From the October 6th Kansas City Star:

Meeting customer expectations keeps them coming back

By ROBERT COLE

The Kansas City Star

The pre-dawn ritual at the North Kansas City Community Center is a familiar sight at many fitness and indoor recreation centers throughout greater Kansas City.

About 50 to 80 early birds kick off the day swimming laps, lifting weights or playing a quick game of pickup basketball before showering and heading to work.

Which means a really early start for the center’s staff.

The facility must be ready for business at 5:29 a.m. to serve members who want to be at their job by 7, said Greg Hansen, center director.

Providing the preferred hours and offerings to customers who thrive on getting a daily dose of health and wellness is common at area fitness venues. But such adjustments to customers’ needs and desires also is increasingly important for other businesses.

“Customer service is the biggest make-or-break in business,” said Jason Cupp, president and CEO of Highland Outdoor, an Olathe-based landscaping firm.

It is not only being honest and treating every customer like gold, it is also identifying what their needs are before the customer has to identify them, he said.

How area companies and municipalities choose to define quality products and service can result in expensive, time-consuming improvements. Yet they also can relate to more basic customer expectations, including cleanliness and accessibility.

Olathe Toyota spent nearly two years upgrading its facility, said Kenny Thomas, company president. The dealership’s service department is now open seven days a week, primarily to serve families who often are too busy during the week to come in for oil changes and basic repairs.

In May, the Gamber Center, an 18,000-square-foot multigenerational facility, opened north of downtown Lee’s Summit. The center is programming more daytime activities for the city’s senior population, including instructional programming in its arts and crafts and computer rooms, said David Dean, the department’s superintendent of recreation services.

New workout equipment designed for the body types of preteens and an older, smaller-size population also was added in May to the city’s Legacy Park Community Center, he said.

Despite the expense of recent additions and physical improvements, the department focuses on customer expectations every day. Dean said staff members walk the grounds of fitness centers and ball diamonds to talk with patrons about their experiences, particularly cleanliness.

“It’s the number one priority,” Dean said. “If the facility is not clean, then we know they won’t come back. We have to make sure that they’re all in tip-top shape.”

Cupp, of Highland Outdoor, writes a blog focused on landscaping trends, but he often posts pictures of company team members when they attend fundraising events.

“It makes us more real to our clients,” Cupp said. “When we build relationships with them, they see us as real people and not a company. It actually allows customer service to be a lot easier.”

In harsh weather, Cupp posts information to the company’s Web site to reassure clients how their trees and plants may be affected.

“It sends a consistent, timely message to our clients,” he said. “It helps us build relationships with people.”