Guest service is HUGE in Japan!

In this episode, we report on experiencing first-hand what guest service is like as a customer in Japan versus the United States. We recount customer service scenarios such as retail, convenience stores, economic structure differences and even subtle body language nods that make a big difference in Japan.

Unspoken rules of Japanese culture become very apparent versus the customs of the United States. From how you pay for goods and services, to accepting a receipt at the end of the transaction, the subtle ways of Japanese guest service influence change your approach forever. It taught Les to be more proud and show gratitude for each transaction in a guest service setting.

Greg uncovers what it’s like to be in a sales environment that doesn’t depend on upselling or upgrading the buyer’s intentions. The impact it has on the customer experience is vastly different than the United States shopping experience. Do the market and customer base differences beg the question, is it better to play a long-term customer retention versus a short-term money grab?

Les and Greg talk about how Universal Studios Japan operates and showcases how the Japanese culture combined with the approach to customer service makes a huge impact on every guest. Greg witnessed that Japanese citizens have a greater appreciation and awareness of what’s happening around them and choose to react efficiently and respectfully.

This episode was sponsored by Panda Travel. Go to pandaonline.com to book your next group tour leaving from Honolulu to destinations in Japan and South Korea.

Transcript

Welcome everyone to Les is more of the art of the service with over 25 years of experience in the service working for Warner Bros. by Hollywood and the Walt Disney Company. I would love to share what I’ve learned over the years personally and professionally with all of you I am your house, Les hi everyone we’re back after a month of hiatus vacation we were in Japan. Yeah we were did Japan for 2 1/2 weeks and it was. It was quite a life-changing experience am I I really really appreciated every every minute I was there I mean, there were definitely some capitalize definitely some lows and Let’s talk it out. Yeah by the way, the sad episode is sponsored by and the trouble who are you and I to Japan and we couldn’t ask for an amazing to work for us to get this great experience but yeah, this is Gregory‘s first time I have a country Because I was so high, I told him to watch some YouTube videos and prepare him for it and don’t speak English as well in the villages outside of the hotel industry in the city so we had to Google translate images to help him with that currency in all these type of things a culture in my soul, will you know like there’s a first impression of going to Japan which is its own planet before I go a first impression of being outside of my native country Inn and I’m very privileged and then I’ve been all over this country you might be the 49 out of the 50 states the last one on the list is Alaska so I feel like travel. The concept of travel is a new today, but what is new to me is going to a place that is it within the American paradigm, so Pearsall, how many so many differences like not just cultural, but systemic differences in how the government is treating their their how religious impacts have major changes in the landscape of the country itself in America isn’t immune to that, but just to hear how the Buddhist and Shinto religion come together, and really do shape the sky islands of Japan Top three things that were very impressive to you about Japan generally service or their culture or in some of the habits that you were not used to. It’s funny you mentioned guest service, but I think that’s absolutely the number one thing that sticks out from Japanese experiences and I I don’t think it’s I don’t think it’s like restaurants alone or like shopping retail alone that’s a different I think every transaction that you make. Were you have a customer facing human being is so dry For gear and I would I’m nervous to see this on the Internet but I think and he was white because across-the-board I think that I was humbled as someone who worked in the service industry facing human beings and dealing with the public. I got to tell you I was not pressured to and I did not learn a foreign language to accommodate for foreign customers. However, when I go to Japan in the full 2 1/2 weeks, I was there every single transaction I knew whether it was like buying something from the convenient store buying some your son Suntan lotion and coffee go to the restaurant whatever every single service person I encountered knew enough English to accommodate me that alone was like that was just talking to you because in Japan with again they have coins or like $1. $25 or $10 an hour in so I didn’t wanna put up the lien so I found out times where I had like my little coin purse and I normally don’t actually not in America but Japan I just had some cash so I whenever I paid for something I just filled up my Hannaford coins on my hand and let them figure it out, and they were just so gracious to like Pick up a clean that they needed and if I get too much they would get back to me what was needed it was a sense of trust. There was a time, and I was buying like some some lunch from a family mart, which is like a 711 High Street, and by the way that to go food at 7-Eleven in Family Mart in Japan, is buying it but they were when I had my this is the first time I use like paper yen instead of like my credit card or whatever and I think I put down like 100 or three American dollars I had no I didn’t know and they gave me back so much today Whenever you go to the restaurant already quit service it was a trespasser. Yeah that’s that is on Amber station if you know it because you’re right like majority of the service industry that I encountered first and foremost they see tipping as white like you’re saying you believe they don’t get paid tonight Them and their profession, and in some cases it out so like it’s a whole thing where that is not the case here in the United States take any money they can I feel like