Featured in “Business Class”  Volume 7  Issue 11

Note from Jan:  If you read “Customer Service 101“, you saw a list of five things customers want.  Five free and easy ways to make your customers happy.

You may have already shared this information with your staff – perhaps by telling them that providing good customer service is important to you; and asking that they make sure of providing these five things for every customer – a smile, eye contact, good manners, a respectful greeting and a thank you.

And if you did make this request of them, how many of them said, “No problem.” ?

Probably a lot.

So – I have to take it back.

Some of this is not going to be so easy – at least – not as easy as things like smiling and saying thank you.

If you are serious about service – meaning you want to provide more than just ordinary service – please read this and share it with your staff as well.

So you tell your staff about the importance of having good manners.

And they say, “No problem.”

It’s such a popular expression.  I hear it several times a day.

At a restaurant the other night, our waitress said it at least ten times.  She was delightful.  Very good at her work.  Obviously eager to please.  But by the tenth “no problem”, my brother-in-law was fuming.

“Don’t they know how annoying that is?” he said with a squownged up face.

He wasn’t the only one irked by it.  It became the topic of discussion for quite a while – the ones who were irked trying to help those who weren’t (who also happen to be frequent users of the phrase), understand why it irks them.

It wasn’t the first time I had heard this complaint.  In fact, here is an article I wrote about it a few years ago.

No Problem
by Jan Bolick

This will ring clear and true for many of you.

Others of you will balk at it.

Stick with me, if you will.

My friend and colleague, Jim, is offended when he thanks someone and the response is, “No problem.”

His nephew responded that way to a “thank you” and Jim corrected him, saying that “no problem” insinuated that it wasn’t a problem this time but might be next time.

The nephew’s response – “NOT YOU TOO!”

You see  – his nephew had just started training for a  job at a very successful store,  famous for its high quality of customer service.  And he told his Uncle Jim that at this store, there were lessons in how to respond to a customer’s “thank you”.

A non-acceptable response:  “No problem”.

A permissable response:  “You are welcome.”

The preferred response:  “It’s my pleasure.”

This was a problem for many of the trainees because “no problem” is a younger generation, light hearted response – certainly not intended to be rude.

But beware – others do take it as rudeness.

Here is an excerpt from “What Was a Chaperone?” by Joe Soburn (Chronicles Magazine, July 2002).

Today, you encounter young people who don’t even know when they’re being rude.  You thank a waiter and he replies not “You’re welcome” but “No problem,”‘ as if you were apologizing for having bothered him and he were absolving you.  No, he doesn’t think he is being rude; he thinks he’s being gracious!

Think all of this is ridiculous?

No problem.

Just remember that 68% of the customers that choose not to return to your business – do so because of an indifferent attitude of an employee.

And that “indifferent attitude” is according to the eyes and ears of the customer – not the employee.

And when the customer doesn’t return?

No problem.

He just does business elsewhere.

©2002, Business Class Inc, Jan Bolick

Now – years later – it seems the use of “No Problem” has multiplied exponentially.  It may be as hard to eliminate from speech patterns as “um” and “uh”.

Should you try and eliminate the expression from the vocabulary of your staff members?

That depends.  On the type of business you are in.  On the kind of customers you have.  On what level of service you want to provide.  Only you can decide.

Would a customer really NOT come back because of a few “no problems”?

That depends.  On all the other pluses and minuses she has experienced while doing business with you.

And if the minuses stack up against you?

No problem.  She can just do business elsewhere.

Note:  Even if you decide against eliminating the use of “no problem” in your business, I hope you will share this article with your staff, so that they at least know that what they consider to be good manners is perceived as bad manners by others.

©2002, Revised in 2008 – Jan Bolick, Business Class Inc

The author gives permission to distribute copies of this article as long as long as it is copied in full -including the box below.

Jan is a management coach (CUCG, PCC) with thirty years of sales and management experience.  She loves sharing her experience and expertise with business owners and managers so that they can get through tough situations, and then make and celebrate the achievement of big goals.

Check out her programs, services & tools at www.businessclassinc.com

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