One Small Step for Managers

A manager at the Defense Commissary Agency -- the military's supermarket chain -- once used the following anecdote to illustrate what a big difference a small change can make.

The manager casually wandered up to a customer who had been in the checkout line for a few minutes, folded his arms, rocked back and forth a few times and then sternly asked, "How long have you been waiting?" The customer turned, saw the cross questioner and answered exasperatedly: "It feels like forever. At least 15 minutes."

Later, the manager went up to another customer who had been in line just as long and, with a smile on his face, said, "Hi, how are you?" He asked whether the customer was having a good day, and whether she found what she was looking for. Maybe the manager made a comment about the weather. Then he asked, "How long have you been waiting?" The customer answered, with a wave of her hand, "Oh, no more than five minutes, if that."

The two customers waited in line the same length of time, but the way the manager approached them had a noticeable effect on their perceptions. His view was that the details of his operation mattered: the cleanliness of the store, the friendliness of the staff, the orderliness of the goods on the shelf. Those details translated into happier customers and higher sales.

A recent report by an interagency committee on customer service highlights some of the simple things that managers do -- or can do -- to improve citizen satisfaction. For example, when people call an agency and are placed on hold, they should hear a list of answers to frequently asked questions. Maybe they'll get the solution they're seeking while they're waiting for a human being. At the very least, an agency can play music for people on hold, so they know they've still got a connection.

If someone sends an e-mail to your agency, they should get an automatic reply confirming that their e-mail was received. The confirmation also could include an estimate of how long a reply will take, as well as a phone number to use as an alternative.

Indeed, people want to know how long it will take to get their needs met no matter how they contact an agency, whether by phone, e-mail, fax, post or in person. Giving people an estimated wait time is a simple way to manage their expectations.

The 36-page report, titled "Proposed Performance Measures, Practices and Approaches for Governmentwide Citizen Contact Activities," was produced by the Citizen Service Levels Interagency Committee. It includes some simple customer service improvement suggestions as well as more complex solutions for setting guidelines and goals for service operations.

Daryl Covey, a co-chairman of the interagency committee, has set up a Web site with the report and other information for customer service aficionados at www.fedhelpdesk.osf.noaa.gov.

It's a little thing that could make a big difference.