Should I be cross?

Not to answer your Q directly, but I find it interesting how times have moved on and how we expect people to change their priorities in our favour.

How many times have you been in (any) shop or environment where the person you have travelled / taken time to go and see face to face has broken off the conversation because the phone is ringing and then the person who has done nothing more that pick up the phone gets priority attention? Anoying once, but at busy times can get beyond a joke and very difficult for the business person who can't afford significant staff but for whom unanswered calls will annoy at best or lose business or reputation at worst.

On the same theme, we used to write a letter to folks and be delighted to get a reply in 3 or 4 days. Now we email and get grumpy when no reply is forthcoming in 3 to 4 hours.

All the above changes are real, yet I'm not sure we are much happier / more productive / better off for it all.

I realise I'm 'off on one' or turning into a grumpy old man before my time but does make you think!

S
 
Some pretty big assumptions being made by some in here. Reception in the shop is usually more than cordial, everyones allowed a bad day once in a while, or are you all too saintly to ever have them?
 
My answer is yes you should be cross, and I would be if I was the manager of the club.

Every £ is essential to golf clubs, you could have been looking for family membership or a society of 30+ etc.

first impressions and customer service is essential! especially when we are losing the battle to keep golf afloat :sbox:
 
I think that part of the problem is that golf clubs, and other members clubs, can forget that the members are customers. As the staff see them every week, chat with them etc then it is easy for them to forget that the person remains a customer and, as such, it is easy to lapse into giving a response that you would give a friend or colleague rather than a customer. At work I would be happy to tell a mater that I am a bit busy and would call them later about a query but I would never tell a client/customer that I was too busy to handle their enquiry.
 
fundy said:
Some pretty big assumptions being made by some in here. Reception in the shop is usually more than cordial, everyones allowed a bad day once in a while, or are you all too saintly to ever have them?
Click to expand...

Actually in a service/customer-led business, the customer should never know that it's a bad day! At least not in the first sentence!

An effective response is alongs the lines of 'Well, shall I help you out and go to American Golf for my purchase then?' followed by 'Now that I have you attention,.....'.
 
Foxholer said:
Actually in a service/customer-led business, the customer should never know that it's a bad day! At least not in the first sentence!

An effective response is alongs the lines of 'Well, shall I help you out and go to American Golf for my purchase then?' followed by 'Now that I have you attention,.....'.
Click to expand...

and the first obviously saintly one turns up :) (that or you're just a pedantic wind up merchant, let me see which I would vote for lol)
 
Wow. Could the guy not just having been having a bad day? No one died. Chill out people. Maybe he was custom fitting some joker for a new set of tees and was deep in the process. I can't understand why this is even an issue.

And Foxholer...really?
 
gripitripit said:
Maybe it's just me but if I ask anyone one the phone or otherwise how they are doing/getting on...I am a lot happier if I get a "I am ok/good/well etc....I don't want or expect them to give me their problems.
Click to expand...

If you're not interested in the response, why ask?
 
Reputation is why it's important. Three pages on a visual forum on the subject viewed by 1000s?

one tweet about bad service could reach millions!

might seem unimportant but we know how bad reviews can be a massive business risk,
 
gripitripit said:
It's the polite thing to do...and the polite way to responed is "I am well thank you" regardless of how you actually are esp. in a customer service role.
Click to expand...

If I'm phoning to speak to someone as a customer and don't know the person I am speaking to I would never start the conversation with "how are you?". I don't really care how that person is and I don't want them to reply to me with an empty response like "fine thanks, you?". What a waste of time and effort. The OP seemed to allude to the fact the person on the phone knew them. The fact he addressed him by name suggests he does. So when he asks "How are you" he should expect the person to tell them the truth. Perhaps it was the person at the clubs way of trying to tell the caller he didn't have a lot of time so maybe if it wasn't urgent he could call back (without actually saying, can you call back). I know for example if it had been me and the person had said "very busy Woody" my first response would have been, "Sorry to hear that. Are you free for a couple of minutes to answer a few queries I have, or would it be better to call back later?"
 
woody69 said:
If I'm phoning to speak to someone as a customer and don't know the person I am speaking to I would never start the conversation with "how are you?". I don't really care how that person is and I don't want them to reply to me with an empty response like "fine thanks, you?". What a waste of time and effort. The OP seemed to allude to the fact the person on the phone knew them. The fact he addressed him by name suggests he does. So when he asks "How are you" he should expect the person to tell them the truth. Perhaps it was the person at the clubs way of trying to tell the caller he didn't have a lot of time so maybe if it wasn't urgent he could call back (without actually saying, can you call back). I know for example if it had been me and the person had said "very busy Woody" my first response would have been, "Sorry to hear that. Are you free for a couple of minutes to answer a few queries I have, or would it be better to call back later?"
Click to expand...

A few seconds is hardly a waste of time. We all have our own opinion which makes these forums interesting..!
 
Sweet Jeebus.. I'd never have backed this thread as a runner..:D.. All these posts because someone was a bit rude.. Golfers eh? I once had someone drop a 12 litre 240 Bar Air Cylinder on me whilst I was sat on the bottom of NDAC Quarry demonstrating some reg switching skills.. Even that didn't deserve this much attention...:whistle:
 
Thanks for the replies all. First thing, how awesome to see you back DCB!!! Hope you are getting in good shape. Not too sure what your last post meant though.

As suspected there is a wide range of views, I am with the customer is king view, I want to pass the time of day and if you as a member of staff are having a bad one I want you to lie... if you ask me as the customer I am going to lie to you and say "great thank you".

I think GB72 made an excellent point:

"I think that part of the problem is that golf clubs, and other members clubs, can forget that the members are customers. As the staff see them every week, chat with them etc then it is easy for them to forget that the person remains a customer and, as such, it is easy to lapse into giving a response that you would give a friend or colleague rather than a customer. At work I would be happy to tell a mater that I am a bit busy and would call them later about a query but I would never tell a client/customer that I was too busy to handle their enquiry."

I shall put this out of my mind but I do not expect people in a customer facing environment to have bad days, I dont! Its about being professional. If you cant answer the phone and be polite then dont pick it up!
 
Alex1975 said:
Thanks for the replies all. First thing, how awesome to see you back DCB!!! Hope you are getting in good shape. Not too sure what your last post meant though.

As suspected there is a wide range of views, I am with the customer is king view, I want to pass the time of day and if you as a member of staff are having a bad one I want you to lie... if you ask me as the customer I am going to lie to you and say "great thank you".

I think GB72 made an excellent point:

"I think that part of the problem is that golf clubs, and other members clubs, can forget that the members are customers. As the staff see them every week, chat with them etc then it is easy for them to forget that the person remains a customer and, as such, it is easy to lapse into giving a response that you would give a friend or colleague rather than a customer. At work I would be happy to tell a mater that I am a bit busy and would call them later about a query but I would never tell a client/customer that I was too busy to handle their enquiry."

I shall put this out of my mind but I do not expect people in a customer facing environment to have bad days, I dont! Its about being professional. If you cant answer the phone and be polite then dont pick it up!
Click to expand...

100% agree with all of that.
 
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