What I learnt about Customer Centricity in Japan
While I pride myself to be largely empathetic and customer centric in thinking and approach, I learnt something new and meaningful as well in my recent travel to Osaka and Kyoto. The experience epitomizes the true spirit of customer centricity and provided lessons for me as well in my thinking and approach.
During our trip, all our various interactions have left a deep and lasting impression on the service and customer oriented mindset of the Japanese living and working there. From the big actions taken to the smaller details observed, even when things didn’t go as planned, they more than made up for it.
Experience one - we left a bag of personal belongings in the driver’s car and he unfortunately lost touch with us and our guide as his mobile phone malfunctioned. We were initially anxious and even disappointed that he wasn’t at the pick up location for our next pit stop. Our cynical minds started wondering about all sorts of scenarios, including lost items and what-nots. Turned out, he was equally anxious and was shuffling to and from various places he thought we would be, before he finally dropped the bag off at our accommodation during dinner time. The next morning, he arrived bright and early with a little token of apology though he didn’t have to and showed us not one but 4 mobile phones he has brought along as back-up! In return, we got him a little gift token in exchange on our last day as we know tipping is considered as an insult to the Japanese.
Lesson learnt here - always place yourself in the shoes of the customer when trying to solve the problem at hand. Treat others the way you would like to be treated.
Experience two - the chefs, regardless of whether its the head chef or sous chef at all the small dining establishments would make an effort to see each set of diners out after their dinner, including ensuring they are able to get to their mode of transport. They would stand outside of their restaurant, seeing the guests off, which reminds us of a house owner seeing their guests off after a visit. The interactions with the service staff, be it hotels, cafes and shops were always unhurried and attentive even during peak periods. No one tried to peddle their stuff or hard-sell to us or the people around us. They went out of their way to show us the exact location of where certain things were if we looked uncertain. It shows us not just the hospitable side of the place as a whole but the pride as well they take in ensuring the experience with them is complete and satisfactory. The end result of this is that we were happy to buy or order more on our own accord without needing any push from them.
Lesson learnt here - take genuine pride and ensure you have a solid value proposition in what you do and offer as a complete service to your target customer. This goes a long way in demonstrating the value you bring to them without needing to hard-sell.
Experience three - We were enroute to a restaurant located at an obscure building and part of the city. The location was such that we would need to walk by foot after alighting though we were blissfully unaware of the fact. The wise and knowing taxi driver parked at the side of the road, stopped the meter and directed us all the way to the entrance of the building and showed us to the lift up to the restaurant with a big smile and zero hint of impatience. In another instance, we needed to head back after dinner but chose the wrong pick up location unknowingly. The second driver we encountered made the effort to find his way to us though we were at fault for choosing the wrong pick up location at an obscure spot. Throughout the process, he was polite and extremely patient with us and when he reached our pick-up spot, he remained cheery and even apologetic though we were in the wrong! The end result of these two incidents were that we were equally apologetic for causing much hassle and provided tips through the app to try and make up for the lost time and additional mileage they needed to cover in order to help us.
Lesson learnt here - although the customer is not always right, the point is not to harp on mistakes or who is right or wrong. Instead, enable your employees to use such situations to identify opportunities to create a win-win outcome.
I know that providing consistent good customer experience and service is tough and the truth is, not everyone is cut out for it. It helps to have the right mindset to start with and I always believe as well that it starts from how organizations treat their own employees and enable them with the right mindset as happy employees will often result in happy customers. It’s a type of pay it forward attitude.
Although good customer experience don’t always pay off in terms of direct or immediate revenue or growth, it does pave the way to longer term rewards and loyalty. The current consumer psyche is also such that catering for such experiences should almost be a given and not conditional based on how much commercial value you think you can derive out of each customer. This is especially if you are not the only player in the market offering the same set of products and services. What differentiates you could also be the experience you offer as a whole. It could be part of your total value proposition.
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