It’s no secret. Dottie’s customer service is somewhat unpredictable. I know it’s the most important part of a successful business but for some reason my energies are always being put into to training, food and coffee related proceedures and preparation. Customer service is also one of the hardest things to train people to do well…you either get it, or you don’t… but not any more, not after what I found today.

It was just like any other day,I was on facebook; Hunting around, exploring the ever changing tabs and items in the sidebar when I noticed a section called HIDDEN posts. I found a pretty disappointing wall post, from a customer that pretty much said,, “I really want to and have tried to love Dottie’s, but I’m continuously let down by their customer service and Im giving up.” At that moment my hard working heart broke a little bit and I couldn’t help but think of all of the people who have had that same thought and haven’t been back since.

Being a person who has always earned money through waitressing or barista-ing, I wouldn’t consider myself a stickler for excellent customer service but I do appreciate it when I experience it. And when I stop and think about it, I may not make a decision to go to a place because I love their customer service but I will avoid ones that left a bad taste in my mouth last time I was there. Great customer service is what warms our hearts and makes us hungry to visit a place again.In my opinion, you can overlook a less satisfactory product if the customer service is amazing– and that says a lot! And not to beat the dead horse but, in this economy, we can’t afford to spend our money at places where the customer service makes us feel under appreciated. So this year, Im committed to changing and improving the customer service at Dottie’s– for you and for me and for our community.

I want to make 2012 all about customer service. Improving it. Making it stronger. Making it more consistent. Educating about it. Training for it. Benefiting from it. But mostly, creating really memorable, awesome and possitive experiences for everyone who comes to Dottie’s. I mean less face it, life is hard enough, getting your morning coffee should be a great time! To get myself inspired, I’ve been drowning myself in customer service articles and blogs. All of which have similar suggestions and different ways to apply them. And in an industry where surly baristas are partially expected, I want our Dottie’s Hotties to shine.

One of the most resonating things Ive read about customer service is a trickle down theory. They say that the customer service team reflects how and by who they are managed. This made a lot of sense to me and hit home pretty heavily, since I AM the management and I DO struggle with it.

My whole life I was told I was a leader… but what they should have told me is that Im bossy, stubborn and need things done my way. And once you factor in my life “experiences” you could add impatient, moody and passive aggressive. Needless to say, I’ve been climbing a slippery slope since opening day. I am proud to say that in the past year, I have made a very vigorous attempt at strengthening my weaknesses so I can lead my team at Dottie’s better.

That being said, running a business, managing people and serving the general public is freakin’ HARD! And when you’re staffing for a coffee shop, it’s hard to find passionate people who are SOLELY dedicated to coffee, especially in a community as small as The Berkshires. At Dottie’s, we have managed to find many great employees and through lots of training, turned them into passionate baristas. Like a lot of baristas though, they are dedicated to 2 or more jobs, because it is hard to survive on a baristas salary– especially when most customers are more hesitant to tip a barista than a bartender (but that’s another blog post). I say this, because I appreciate how hard my staff works at all of their jobs and Im sincerely motivated to make their jobs more financially fruitful– but to do so we need to provide consistent exceptional customer service!

So, this is where we start— with YOU! Please send us an email with your suggestions for Dottie’s. What do you like? What don’t you like? What would you like to see more of? What would you like to see less of? Let me know of poor experiences you’ve had at Dottie’s and let me know of the ones that really impressed you! I have a couple of months, so keep the thoughtful and helpful emails coming! And many thanks for helping us help YOU better! This is the first step of many, so thanks for helping us get the ball rolling!