every register I come to you especially to wear ones like the next screen is and please put select I just bought a bottle by OK but so the other thing was with Yan I as a foreigner I am not used to converting different currencies in my head and I did appreciate how honest and how trustworthy all of the service people were with with that because they I could’ve easily been taken advantage easily and I would’ve never been the wiser like I put ¥100,000 which is like US$1000 or something I don’t see ha ha ha Like thanks stupid bye and there were there were a couple of occasions where I I got a little cocky a week and a half and I’m like OK I think I’ve got this conversion is ratio down in my head and you know I have a last day that we were there I had in my corn purse just like you did with him I think I had like 10,000 again 10 or 12,000 and I don’t know 17 but you told me it was the equivalent of like around US$120 and in my head I thought I had US$15 so I give it to my cousin Drewes, who lives in Japan love this kid super smart, very sweet guy Hey I’m not gonna use this you can use it for whatever you want here you go he please do me a favor. Just get this on my hands give me a ring and then later the same day we are in the airport and I just wanna go to Starbucks have some last minute things and I might buy some like to go Tamara, coffee, mugs, additional of every start on one of the Tokyo Japan on it I was like perfect perfect gifts for my mom and I thought together that they equated to seven US dollars which I’m like that is a steel for Starbucks merch. I will take it well This time and I don’t have any yet. I look at my credit card statement like 20 minutes after I leave Paul and Mike charged $70 or so probably seven dollars of free coffee I was like wow each other like no that doesn’t sound right so you checked your statement, right OK well time to go through me before you make any purchases I learned that from Japan my Apple Watch is here by my iPhone or smart phone because whenever I had a price of a yen I would ask Siri hey Siri what’s the conversion rate from ¥10,000 to US dollars I suggest you Gregory making big purchases, right I don’t know if Siri is going off about Melva back to the gas service part of it to whenever I interacted with the employees of weather is a 7-Eleven or I would’ve been down or something anyway, whatever no passion to their service at first Paul agreed to when did they would they would tell you the price and then they would kind of give you a little tray tray tray to put your money in a credit card in between are between me and employee and if you get the money there they would take it and then they would I felt like every interaction was was was was a story it was more like it’s so so much passion to it you know I think there’s a lot of nuance with unspoken rules that everyone just knows to follow. It’s so obvious when you go to places like Japan, in foreign countries, where those unspoken rules are so different than what I come from right I like the tray is a great example. Another one that I picked up on was whenever you got a receipt for your credit card or receipt for whatever transaction is. Headed to you with both Outlet nine times out of 10 both hands and I am sure to sign of respect I’m sure it’s a sign of gratitude you know of all the things but here America it’s like do you want to hear you do you know I catch myself now doing that I like when I am at Disney and I get Him and he wants to eat at the Japanese department store unify, which is over at the United States beard beard, and like I tell you and I told people that whenever people ask, how was your hand, I would tell them that it made me a better person I said, feel more polite to you feel like you’re a change person for the better and that’s how I feel. That’s why when I get my guest service now I always make sure to mimic with the Japanese, sure that there’s a beginning middle and end and I make sure to say thank you what is make me more proud and shuffle passion hello goodbye thank you Gregory that picked up his a lot because I bought a lot. Yeah I did I did and you know what I think I hear this a lot you know when I speak to other people that are from like European countries especially like England, Scotland, Ireland I just naturally pick up on that accent and adopted as my own and it’s not meant as a disrespectful Ray minute, Grandma Just adapted to use surroundings and you see people bowing to you or tipping their hat or whatever is hard for me not about when I get my back to America when I worked at it Disney hits I definitely make sure to wave and say hi to even more better at reading every single person at a counter whether it’s in the hallway, backstage, or on stage with you be courteous to be nice to people in general just be nice and that’s what the Japanese do well is that they were nice to people Nice to everyone else I encountered not people not ignoring me, but because they had to or were to pet stores in Japan without the cutest little puppies and kittens, and I walked into two different one Bookaboo I guess because they’re so used to people coming in cause they’re so expensive that they’re like man you know what the kittens and the puppies are a show me that sell fedora Curtis We’re just sitting back and watching that was weird well yes and only and I am only going to say weird because it’s not like were you what were used to? It’s not it’s not like it’s not like weird in a way where I felt uncomfortable I fell right, not the story at all. It was the opposite way. I think it’s actually better this way because it’s almost as if their jobs are not dependent on upsell and customers that were in the United States you find that if you walk into a store in word forbid you walk in Alone it’s like you are easy to hound you and try and get you to upgrade an ad on and sign up for whatever email list it is obnoxious I think the Japanese sales retail community I mean they’re extremely helpful and welcoming but not in obtrusive way not in a desperate And they come up to you and they say they’re just annoying and say hey would you want to try some of our part or it’s