Data from the American Express Global Customer Service Barometer details striking differences among travelers across Australia, Canada, India, Italy, Hong Kong, Japan, Mexico, Singapore, the U.K. and the U.S. According to the study, \"In Japan (52%), … the highest proportion of consumers say that companies do not get a second chance to make a good impression when it comes to customer service.\"
\r\nAccording to Retail Doctor Bob Phibbs, the problem is \"most [brands] have deep pockets but short arms. Unless it affects them personally, the money to fix the problem is seen as something that can be avoided.\" Have we become so accustomed to poor service that we’re willing to take whatever we get? Or is there a cultural lesson woven into the numbers from which all businesses can learn a lesson?
\r\nTipping is an entirely foreign concept in Japan, according to one business travel reference manual, \"because service, without bribery, is assumed to be part of everyone’s job.\" Apparently, this expectation of consistent exceptional customer service arises at least in part from the principal of omotenashi, translated as \"hospitality.\" Hospitality sets the expectation for a certain caliber of service, but omotenashi means so much more.
\r\nAccording to tourism website Welcome to Tour-Kansai, \"omotenashi represents the act of providing detailed service in a variety of ways to allow guests to spend a relaxing and memorable time by putting customers first.\"
\r\nEx-pat and author Katie Anderson writes, \"The spirit of omotenashi is the reason for the amazing service one gets at department stores, shops, restaurants, train stations, taxi, and chance encounters with strangers.\"
\r\nAfter only browsing in a Tokyo shop, Forbes.com contributor Bridget Brennan was accompanied outside and onto the sidewalk by a sales associate who bowed, thanking her for coming into the store. Her experience of omotenashi was what most Western consumers would consider \"white glove service.\"
\r\nIn her article \"Three Ways the Japanese Do Customer Service Better,\" Brennan references enthusiasm, helpfulness and appreciation as key service differentiators, not only in terms of what is provided, but, as the American Express survey indicates, what is expected. Despite technology, population density and the fast pace of life and commerce in Japan, hospitality and respect still represent essential elements of the customer experience.
\r\nIs the lowest price worth poor treatment? Or, having been consistently disappointed by Western culture that values consideration and service so much less than Japan, do we not know to expect any better? Marco Bertini and Luc Wathieu, writing for the Harvard Business Review, explain this disconnect, describing the \"commoditized customer:\"
\r\n\r\n\r\nConstant price undercutting can damage brand equity and erode profit margins. Meanwhile, customers develop low expectations and become disengaged. To get what we need as consumers, it sounds like that means we just don’t have to care. However, as business owners seeking to differentiate, not caring and failing to build value-added relationships is unacceptable.
\r\n
According to Rochelle Kopp, founder and managing principal of international training and consulting firm Japan Intercultural Consulting, applying the lessons that Japanese service businesses understand so well has the capacity to create customer engagement and brand loyalty that elevate your business from commodities pusher to service partner. The customer service differentiator is not connected primarily to what customers buy from your business, but rather how those acquisitions make them feel about themselves and about your business.
\r\nCertain things are expected by Japanese customers, including credibility, long-term commitment and superior quality. In addition, many businesses assign a contact to a customer who is both accessible and can be relied upon for quick and positive responses from the customer at any time.
\r\nSo, what are the key takeaways from how Japanese retail businesses provide service to their customers that you can learn and implement in your own business?
\r\nWhat does your business look like in the rearview mirror? It should matter to businesses how current customers, prospective customers or those who’ve done business with you previously perceive your products, services and company.
\r\nBrennan described it like this: \"Wherever I ventured, in stores large and small, I experienced what would be considered white-glove service back home, delivered with the kind of warmth, enthusiasm, and salesmanship typically found in black-and-white movies … it was intoxicating.\"
\r\nAs opposed to merely managing the expectations of commoditized customers, harmony is highly valued in Japanese business interactions. Our Western commoditized market is one in which buyers display rampant skepticism, routine behaviors, minimal expectations, and a strong preference for swift and effortless transactions regardless of product differentiation.
