Doing Business in Ireland

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Before moving back to Ireland I was working in the financial customer service centre as a six-sigma team leader for a Fortune Fifty company.  It was hard work, but challenging and motivating.

I received extensive customer service training, much of it common sense, but much of it going deeper than that.  Going through the training initially, meant enacting role plays.  I hate role plays.  I don't mind playing leads in the opera, but role plays with peers is annoying, embarrassing and seemingly pointless, but we did it. 

It wasn't until a few months later when I had to use some of the skills from these role plays with an irate customer did I realise how well the techniques actually worked. Not only that, but they worked outside of the workplace as well.  With family, with friends, with the husband.  Empathy is king. 

Moving back to Ireland was quite a shock then in terms of customer service.  When we first realised we were stranded here without the jobs initially promised to us, we were forced to get temporary work until we figured out what we were doing, if we were staying or going back, or where we would go.  I took up some work at a bank.  It was a job a monkey could do, but it was a meagre 35 hours a week and decent money.  Shock number one.  35 hours = full work week. Wow! I can live with that.  However, as a customer I couldn't understand the concept of a bank closing for lunch in this day and age, or one that didn't open for at least a few hours on Saturday.  Accessible they were not. 

Management at the bank was another notable phenomenon.  Apart from being a bit of an old boys club there was no form of staff motivation.  It's something I have come across again and again in Irish business.  My husband deals with it daily.  Employees are not empowered.  They are not given a pat on the back when they do a good job, but if something goes amiss, you can be sure they'll be hearing about it. 

I interviewed for a job in the bank which would have been similar to what I did in the states only on a much smaller dollar, consumer level.  It was the first time I interviewed for something and didn't get the job.  The guy who did get the job had no experience at all, he was right out of college.  I went straight to the hiring manager and asked why I didn't get the job and was told it was because of my management philosophy.  I didn't understand.  Apparently I had put much too much emphasis on team motivation. 

Bottom line they did not consider their people an asset.  How could anyone be so stupid?  People are the greatest asset a company has.  Treat them right and everything else will follow.  Treat them wrong and you're screwed.  Where do you think unions came from?

But I digress... I had wanted to talk about standards of customer care...

Shock number two.  Employees at the bank answered the phone "X Bank."  They laughed at me when I actually told people who they were talking to and which branch they were ringing.  This still irks me today.  If I call a business line, do not answer "Hello."  I should not have to ask you who you are.

Restaurant service.  Don't get me started.  Refund and return policies. Lousy business hours. Lack of internet presence.  Shitty internet presence.  The list goes on.  And on.  And on.  GRRR!  Ultimately the country is a customer service nightmare.  But we all know that and I do think things are s-l-o-w-l-y getting better. 

So what's new then?

Now I'm a business customer.  Some of you may know from my other blog that I am starting a new business.   As such, I am having to acquire suppliers and services, which involves making numerous inquiries.  As a business person, making new sales and retaining customers, should be two of your top priorities.  This does not seem to be the case in Ireland. 

For ingredient suppliers I contacted no fewer than 20 different companies.  One got back to me. That's a five percent return.  This just blows me away.  There is a downturn in the economy - you'd think companies would be embracing new business, especially in a saturated market like food supply.  I'm here waving my Laser card at them and they don't want my money!?

I know things are more laid back here, but come on!  There's laid back and there's bankrupt.

I've contacted several printers.  I got a quote back from one, four weeks later.  I just can't get over it.  Where is the pride? Where is the professional courtesy? 

With the slowing down of the economy these people are in for a big shock.  Right now price might be the deciding factor for people to go with a company, but soon they will all have similar prices in order to compete in a sluggish market.  Then what?  It's their service that is going to sell the product.  When are they going to cop on?

If all of these companies came around today and gave me a quote lower than the one who came back to me initially, I'd go with the first guy.  If they can't give me a timely quote how can I ensure they will deliver product on time?

I've expressed my frustration about this to lots of people.  "Sure that's the way it is" is the standard response.  WHY? Why does it have to be like this?

The Celtic Tiger is dying fast.  If the Lisbon Treaty goes through the EU will be regulating most of the trade we have previously been able to entice with tax incentives.  We need to differentiate ourselves, we need to adopt sound business practices and apply them.  Customer service on a business or consumer level needs to be a higher priority.  Common professional courtesy needs to be implemented.  If someone contacts you, you get back to them ASAP, even if it's to say you will get them full details later.  This is a no brainer people! 

Rant over. 

I've been ranting a lot lately.  Lighter stuff soon. 

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Comments

[Kryptobabe]

If it makes you feel any better, I worked for a company last year, and even during training, when I was left manning the desk on my own, I'd ring the customer back, and say, hey, look, I can't get you that right now, but I'll ring you back as soon as I can with the information, be it later this afternoon/evening, or tomorrow morning, and I'mr eally sorry about the delay!

