Actually the ultimate in customer service can be found in Botswana, Namibia, Malawi, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Seychelles. Wilderness Safaris has it hands down over others in the hospitality, travel, and tourism industries; even those famous for service.
Headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa and Maun, Botswana, Wilderness Safaris has 70 locations, with over 2700 employees (85 percent of which come from local rural communities around the conservation areas in which we work) in 7 countries. Formed 27 years ago, the company is committed to conservation, education, and customer experience. Keith Vincent, the Operations Director of Wilderness Safaris, manages the best and most consistent customer service I’ve ever seen. He understands that he is not in the travel or safari business, he is in the Customer Experience business. Very few people realize that they are in the customer experience business. At Wilderness Safaris they get it and I’ve never seen such depth of leadership throughout any organization.
In Botswana, with an unemployment rate of 30 percent, creating jobs is very important. The company’s leases are dependent on increasing employment for the area’s village people. The average salary is about $265 a month. Workers, more than 85 percent of which come from remote rural communities surrounding the areas they help to protect, remain at camp for three months at a time, followed by a one-month vacation.
All food and lodging is free. Often employees live better at work than they would in their own homes. The company pays employees airfare home for their month off. Wilderness Safaris has helped quiet, rather shy people become outgoing customer driven, empowered employees who love their job, the company, and the customers.
Most people enjoy a safari more for the wildlife. Participants concentrate on the following three areas to measure their customer experience while on safari.
1 Guiding (Including the skill of the guides and the opportunity to view the animals.)
2 The facilities and the food (With 6 meals a day you can rapidly gain weight.)
3 Customer service.
While the sleeping facilities were awesome, large, plush, better than any hotel suite, and the food delicious, the attitude of the employees was where the magic came alive.
We were always met at the small landing strips by our guides and then driven to the camps. Upon arrival we were greeted by management, who already knew our names, and the staff singing to us. We were given cold towels to clean our hands and face, then invited to enjoy a welcome drink. Employees introduced themselves and then asked our name. Throughout the stay, and at all locations the entire staff, including house keeping and kitchen help, used our name.
Everyone was smiling and friendly, and did everything in their power to make us feel special. We were offered a drink, and then told if the bartender was not there to just help ourselves. They would do whatever we wanted them to, for example, if our plane was leaving early, they would find us on the safari and take us to the airstrip. If we wanted to eat late or at different times, they would accommodate that also. Their policy is to do ANYTHING the customer wants. NO rules. NO policies, just an empowered staff focused on providing a great customer experience. Imagine my surprise when each pilot flew over Victoria Falls, 2-3 times, so I could take photos and a video. Whatever you want they work hard to accommodate you.
Have you ever been at a hotel or resort where each employee recognizes you, speaks to you by name, and is empowered to make your stay phenomenal?
Upon arrival and departure, hand-written notes with our names were left on our bed. When is the last time you received a personalized card upon your arrival and departure, let alone the staff singing to you?
If everyone reading this book could get their employees to master these skills they would dominate the market and dramatically increase sales.
I would rate the service at all the 6 camps I visited a “10.” Wilderness Safaris offers the best consistent customer service I have experienced in my entire life. If you want a great customer experience or if you want to benchmark yourself against the best in the world, you should visit Wilderness Safaris. Look at their website at www.wilderness-safaris.com.
Many companies have great product and facilities, but rarely do they seem to care about employees. This was my 6th safari, the 3rd with Wilderness Safaris, and it is the ONLY safari operation that has truly mastered customer service. During the recent slowdown of the economy, Wilderness Safaris has remained dramatically stronger than its competition.
This is the perfect example of an empowered, customer service culture and how it supports a company’s success.
Empowerment is A Way of Life that you will love.
3
Very few CEOs in the world understand the service strategy. The most customer service-focused and successful CEO I know is Vernon W. Hill, II. In 1973, he founded Commerce Bank and sold it in 2007 to TD Bank Financial Group of Canada for $8.5 billion. Hill alone made over $400 million. Commerce Bank grew to 460 branches and $48 billion in assets. After selling Commerce Bank, the lack of Empowerment started to permeate and the service reputation Vernon Hill had worked hard to establish began to erode. He told me, “It’s now just a bank.”
Forbes magazine lists the American chief executives in the “20-20-20 Club” for 2007 — 20 years minimum in the job, 20 years minimum publicly traded shares, 20 percent minimum annual return. Hill is right behind Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffett and Oracle’s Larry Ellison.
Recently, Hill started Metro Bank, London’s first new bank in 153 years. As Metro Bank’s co- founder and vice chairman, Hill predicts that Metro Bank will go from zero to $31 billion in deposits in 10 years with 200 stores. He is duplicating what Commerce Bank did in New York City. In September 2001, it opened with four stores in Manhattan. It interviewed 3,000 people to staff the first two locations. Of those, just 42 were hired. They were hired for attitudes and trained for skills. When Commerce Bank was sold, it had 250 stores in Greater New York and over $25 billion in deposits.
The average-sized bank branch in America has $50 million in deposits; Commerce Bank had $120 million. The median new-bank branch grows to $19 million in deposits in five years; Commerce Bank averaged $87 million.
Commerce Bank was the most customer-driven bank in the United States. The secret of Commerce Bank was its ability to get the highest deposit growth at the lowest cost. This requires creating and maintaining an emotional attachment with the customer. Hill plans to duplicate this scenario at Metro Bank. Hill builds banks by treating every customer royally. His focus is on creating fans, not just customers. Great customer service comes through a business model focused on building “Fans not Customers.” Metro Bank, London, will bring this philosophy to a market devoid of customer service.
Vernon Hill built a company around Empowerment. The number one rule at Hill’s banks is that every employee is empowered to say “yes” to customers, but two are required to say “no.” Employees don’t hide behind bank policy to avoid helping customers. If an employee has to say no, wants to say no, or even believes no is the right decision, he has to go to someone with greater authority, who can waive a rule, make sense out of what the customer wants, or come up with a more palatable solution. This philosophy empowers team members to say “Yes!” to customers.
Hill
