Last night my wife and I took my father and his wife out to dinner for her 85th birthday. Not exactly and everyday occurrence, and an evening that we hoped would be special.
Looking for something different than the usual fair, we checked out online menus for a few places and settled on a new eatery in a neighboring town.
Having eaten in restaurants owned and managed by both of the owners of this new place, we set our expectations relatively high and headed out for a special birthday dinner.
We were not disappointed.
The food, as expected, was exceptional. Great flavors, wonderful accompaniments, and a nice selection of choices. But what made the meal go beyond our expectations was the service we received from our waiter who was welcoming, knowledgeable, helpful, attentive, and engaging, without being intrusive. Even better was the fact that other members of the team pitched in immediately to fill a half empty glass when our waiter was serving another table.
Knowing a bit about how the owners manage their staff sheds a bit of light onto our experience and reveals some interesting insights that credit unions can use to push their service delivery beyond expectations.
It turns out that the head chef, who is also one of the owners, believes strongly that all of his staff should know everything about the menu and be able to answer any question without assistance. It is so important to him that the staff are tested once a week and if they don’t achieve a solid score they are no longer entitled to the privilege of employment at the establishment.
The owner also wants to make sure that his diner’s never wait or want for anything, so everyone is instructed to work as a true team…observing and pitching in without being asked and doing whatever they can to make sure the diner’s have a better than expected experience.
WOW!
No doubt there is more to the back story here than we picked up during our visit last night, but one thing is certain: we will be back and we will recommend the place…and that will help them to grow.
So what does this mean for your credit union?
ACTION ADVICE: Take a serious look at the level of teamwork within your credit union at all levels. Are people stepping up and helping whenever and wherever they can? What about product knowledge…can everyone answer the kinds of questions that members are likely to ask without having to turn to someone else for input? Is there knowledge being regularly reinforced, developed, and evaluated? If you are truly serious about going beyond expectations in serving your members, consider what you can learn from the eatery we visited last night and take action to take your service beyond expectations!
