What Type of Customer Are You?
Though I’ve been the type who doesn’t mind taking time to answer customer surveys, the past few weeks seem to have developed a more expressive consumer in me. It might have been due to the nature of my own job, where we always have to be on our toes to resolve issues promptly, knowledgeably, professionally and courteously. And as we deal with American advertisers as clients, the academic observation that they are more willing to answer surveys and interviews than Filipinos was just affirmed.
Jollibee, Johnny Rockets, Super Bowl, and Shell are just some of the establishments whom I’ve honestly communicated with about customer experience, for different reasons:
1. Jollibee. I have consistently chosen this fast food over McDonalds for the reason that it offers more rice meal options. I am not a fan of burgers and I also preferred Jollibee’s taste (that sweetness in Filipino food), aroma, dessert and beverage offerings, and price range. But one morning when I was tired, sleepy, and hungry and decided to order a breakfast steak meal, they served it cold. Not on a confrontational mode, I just ate it anyway and was thankful that the hot choco drink had been true to its name. Despite not having the energy to speak with the manager or complain to the server, I took note of the address jollibee.com.ph and e-mailed a complaint that night, specific about the branch, time and date of visit. In all fairness, Jollibee immediately acknowledged and said that they “will look into it” (their message was not a machine-generated one).
2. Johnny Rockets and Super Bowl. Accuracy, prompt service, food quality, value for money, cleanliness, and friendliness are the basic categories I use to evaluate restaurants. From serving sizes and menu options to restroom upgrades and changing of murals, I take the opportunity to give suggestions so these businesses can improve customer experience.
3. Shell. With their ongoing promo / contest, people are encouraged to accomplish surveys. With every purchase and no minimum amount required, one can use each OR number to have one raffle entry.
It is said that while a dissatisfied customer is likely to tell 20 people about the bad experience, a satisfied one will only tell 2-5 about good service (and numbers will greatly differ if we are talking about social networking sites). This is for the simple reason that good service is ALREADY EXPECTED. Satisfaction, of course, is not just dependent on whether we cater to the customer’s needs but whether we are just meeting or EXCEEDING their expectations. A client who already had multiple previous transactions (and was entertained by competent staff members) is possibly harder to please than a customer who is walking into the store or calling for the first time.
So what type of customer are you? Demanding or easy to please? Expressive or apathetic? Do you appreciate particular staff members if they are truly excellent? Whatever your answer is, we can’t deny that today’s customers are becoming more demanding. With many competitors and tools to improve customer experience, businesses are challenged to a greater degree and should be more responsive to feedback. Word of mouth has also become more powerful.
Jollibee, Johnny Rockets, Super Bowl, and Shell are just some of the establishments whom I’ve honestly communicated with about customer experience, for different reasons:
1. Jollibee. I have consistently chosen this fast food over McDonalds for the reason that it offers more rice meal options. I am not a fan of burgers and I also preferred Jollibee’s taste (that sweetness in Filipino food), aroma, dessert and beverage offerings, and price range. But one morning when I was tired, sleepy, and hungry and decided to order a breakfast steak meal, they served it cold. Not on a confrontational mode, I just ate it anyway and was thankful that the hot choco drink had been true to its name. Despite not having the energy to speak with the manager or complain to the server, I took note of the address jollibee.com.ph and e-mailed a complaint that night, specific about the branch, time and date of visit. In all fairness, Jollibee immediately acknowledged and said that they “will look into it” (their message was not a machine-generated one).
2. Johnny Rockets and Super Bowl. Accuracy, prompt service, food quality, value for money, cleanliness, and friendliness are the basic categories I use to evaluate restaurants. From serving sizes and menu options to restroom upgrades and changing of murals, I take the opportunity to give suggestions so these businesses can improve customer experience.
3. Shell. With their ongoing promo / contest, people are encouraged to accomplish surveys. With every purchase and no minimum amount required, one can use each OR number to have one raffle entry.
It is said that while a dissatisfied customer is likely to tell 20 people about the bad experience, a satisfied one will only tell 2-5 about good service (and numbers will greatly differ if we are talking about social networking sites). This is for the simple reason that good service is ALREADY EXPECTED. Satisfaction, of course, is not just dependent on whether we cater to the customer’s needs but whether we are just meeting or EXCEEDING their expectations. A client who already had multiple previous transactions (and was entertained by competent staff members) is possibly harder to please than a customer who is walking into the store or calling for the first time.
So what type of customer are you? Demanding or easy to please? Expressive or apathetic? Do you appreciate particular staff members if they are truly excellent? Whatever your answer is, we can’t deny that today’s customers are becoming more demanding. With many competitors and tools to improve customer experience, businesses are challenged to a greater degree and should be more responsive to feedback. Word of mouth has also become more powerful.
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