by Rich Vurva

Two experiences I had during a recent trip to Florida -- one positive, the other negative -- illustrate why companies need to continually train their employees on the importance of providing good customer service.

One of the keynote speakers during the NAHAD convention at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel was Loews chairman and CEO Jonathon Tisch. His talk centered on the important role that every front-line worker, from housekeeper, to room service waiter and bellman, plays in a service-oriented business. Maybe hotel employees were on their best behavior because their boss was in town, but I found the staff to be gracious, helpful and professional in every way.

I wish employees at US Airways could have heard Tisch speak and watched Loews employees in action. They could have learned a lesson or two about the proper way to treat customers.

I don’t blame them for losing my luggage during a layover in Charlotte, N.C., when weather-related problems caused the airport to close for several hours and created major air traffic delays. But when I spoke to airline employees several times during the next day and a half, the best they could do was tell me, “We don’t know where your luggage is.”

At least they were being honest. I would have preferred they were competent also.

Thirty-six hours after my flight arrived, US Airways finally delivered my luggage to my hotel room. It must have taken the airline that long to realize the luggage sticker with the bold letters “MIA” meant Miami International Airport, not missing in action.

Like hotels and airlines, distributors are also in a service-oriented business. Your customers count on you to get them the products they need in a timely manner, provide them with solutions to problems and not offer excuses or half-hearted explanations when things go wrong. Everyone at your organization can make a difference in how your customers perceive the quality of your customer service. If your customer service is MIA, customers will notice and may choose another supplier.

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