Professional Service

What does it take in business to make the customer come back? Is it price, location, service, product, hours of operation, or a combination of all? After looking at the basics of business, we know that the service profit chain is required to generate and maintain stellar bottom-line profits. But one must wonder how much does quality customer service play into one’s bottom-line.

This past month while on a trip to New York City to check out a new up and coming band on the Bleeker Street Circuit, I chose to test my skills at ice skating. Yes, I said ice skating! Coming from the Caribbean, the thrill of being able to skate across the ice really made me feel like it was something I had to part take in. Now grant it I was sure to get many of strange looks as I was going to try and balance three hundred pounds of non-muscle on a small quarter inch blade. Upon arriving at the Trump Rink located in New York City’s Central Park, I paid for the rental of skates, and admission fee for my fiancée, two friends, and myself. This potential hazard situation cost about $100USD after factoring in hot chocolate and bottle water.

Well, after falling even before putting on the skates I chose that I should continue my second hobby of photography and left the skating up to the ladies I was with. This is where I was victim to the worst customer service of any of my trips to New York City. I chose to wonder... if this service is how all guests are treated... could this be a reason business suffers? I then went over my trip’s itinerary to see how many places I patron each trip to New York City and wondered what I liked about each establishment. I noticed I frequented many of the locations because of the service. Even during these tough economic times, I would rather pay a premium price knowing that I will get better service for what I am spending my hard earned money on.

A few details of the lack of service I received during my trip were: while watching the skating proceedings on the ice, I chose to stand up and photograph the members of my group for their Facebook pages. Personally I was hoping to get shots of them flat out on the ice, but I was unable to obtain those. Needless to say while standing up an attendant of Trump’s Rink removed all of my items I had purchased from the facility and disposed of them in the trash. I then confronted the attendant as I was standing next to the items, and the gentleman then began to deny that he touched my items and disposed of them. I then asked for him to obtain his manager at which time he advised I would have to locate him and that he had other things to do and shrugged his shoulders as he walked off from the area. I then noticed a member of management about thirty minutes later whom I asked to radio for a senior member of management; who also refused to meet with me in the area. After my party completed their skating and proceeded to prepare to walk again with shoes, I chose to seek out this senior manager.

After walking around the location for a few minutes, I located an area that appeared to be an office. After being granted entry into the office by the same mid-level manager who radioed the office the first time, I began to explain my situation to a gentleman who advised he was the manager in charge of the location. Once hearing me out he asked, “Is this what upset you, because he did not have any manners?” He then went on to state, “The guy cannot speak English.”

The manager was able to locate the individual I was speaking of and spoke with him in a non English Language. The attendant answered in English and advised he did not dispose of my items and he did know what I was talking about and then provided me with a look that was out of place for any situation.

Many might be wondering why I would write about such an experience when this event occurred in New York City and not in the Caribbean. Well it has to do with the basics of great quality professional customer service. When we look at the Service Profit Chain we notice that the employer takes care of his/her employees who will in turn take care of the paying customers, and in return the paying customers will take care of the bottom line. In the above situation, could the employee not have been taken care of by the employer which made me not want to part take in any events with Trump Ice Rink or other New York City events? You better believe it could! While the Caribbean has some basic other non tourism related revenue sources, most of the revenue throughout the Caribbean is generated by tourism. Now we could go on from speaking of why the Caribbean lacks a solid middle and high school tourism education program and many other ways to promote the tourist trade, but the one thing we have now is that we currently have source of revenue based on tourism and if any one of our tourist, government, or other business entities fail to meet the basic expectations of the tourist, the entire trade could be effected. Sit back and think what would happen if thirty percent of the tourist trade was taken away from my island, my community, and my family. Where would I be today in regards to my current financial situation?

As we all learned from our employers or during business school, that it is cheaper to maintain a loyal guest than it is to recruit new guests, we must always strive to satisfy our guests day in and day out. What will it take for Donald Trump and his ice rink to turn me back into a loyal guest of his establishment? Has this dampened my experience of New York City? Will I frequent the city as much or will I use my hard earned dollars in other cities where they will be able to benefit from my revenue source and increase in tax dollars. What can be done to turn around such an experience? Can immediate action on management and personnel adversely affect the results of such terrible service? While at work or interacting with potential tourists during our travels, we must all remember that we are ambassadors to our individual islands and the Caribbean in general and that our actions can adversely affect the flow of revenue throughout the Caribbean.

An email seeking comment was sent to Trump Ice Rink General Manager Dale Klied and up to press time no response was received.

(Dustin P. Prudhomme is a contributor to Island Vibes Magazine and writes about Caribbean culture, business, sports, and entertainment. For comments, please feel free to contact him at dustin@islandvibesmag.com.)