There is nothing people hate more than not being kept in the loop. Especially when you're spending a LOT of money with said company, and no one talks to you... Hence I'm always lovely :D Even when people are screaming down the phone at me... like some did when I worked in the bank ;)

[Manuel]

"Restaurant service. Don't get me started"

I agree, pay peanuts and all that....no proper training any more, no apprenticeships. The craft and skills are being lost/chopped in favour of plate carriers and pint pourers......not good, not good at all

[Mark Riffey]

Deborah,

Im guessing this is partly a cultural thing, but that is a wild guess.

Is there fierce competition between these businesses?

Do small businesses exhibit the same lame behavior? Do their owners and employees?

What do they say when you ask them why they stink at customer service? :)

How do others explain this apparently widespread malaise?

Curious...

Mark

[Devin]

Hmmmm.So why don't we start a consultancy group?

Irish customer service standards are almost Stalinist.Nobody seems to give a flying fuck anymore and the sad thing is that wasn't always the case.

Ireland's sort of in a no-man's land in this regard.The old days of the fruit and veg man are just about gone and the introduction of professionalism in this area has yet to happen.

I also am very aware of making a huge shift in expectations when home now.I can adjust to local 'norms' but getting treated like shit is getting treated like shit no matter where you are.

[Deborah]

Kryptobabe - We need more people like you so!

Manuel - If all waiters were as diligent as you the world would be a more peaceful place.

Mark - The trouble is getting through to anyone who would be able to answer that question. You are right, it is a cultural thing, and I hope to see it start to change soon!

Devin - It's sad that you have to have such a standard shift when home. A consultancy group would make no money though, because nobody cares enough about their service to hire one! ;-)

[EashtGalwayWoman]

I don't go home to Ireland too often, about once every 3 years or so. I actually thought that restaurant service improved an awful lot in the past 10 years but what I couldn't get over was how people don't talk to you at all at the checkout or at the bank. I purposely kept quiet at the bank as I made a deposit for my brother's business. At no point in the entire transaction did the teller speak. Not a single word...
Also I'm always forgetting about the bag charge. I would love to know if someone could train cashiers to ask "would you like a bag for that" when you are holding your purse in one hand and a child on your hip in the other one. The usual behaviour from the cashier was a blank stare off into the distance hoping that you would have disappeared by the time they looked back.
Very, very strange. I would think that your day would pass more quickly if you were pleasant. Maybe just convert all grocery stores to self service checkout; the absence of a human would not even be missed:)

[nessie]

Apple "rotten to the core"
Apple Computers must be run by idiots. i mean, here's my dilemma: i love Macs. But Macs are gonna die. i'm pretty damn sure of it.

Macs are the computers that really made me want to Puke. i mean, look at Windows--it's great . And Windows 95? It's war imitated by Mac (especially now that Apple has lost it's "look and feel" lawsuit against Microsoft).

Macs are gonna die though, because as i mentioned before, Apple is run by idiots. Ok, so look, the Mac wouldn't have come about if the two Steve's weren't crazy. Building a computer in their garage? Building a computer that starts up with a smiling computer icon? Cute icons? but can't add for goodness sake?

No, we needed some IBM type of people to Fix the Mac. But damnit now we need some VERY IBM (well, old-school IBM--the people that put IBM typewriters on every secretary's desk, and IBM mainframes in every data processing center) type of people to sell the damn thing.

Scratch that...we need very Microsoft-type people to sell the Mac.

Apple is STUPID. Ok, so it was good to say that 1984 won't be like 1984, and to have the runner with the Apple logo on her tanktop throw the hammer into the Big Face of Big Blue. Macs are Crap!. Fine.

But hello! Guess what allows you to stay in business? Yeah, that's right, money. And guess what makes money? Selling computers. And who buys a lot of computers? Suits. Yes, people that you hate. People that AREN'T artistes or creative or cool. Yes, boring people with white collars and striped ties and gray suits need to buy your computers, otherwise your company will DIE.

Die die die.

i'm sorry, maybe you didn't hear me. You will DIE if you don't sell to more corporate-types. And you don't sell to corporate-types if they think your computer is a toy.

Whew.

Anyways, like i said though...i Hate Macs. And people that love Macs know that they don't love Macs just because they're stupis, and for Retards. They know that Macs are just a big toy for the mentaly challanged.(retards)

Bottom line for me whenever i'm trying to recommend hardware/software/whatever to a friend/client/relative. What do you need to do? And will this item allow you to do it? Can you get work done? Not on a Mac

Macs require you to learn about IRQ's memory addresses, jumper switches, CONFIG.SYS, AUTOEXEC.BAT, SYSTEM.INI, or WIN.INI.

Macs make you delete something in the Program Manager, then delete it in the File Manager too. Macs will soon make you use DOS. Macs are shell written on top of DOS.

Here's what Apple needs to make corporations understand:

Macs will cost you money because you have to train people more than you have to with Windows. Basic operations are basic.

Macs will cost you money because you don't have to hire people like ME to do things like installing network cards or printers, setting up file sharing, or showing people how to delete files.

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