Opportunity Missed

Sometimes Service Excellence is not about doing things right but how you react when things go wrong. I was reminded of this at the weekend when a lot of hard work was wasted for something as simple as a smile.

We were on our to London to watch a fantastic stage production of Dirty Dancing (more on that to follow). We went in from St Albans by bus - the Green Line 757 service to be precise: 35 minutes into Marble Arch, two buses an hour for £10 return - a great service and we will certainly use it again.

We got on at a request stop at the side of a dual carriage way - not the easiest place to make yourself known to the approaching driver as there is a huge road sign just 50 yards away blocking the view. Fortunately the route means that the bus has to go past you on the other side of the carriage way before doing a U-turn at the roundabout and come to collect you so you have time to get yourself ready and wave your arms around.

We arrived at the stop just after the bus had gone past in the other direction - brilliant timing and so no wait in drizzle of an English summer. As the bus approached I stepped out and waved expecting the driver to indicate left and slow down - to my surprise he did the opposite, moved into the other lane and kept going. Jumping up and down like a mad man now the driver eventually saw me but it was too late for him to pull in safely so he carried on past and made a gesture that I eventually understood meant he would come back round. And that he did. He drove back down to the motorway, around the roundabout, back up the other side of the dual carriage way, around the next roundabout and back to us and get us on board just as the drizzle turned into monsoon - phew!

So where is the problem? Simply in the driver's attitude. Don't get me wrong he wasn't rude, he was courteous and polite but he was also clearly miffed that he had had to go around twice and add 4 or 5 minutes to his journey time. (Note to self - carry high-vis jacket)

This was such a shame - we weren't annoyed or upset at the delay or the fact that he probably should have been much more prepared to stop. We were on a nice day out, looking for fun and watching the bus go past 3 times before finally getting to us certainly made us smile - but the smile faded because the driver missed an opportunity to join in.

He made a mistake - so what? Nobody died! He took a good decision to safely go round again and collect us. Another driver might have just carried on down the road and pretended not to see us.

So he did the hard work but failed to capitalise on it. He failed to use it as an opportunity to get away from the mundane and create a memorable moment. He had a fantastic opportunity to engage with us about "nearly missing you", a simple "ooops" or "sorry" would have started a conversation that would have moved the experience from being transactional to emotional - creating a connection that would have added to our journey. Instead he said "Where to?" and "£20 please".

So often people will put a huge effort into doing "their job" but because they let you know it was a huge effort we end up feeling let down or guilty. (I have enough of that feeling at home juggling work with family, friends, sport....... I don't need to pay someone to give me an extra helping.)

If they added a smile or a joke or even just eye contact they might well get a much happier customer and as a result their job might be more rewarding.

Our driver quite literally "went the extra mile" so it is such a shame that neither he, nor the customer, benefited from it.