Last week I was in a local all day breakfast restaurant and was being served by a young woman who was exceptionally efficient.  She worked hard, she worked fast and she had a bright smile.  When we were seated she offered coffee, put menus down and got on with her very busy morning of completing the opening duties.

I would guess she was one of their best, and her interpretation of her ‘best job’ action was obviously being the most efficient, fastest server in the place.  But we left feeling like we had not really “been served”.  Here are 3 easy things she might have done to make it a better experience.

Service is about asking the customer what they want. Only once did she ask us a question, and that was well after we received our bill.  She “stated” things.  “I will take your order now” “You have coffee, ketchup, jam, cream – good you are all set.” But she did miss some things, of course in her efficiency she did not wait to find out what that might be.

Service is about listening. When she took our orders, she heard my first choice and quickly moved on (cutting me off) to take my breakfast companion’s order, then off she ran to efficiently get those meals for us.  What she missed was that we wanted orange juice, a side of bacon and some fruit with that.  We never did get the chance to order it.

Service is about watching customer cues. I believe this server would have caught the up-sell and gained a bigger sale, made two people happier and combined her winning smile with a more pleasurable experience had she simply stopped long enough to notice our clues, we were looking to order more.

The food was great, the server pleasant, the atmosphere was exactly what we were looking for.  Was the service exactly what the restaurant was hoping the staff accomplish?  Chances are it was, often times training and leadership in organizations put focus on efficiency but forget to impress on the staff, “…but not at the expense of the customer experience.”  Imagine, if you will, what an unbelievable server she could be if her employer were noticing and coached her to raise a bar one level, combining her smile, efficiency and speed with asking, listening and watching.

Service is all about the customer experience.  One can get food at home, one can eat anywhere, but the general rule of thumb is; when our customers do business with us, they want it to be the most satisfying experience for their money spent. People rarely go out for the most efficient experience for their money spent.