\n","docType":"article","guid":"articles_9e629b91a0c1ed92f165c6d82cb0648b","lastModified":"2017-06-28T07:00:00.000Z","published":"2017-06-28T07:00:00.000Z","structuredData":null,"subtitle":"Incorporate omotenashi into your company's customer service training","template":"legacy","title":"What Your Business Can Learn from Japanese Customer Service","type":"article","author":{"avatar":null,"bio":"Rochelle Carter-Wilson, Digital Content Strategist for shopPOPdisplays.com, is a speaker, certified coach, and former Human Resources Executive. Endlessly curious, she looks for innovative ways to tell stories about the extraordinary and the very ordinary. Asked what she does professionally, she says, “I’m a writer. I get paid to make things up.”\r\n\r\nI’m not sure if you’ve heard about the ENTERNSHIP Program created by Wunderlich Kaplan Communications, or seen the recent press on it in THE NY POST, INC Magazine, Huffington Post, Working Mother Magazine and on FOX News but she was one of eight women chosen for the program out of nearly six hundred applicants. \r\n\r\nShe was given the remarkable opportunity to re-enter the workforce as a career changing “Entern.” In transitioning from Human Resources to freelance and now FT writer, she learned to create content, craft proposals, write pitch letters and new business decks and research and prospect for new clients. I mastered the “voice of the brand” and now takes on opportunities that channel and further develop these talents. She took on responsibility for writing the curriculum and syllabus for the ENTERNSHIP program and remains engaged with principals Gwen Wunderlich and Dara Kaplan of WKC.\r\n\r\nA passionate writer, she creates messages for internal and external audiences across print and online media. Since 2010, she has blogged, penned essays and self-published a book primarily on Life, Family, Faith, and Social Justice. As a sponsored brand ambassador for the world’s largest cereal company, I wrote about the brand along with herpersonal commitment to living and eating well. Finally, as managing editor of a start-up magazine, she controls editorial content, nurtured the most compelling stories from writers, and relied heavily upon organizational skills to ensure things got turned in timely.","name":"Rochelle Carter-Wilson","image":null,"slug":null,"social":{"facebook":"","linkedin":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/rochelle-wilson-750b3a","twitter":null,"website":""},"status":"enabled","title":null,"type":"New BDC Member","user":{"imagePath":"https://staging.business.com/images/uploads/user/profile/f302f6a5879db1c8edf87abceb0fb2615ac57.jpg","profile":{"company":"honestbuildings.com","jobTitle":"Content Marketing Manager","website":"http://www.honestbuildings.com"}}},"breadcrumbs":null,"channels":{"primary":{"name":"Business Basics","slug":"business-basics"},"sub":{"name":"Strategy","slug":"strategy"}},"meta":{"robots":"index, follow","description":"Learn about the Japanese concept of omotenashi and how you can incorporate into your business to gain new customers and earn current customers' loyalty.","title":"What you can learn from Japanese customer service - business.com"},"parsedContent":{"toc":[{"id":"omotenashi","title":"Omotenashi"},{"id":"three-ways-the-japanese-do-customer-service-better","title":"\"Three Ways the Japanese Do Customer Service Better\""},{"id":"learn-not-to-say-no","title":"Learn not to say no"}],"json":[{"component":"p","children":["Data from the American Express ",{"component":"a","props":{"href":"http://about.americanexpress.com/news/docs/2014x/2014-Global-Customer-Service-Barometer-All.pdf","rel":"nofollow"},"children":["Global Customer Service Barometer"]}," details striking differences among travelers across Australia, Canada, India, Italy, Hong Kong, Japan, Mexico, Singapore, the U.K. and the U.S. According to the study, \"In Japan (52%), … the highest proportion of consumers say that companies do not get a second chance to make a good impression when it comes to customer service.\""]},{"component":"p","children":["According to ",{"component":"a","props":{"href":"https://www.retaildoc.com/blog/heres-the-number-one-reason-youre-letting-yourself-get-away-with-providing-bad-retail-customer-service?utm_campaign=Blogs&utm_content=46528594&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter","rel":"nofollow"},"children":["Retail Doctor"]}," Bob Phibbs, the problem is \"most [brands] have deep pockets but short arms. Unless it affects them personally, the money to fix the problem is seen as something that can be avoided.\" Have we become so accustomed to poor service that we’re willing to take whatever we get? Or is there a cultural lesson woven into the numbers from which all businesses can learn a lesson?"]},{"component":"h2","props":{"id":"omotenashi"},"children":["Omotenashi"]},{"component":"p","children":["Tipping is an entirely foreign concept in Japan, according to one business travel reference manual, \"because service, without bribery, is assumed to be part of everyone’s job.\" Apparently, this expectation of consistent exceptional customer service arises at least in part from the principal of omotenashi, translated as \"hospitality.\" Hospitality sets the expectation for a certain caliber of service, but omotenashi means so much more."]},{"component":"p","children":["According to ",{"component":"a","props":{"href":"https://www.tour-kansai.com/home/omotenashi/","rel":"nofollow"},"children":["tourism website"]}," Welcome to Tour-Kansai, \"omotenashi represents the act of providing detailed service in a variety of ways to allow guests to spend a relaxing and memorable time by putting customers first.