Shite Kudasi
Funny thing, language. A business communicates in so many ways with the general public. We see how it treats its employees (which is why ‘industrial relations is in the marketing mix), how it advertises, what its products are like. Perhaps we read about its success, its profits, the awards the business has won. Perhaps the CEO receives a peerage.
Yet despite a business’s success, despite its image, just one sloppy letter, one casual comment can put a customer off for life. Obviously more than the one sloppy letter and the greater the deterrent to buy from that corporation.
What’s brought this to mind is my membership of Esporta You see, it’s run out. I let it run out owing to a current injury I sustained because of some problems caused by Polish builders and…well, I won’t bore you. Suffice to say, that I am not using any gym at the moment.
Even if I were, I’d not use Esporta. Not because the facilities are poor – they aren’t. It’s because of the way they treat Members. Perhaps not all members but certainly some. Let me give you an example. I’ll leave aside the spelling mistakes on their notices, their refusal to respond to any of the numerous Feedback forms I have filled in during the last two years and their lack of response to the 100+ suggestions made in the last 36 months or so.
No, it’s the way some staff don’t seem to care. Again I am not referring to the fitness room staff - all excellent and all hard-working – but more to those involved in management. Taking just one example, in the summer last year Esporta were ‘desperately’ looking for staff. I told one of my ex-students about the vacancies. He drove to Oxford and filled out an application form as ‘no-one is around who can see you’. Three weeks later no-one had been in contact with him. He telephoned and left messages. I also telephoned. No response at all.
He wrote to me saying how disgusted he was with Esporta. I forwarded those to Senior Management who then wrote back to say they had forwarded it to the ‘appropriate people’.
Again, absolutely no response.
Then there was the vacancy for a Sales and Marketing manager. I sent in an enquiry. Two days later a colleague of mine – female – also emailed in an enquiry. She - a non-member - received a reply within hours. Five days later I was still waiting.
That does not seem to be the way to treat members. When I telephoned their Club Class (Club Class is Esporta's internal standards and service initiative which incentivises and rewards clubs which adopt the company's minimum 'Gold' standard) no-one told me I was being recorded until I grew suspicious and asked. That type of behaviour would never happen with a bank or building society!
Esporta also have a scheme for hunting talent which on the face of it seems impressive. However when I asked members of staff about it not one of them had ever even heard of it!
This shows how lack of communication can also ‘communicate’ a lack of interest, a lack of organisation.
Good communication encourages customers. David Lloyd Leisure is a case in point. I was given a three day pass to use their facilities. After one visit I had a number of negative things to say and emailed the Marketing manager. He replied within 24 hours and went through each one of my comments, explaining what he was doing about it. He also gave me another pass.
That’s excellent work and that alone is enough to encourage people to go. In the end a club is only as good as its members – and its members need to feel that the club cares about their views.
Sometimes errors are made in communication that are not ‘errors’ as such but seem to be so. One of my half-term students is from Japan. He attends a boarding school in the UK. Last week he emailed his parents and used the phrase ‘Shite Kudasi’ in his email which, I am told, means ‘to do something’. The email censor picked it up and his email was deleted and he was reported.
That seems fair enough – after all ‘shite’ in English is not a pleasant word. But…he was then interviewed and, despite explaining why he used that word, he was suspended from using the school internet facilities for a week.
Talk about over-reaction! What does that tell you about management style?
Chris Sivewright
For a lesson plan about communication click here
posted by Duncan Williamson @ 11:18 PM
1 Comments:
See a later posting, Customer Relations ... more, on 9th March 2006, where Duncan discusses an article from Knowledge at Wharton that would help Esporta's staff and management were they to read it!
Duncan
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