BETA
This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here

More From Forbes

Edit Story

When Four Seasons Put A Pony In My Room: Customer Service Without Scripting

This article is more than 9 years old.

Have you ever called your cable provider and suffered through a customer service conversation that’s scripted and stilted all the way up to the last moment, when the agent asks you: “Is there anything else I can help you with today, Mr. Please-I-need-you-to-go-away?"

There’s nothing intrinsically wrong with this "is there anything else I can help you with"? it’s a sensible one if meant sincerely.

However, there's a leadership mismatch going on when a contact center agent is forced to ask this scripted question when her call is being timed, she’s not empowered to help, and her supervisor is looking over her shoulder to ensure she doesn’t actually provide any additional help.

The "I've Always Wanted A Pony" Test

This mismatch between words and reality tends to tempt me, out of sheer cussedness, to want to respond, "I’ve always wanted a pony.”

I doubt this would go well with a stressed, unempowered telecom CSR, so of course I don't try it. However, expecting (and generally getting) better results, I have tried this on one or two other companies that are known for empowered employees, gathering some smart responses from a Georgia peach of a flight attendant on Southwest Airlines ("We're plumb out of ponies, bless your heart"), LL Bean, and a couple other great providers.*

Here, hands down though, is the winning response.

Concierge, Four Seasons Hotel, Austin, TX: “Is there anything else I can help you with?"

Micah: “I’ve always wanted a pony.”

Concierge’s response: "I’ll work on that right away,” followed by four printed pages, in color, of horses available within 25 miles for purchase, that she slipped under my door (the printouts, not the horses) within minutes, with an offer to pick up any that I fancied, assuming my credit card could hold the damage.

Now, what’s interesting is that the cable provider and Four Seasons' concierge are following the same script. Beyond that, there’s a fundamental divergence: If I had a real request, the concierge’s managers give her the latitude to actually help me. Which make these very different scenarios.

Customers today are looking for genuine service, for a sincerely helping hand from the companies with which they do business.  In creating genuine service, the most important question isn’t scripts versus no scripts. It’s meaning it versus not meaning it as an organization.

A key part of genuine speech is the organization’s support and the employees’ empowerment. If employees feel constrained to do the company’s micro-prescribed bidding in everything, their language will ring hollow because it will be hollow. They aren’t empowered to help the customer, they aren’t empowered to find creative solutions, they aren't empowered to use their native intelligence, creativity, and empathy in ways that would make life better for the customer and, as a pleasant adjunct, make the work more enjoyable for the employee.

Micah Solomon is a customer service consultant, hospitality consultant, speaker and the bestselling author most recently of High-Tech, High-Touch Customer Service

* The runner-up for best response came from the unflappable Jimmy Herbert as Solis Loch Eske, "I'll have it to your room within the hour, Mr. Solomon, but you'll have to feed it yourself."

Four Seasons, Austin, Texas: Poolside (image courtesy Four Seasons Hotels And Resorts)