Play Manifesto

This post may not be directly related to Play, but I do feel it’s indirectly related, and also addresses something that really bothers me: how we deal with bad (and good) service here in Bulgaria… and why we get bad service in the first place (a large part of which, I’ll explain later, is due to lack of a Play ethic!).

I was prompted to write this based on a recent experience a mate of mine had at a hotel (Hotel Medite, in Sandanski. The link is here: http://www.hotelmedite.com/bg), his subsequent post about it on Facebook, and the reaction he got on his post from someone. However, his experience, and how people often respond to bad experiences, is indicative of hundreds of service experiences I’ve personally had in Bulgaria, as well as those friends of mine have had.

To summarize: he wrote a long post about the *terrible* service he received at Hotel Medite (which all but ruined his relaxing vacation); and due to the bad service he was writing a post on FB about the Hotel Medite to warn others from not visiting this particular hotel. It was a great post, and I for one was happy to see people speak out against poor customer treatment (as a side-note, I think we need a forum for this!). However, one Bulgarian friend of his responded with, essentially, the following reply:

“(Bad service) happens, so we should just smile and accept it.”

Well…NO; we shouldn’t! In fact, we should do the opposite – we should fight for good service, and we should complain not just to our mates (as we usually do), but to the management of the establishments that give us poor service – exactly at the moment it happens! Further, we should “vote” with our money (BGN/EUR/etc.): meaning we should refuse to revisit those places that give us bad service (if the managers, given the opportunity, don’t fix the problem), and we should *tell* the managers that if they don’t fix the problem, we will *not* be using their service (or hotel, restaurant, etc.) ever again, and that we *will* tell our friends and colleagues about their crap service, and recommend that nobody use them. This way managers have a choice, and can clearly understand the consequences of their actions. However, it’s also important to know that you have to stick by your decision! If you then return to the same place for future services, there is no incentive for management to improve!

After all: this is OUR hard earned salary we’re spending, and dammit – we *deserve* good service for our money! If I wanted bad service at a restaurant, for example, I could bloody well cook at home!

On the flip side, we should reward good service by telling the management how great our experiences are, and telling our friends about them in turn! My friend who made the long post about Hotel Medite made a *subsequent* post about how *awesome* the little restaurant next door is! It’s called “Restaurant Stoyan Voivoda”, and he mentions the following: “…probably the best service I’ve ever had at any restaurant anywhere!” If I find myself in Sandanski, you can bet that I’ll be happy to take my lunch or dinner at Stoyan’s place!

So, why does bad service usually happen (and how does this relate to Play)? Obviously bad service can arise for many reasons, but some of the most common reasons include:

• Employees don’t care. They don’t care because they’re not motivated, incentivised, or inspired to care. This is almost *always* the fault of management – they’re poor leaders, they’re uninspiring, and they are treating the employees like disposable resources rather than valued people. They install control mechanisms that take away freedom and impart distrust. They don’t inspire loyalty and a sense of purpose to help customers.
• A lack of customer focus by the management. In fact, management seem to forget that it’s customers that pay the bills – including their salaries – but it’s the employees that are the face of the company! Employees are usually the first and last impression that a customer has – and if that impression is bad, the *normal* response is to punish the business by failing to return, and by telling others about the poor quality of service or product offered. This results in a spiral of economic doom for the business. Eventually, they need to change… or go out of business.
• A lack of empowerment by the management to the employees. Why do you think that the Ritz Carlton hotel consistently wins awards for customer service? It’s not magic. It’s because the management of the Ritz *empowers* their employees (which yes, fellow managers, means that you have to actually *trust* your employee… such a novel concept (please note the large amount of irony in this statement))! Ritz Carlton employees are empowered to directly fix a customer complain, on the spot, including spending company money and resources to do so! The result is *not* lavish waste or abuse by the employee, but massive customer happiness, loyalty, and ongoing visits (read: profits). When we don’t empower our employees to make decisions, they feel powerless, and they act (because they are) powerless to solve our customer problems!

The result of the above? Crappy customer service, delivered by employees with a bad “I can’t help you” attitude!

Those of you in the service business – take warning! We *will* start voting you up or down with our money, and we *will* start spreading the word (good or bad) about how we’re treated by you!