\""]},{"component":"p","children":["Ex-pat and author ",{"component":"a","props":{"href":"http://kbjanderson.com/life-in-japan-omotenashi-the-spirit-of-japans-customer-service-hospitality/","rel":"nofollow"},"children":["Katie Anderson"]}," writes, \"The spirit of omotenashi is the reason for the amazing service one gets at department stores, shops, restaurants, train stations, taxi, and chance encounters with strangers.\""]},{"component":"p","children":["After only browsing in a Tokyo shop, Forbes.com contributor Bridget Brennan was accompanied outside and onto the sidewalk by a sales associate who bowed, thanking her for coming into the store. Her experience of omotenashi was what most Western consumers would consider \"white glove service.\""]},{"component":"h2","props":{"id":"three-ways-the-japanese-do-customer-service-better"},"children":["\"Three Ways the Japanese Do Customer Service Better\""]},{"component":"p","children":["In her article \"",{"component":"a","props":{"href":"https://www.forbes.com/sites/bridgetbrennan/2012/04/23/three-habits-of-japanese-merchants-that-could-save-u-s-retailing","rel":"nofollow"},"children":["Three Ways the Japanese Do Customer Service Better"]},",\" Brennan references enthusiasm, helpfulness and appreciation as key service differentiators, not only in terms of what is provided, but, as the American Express survey indicates, what is expected. Despite technology, population density and the fast pace of life and commerce in Japan, hospitality and respect still represent essential elements of the customer experience."]},{"component":"p","children":["Is the lowest price worth poor treatment? Or, having been consistently disappointed by Western culture that values consideration and service so much less than Japan, do we not know to expect any better? Marco Bertini and Luc Wathieu, writing for the ",{"component":"a","props":{"href":"https://hbr.org/2010/05/how-to-stop-customers-from-fixating-on-price#comment-section","rel":"nofollow"},"children":["Harvard Business Review"]},", explain this disconnect, describing the \"commoditized customer:\""]},{"component":"blockquote","children":[{"component":"p","children":["Constant price undercutting can damage brand equity and erode profit margins. Meanwhile, customers develop low expectations and become disengaged. To get what we need as consumers, it sounds like that means we just don’t have to care. However, as business owners seeking to differentiate, not caring and failing to build value-added relationships is unacceptable."]}]},{"component":"p","children":["According to Rochelle Kopp, founder and managing principal of international training and consulting firm ",{"component":"a","props":{"href":"http://www.japanintercultural.com/en/home/default.aspx","rel":"nofollow"},"children":["Japan Intercultural Consulting"]},", applying the lessons that Japanese service businesses understand so well has the capacity to create customer engagement and brand loyalty that elevate your business from commodities pusher to service partner. The customer service differentiator is not connected primarily to what customers buy from your business, but rather how those acquisitions make them feel about themselves and about your business."]},{"component":"h2","props":{"id":"learn-not-to-say-no"},"children":["Learn not to say no"]},{"component":"p","children":["Certain things are expected by Japanese customers, including credibility, long-term commitment and superior quality. In addition, many businesses assign a contact to a customer who is both accessible and can be relied upon for quick and positive responses from the customer at any time. "]},{"component":"p","children":["So, what are the key takeaways from how Japanese retail businesses provide service to their customers that you can learn and implement in your own business?"]},{"component":"h3","children":["Value your relationships"]},{"component":"p","children":["What does your business look like in the rearview mirror? It should matter to businesses how current customers, prospective customers or those who’ve done business with you previously perceive your products, services and company."]},{"component":"p","children":["Brennan described it like this: \"Wherever I ventured, in stores large and small, I experienced what would be considered white-glove service back home, delivered with the kind of warmth, enthusiasm, and salesmanship typically found in black-and-white movies … it was intoxicating.\""]},{"component":"h3","children":["Find a way to say yes"]},{"component":"p","children":["As opposed to merely managing the expectations of commoditized customers, harmony is highly valued in Japanese business interactions. Our Western commoditized market is one in which buyers display rampant skepticism, routine behaviors, minimal expectations, and a strong preference for swift and effortless transactions regardless of product differentiation."]}]},"resource":null,"sponsorship":null,"thumbnail":{"path":"https://staging.business.com/images/content/595/41beb1039ebab408b4570/1500-0-","caption":"TK Kurikawa/Shutterstock","isBlurred":true},"bestPicks":null},"related":{"relatedArticles":[{"title":"Customer Delight: The New Standard in Customer Service","canonical":"https://www.business.com/articles/customer-delight-the-new-standard-in-customer-service/","slug":"customer-delight-the-new-standard-in-customer-service","thumbnail":"https://www.business.com/images/content/5d1/b55df7b4374e7068b4569/1500-0-","dek":"To delight a customer is to provide the unexpected. 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