Customer service in Italy, Greece and Turkey
March 6th, 2010 | by Shaun |Here is my third installment on grading customer service by country. Thanks to everyone for the emails!
Italy: B+
Italians are a passionate people, and when they turn on the charm you can’t help but be taken with it. As with every country, there’s a rude dark side to their customer service, and the Italians’ is right up there with the stereotype French. Italy is much like the USA in it’s bi-polarness. When they’re good, they are awesome, when they’re bad, they’re really horrible. Fortunately, There appear to be many, many more good customer service providers than bad
Greece: B-
When it comes to customer service, the Greeks have the same passion as the Italians. The difference is that Greeks are sometimes a little less willing to place their customers’ needs ahead of their own. Part of this, I think, has to do with the Greek pride, which is second-to-none in the world. Normally a good thing, it can sometimes get in the way of making the kinds of changes that are needed to ensure positive customer experiences.
Turkey: A-
Turkey, by definition, has a bit of a split personality. With one foot in Europe, and the other in Asia, Turkey’s culture is unique in the world. One thing the Turks have that I have yet to see in any other countries is a sort of cultural sense of humour. Their customer service reflects this. Turks have a playful nature with their customers, and if you are willing to play along, it can be a great experience. The Grand Bazzar in Istanbul, for example is a great tourist experience - but also a great experience in how much fun customer service can be.
(My only personal beef in Turkey is that the publisher of my books there,”Kaizen Yayıncılık,” has never paid us…)
