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It's a mystery to me why customer service is so bad in the United States. Do all those organizations serving up hideous customer experiences believe that customers have no other choices?

Maybe in rare instances they don't (you can only get an iPod from Apple, Southwest may be the only good airline left standing), but most of the time, people do have other choices and will exercise them when they are treated with indifference or worse.

Bob Farrell is aware of the business reasons for providing great service. He profited from it for years as the impresario of Farrell's, a restaurant and ice cream chain. After selling it to Marriott, he became an evangelist for extraordinary customer service through speeches, a book, and bestselling videos.

The first video, Give Em' the Pickle, was a huge commercial success, almost guaranteeing a sequel. The Leadership Pickle took on a broader topic. The latest program, What’s Your Pickle? (for an online preview, click here), returns to familiar ground, and that was a good choice.

Farrell and Media Partners appear to have another winner.

The video combines three elements: a few good ideas, a supportive emotional tone, and a fun presentation.

Learning several simple ideas is easier than learning a complex system. The foundations of customer service shouldn't be an intellectual challenge anyway. They should be persuasive and easy to understand, and they are in What’s Your Pickle?

Farrell has enthusiasm to spare and is polished and comfortable in front of the camera. The customers and employees of businesses in the featured stories aren't so natural on camera, but they're authentic and sincere, and the stories they tell are fun and sometimes amazing and moving. Most audiences who watch this will get caught up in the good feelings and be motivated to make stories of their own.

The video production itself contributes to the positive experience. Farrell lives in a nicely rendered animated landscape. The service narratives are usually re-enacted, which contributes dramatic interest. The narratives often have crazy hooks like bankers changing tires, a rug cleaner fixing furniture, and a vet's office that deodorizes the waiting room with chocolate chip cookies. (I won't describe other stories to maintain the suspense.)

Farrell stays in the animated setting throughout the video. Because he is so good on camera, I wish had appeared in some of the narratives, mixing with the people telling the stories. Also, most of the narratives seem to involve small- to medium-size local businesses. Trainers in large organizations might hesitate, although the lessons are applicable to any organization with customers.

At a Home Depot near my home, employees seem irritated that they have to interrupt their conversations with each other to tell a customer where to find an item in the giant store. What about taking the customer to the item? You've got to be kidding!

These experiences are the vast target Farrell takes aim at. That big target suggests the inevitable limits of the program. A video training program is not going to solve the issues of an organization that thinks good service is too expensive or hires the wrong people. That's not the limit of the program but of the organization.

To put it another way, the company has to be worthy of What’s Your Pickle? Farrell is probably not going to see many sales to U.S. airlines or telecomm companies that work hard to get you to hang up when you try to call them.

The video comes with a helpful leader's guide and a lot of small items that reinforce the main ideas.

Recommendation
For a company that wants to cultivate good customer service, Bob Farrell's What’s Your Pickle? could provide not only helpful, clearcut ideas but also motivation and even inspiration. Highly recommended.

What's Your Pickle? Rating