By Virginia Auciello
Reprinted from Employment Journal, published June 14, 2002

If we have read it, heard it, said it once or one thousand times, the way to stay in business and distinguish oneself from the competition is service -- customer-centered service. Having recently returned from vacation at a Marriott resort, I have "customer focused" on my mind. "Everything" that "everyone" did for five days was centered on the guest.

Before I left on vacation, I had a minor plumbing problem at my home.

A friend asked his plumber to give me a call. I never received the call. Then I called three plumbers from the yellow pages. The first call ansered by someone in a home (children and the television clearly in the background) with the promise that someone would call me that evening. The second was an answering machine with instrucitons to "Leave a message. I'll call you back." The third was an answering machine that assured a call back by the end of the day.

The results - I never heard from the friend's plumber. The first call I made finally called me back two days later. The second call I made was never returned. The very last call I made called me back by the end of the day and came to my home the next day (after determining it was not urgent), exactly during the time frame he stated and fixed my shower at a reasonable cost.

Will the first three get or retain customers? Why was it lip service instead of customer service? Are they too busy? Don't they want small business? Just not professional? Too tired? Too stressed? Their problems don't matter to the customer. What matters is to make their business "customer-fucused."

Whether it's the Marriott or the plumbers, what is important in providing quality customer service?

• Greeting people professionally and making the customer feel that what they want is what you want.

• Remembering to return the call. "I'll call you by the end of the day" is important because it is a clear expectation. When the call comes through, the customer knows you want the business.

• Determining the time frame of the customer's need. Is it urgent? Can it wait until tomorrow? Next week? Respond accordingly. Those responses show that you are a "Customer-Focused Business"

Whether you are a small, medium or large business, or an employee of any business, you can be customer-focused. Start with the attitude, "What would I want if I were in the customer's shoes?" If you are a company, train everyone to be customer-focused and reward customer-focused behavior: greetings, listening, response times, problem solving, empathy skills, work competence and customer appreciation. If you are the employee, focus on attitude and read about customer service skills. There is a lot you can do to distinguish yourself within the company by "partering" to solve every customer situation.

Customer service vs. lip service? I'm calling that plumber again and referring him to others. And, Marriott stays my number one choice for business or vacation travel. There' sno lip service in either of those companies.