss your butt. As for me, if a customer has a problem, literally I don't want to hear his complaints! I just want to know what we need to do to rectify the situation. Complaining doesn't do anything but waste time. Fixing a problem is what does wonders.
My wife works for a construction company that was started years ago by a woman. My first impression about her had been when I heard that after she had her carpenters finish a home project, she had a cleaning crew come in and clean the house. This sometimes included vacuuming the grass to remove sawdust. When I got out of high school, my first job was in a car dealership. The owner decided to purchase a car wash machine for one of his bays. His orders were clear. Every car that came in for service; regardless of how small or large the job was; was to be washed. Giving a customer back a clean car was a priority with him. At a track that recently held their first divisional points race, the track operator thought it would be a good idea to serve coffee and donuts to the racers as a way of saying thanks. He then personally manned a golf cart while he drove around to everyone's pit are and hand delivered coffee every morning.
The basic concept for everyone to be happy, is for me to charge you a fair price for the work I do, and do a good job of it. You have to understand that when that takes place, we all survive. You get what you want, and I get to remain in business. Same concept for a race track. You get charged a fair entry fee, you get to have an enjoyable day at the races, and the track operator gets to stay in business. That also leads to you continuing to have a place to race.
Customer Service isn't something that you should have to pay for, nor should you expect it to happen. But look for the times that it does and continue to patronize those establishments. And the one's that don't know what the term, Customer Service, means, DON'T patronize them. That'll be your assurance of good things for the future. |
We've all made comments from time to time about certain sanctioning body's inability to………shall we say………..be nice. However, think about it like this. With all the complaining I'm sure they hear on any given Sunday, come Monday morning, their checkbooks are always full. Standard business philosophy would have you thinking then, that everything is hunky-dory. Keep doing what you're doing, and as long as the checkbook is full, you must be doing it right. This thinking is entirely right, however, if you don't keep an eye on it, with an ear to the ground, it can come back to bite you. 
He posed the question to me as to where so-and-so was that weekend, with my answer being that he was probably out flying his plane instead of racing. “And what about whose-he-whats, where is he?” Probably out on his boat instead of racing. “Exactly,” commented Mr. Official. “There are far too many other things to do in this day and age that a person can spend his or her money on and enjoy themselves besides racing.” 
Now something else to keep in mind, is that customer service has got to also be a two-way street. Any transaction that takes place has got to benefit both parties. One-way streets rarely last long. If you expect a track owner to allow you to do whatever it is you want just because you paid money to get in, is as wrong an attitude as you not being treated fairly. If I wanted to have millions of customers, all I'd have to do is cut my prices in half. Problem is, I wouldn't be around very long after that. 