like one of those things where I put them on my cell phone now lately so that I can pretend that I’m on the phone so that you wanna come up to me and asked if you want to go ahead if you wanna buy it but that’s all you and we’re just there to assist you with what you need and you’re so right on that but yeah well and a lot to what do you call? What do you Konomi climate really is a country you know and in the United States it’s so incredibly obvious down for trying to climb the economic ladder as a fast as hard as possible right but in Japan so differently, and I am seeing that being in a Japanese situation as a guest is better, but is it better as a business owner? I don’t know because I would bet that they’re trying to make a long-term business plan with your guest relations versus a short term game right like all of this stuff that we see in shopping malls and like I had this song for email list and I’ve become a loyal member, and I know all of that is that happen it’s very simple is it looks like a money grab looks like and I don’t see money grab some Japan because their strategy is vastly different and how they are approaching retaining. Guess they’re so cute play 100% yeah Gregory and I were there was because I was here to help out with the how to travel with their tours, so I would like a tour guide Assist good when I went there before going there and I’m like no I have it we have a Japanese guy. Her name is Yoshi amazing and she is shut up and she was with us for a whole week with and she was also a sake so she will learn a lot from her and with her being an English speaker as well as a Japanese speaker Japanese who knows when you’re free but I am make sure that everyone is taken care of on the group fine. Shakeya made in the airport are documenting every day with making sure that everyone did not get lost and I thought that was a great experience for me, because I am free this product for Disney kind of Guy because I have to go through bigger interviews but I got to go to Japan with a man taught me a lot about how to genuinely take care of people more people, shoes and how I wanna treat people the way that I wanna be treated whereas if I’m in a foreign land and that’s what I felt Yoshi did when she make sure we were taking Ferrell and they kind of helped me to think About Disney world in general when I take away I’m the Yoshi on the person that takes them around and they see me as the expert and then I’ve taken care of them. Enjoy what I do and enjoy the fact that I have a 20 years one of my favorite experiences in to Universal Studios Japan, right Greg it was yeah for between theme parks in America in Japan. Well I I really enjoyed Halloween you enter the part is super familiar so if you’ve ever been to Universal Studios I have been at what are you up to going to one in Orlando one in Hollywood and it’s like when you enter the park the architecture of the arch is the signage. It’s all exactly the same like picture 1940s silver screw you like that that’s the vibe right And a lot of the structure of how the park works is very familiar it’s not like a foreign planet you know obviously there’s a lot of things that are written in Japanese but other than that I mean you know like Universal Studios part of the Universal Studios looks like Universal Studios you know like transformers formers and you know it is what it is so there’s a lot of for me Actually kind of a gave me a sense of comfort because I know how this works been living in the Orlando area for three years so would very well be marks are organized exactly so I did appreciate that I think I don’t. I don’t know how to phrase this without sounding critical of my own American heritage but there there is a key difference between the audience that goes to Universal Studios Japan versus the one that goes to Universal Studios here in Hollywood Orlando and I think that difference is that there’s just another unspoken rule comes with Japanese culture and growing up there. I think this is from the outside looking in. I believe that Japanese citizens have a greater just a greater appreciation appreciation a greater understanding a day at a more sensitive radar for what is happening right end and there’s this is the key difference there Like every I’m not saying that people are here where it was happening but the choice of what you do with that information you know Japan was hands-down the busiest the part I am ever been to that says a lot we live in Orlando but what the key difference was in Japan I have never seen that amount of people being that people And the roof middle of the walkway happen. People are being so much more likely to be congregating or group or stationary on a sidewalk to the side by the table and like the walkways it’s like an unspoken room you only walk I think I feel like they’re being judged wherever they are because you’re right that they stand on the side even when you’re eating you don’t eat and walk like I need that in America where are you hot dog And walking and you’re drinking wine and beer you stop and eat you buy your food you grab it and then you go to the nearest corner or table and you sit there and eat so just Japan in general yes that was something that I did discover before we went there it was like one of those cultural rules that are similar to Him and I like my dumb American brain. I’m like you know what that makes sense because in Japan and I don’t want to choke on my steak is selfish self-centered hello America but here I think it has a lot more to do with with how the food is prepared it’s not like eating a bag of shit right chopsticks, ready to get some more like no this thing has a sauce in it and a side dish and a garnish and like in general food has a lot more steps in preparation and dumb Like you it’s encouraging you to take your time with it and you don’t want to just Gobble Food is very important to them because presentation we noticed that in the park there was a long line like our line for a cart for Touro or one or two hours for him for bellbottoms, and they were like amazingly Marie said something about you went to one of the heart disease. Yes I was shocked that even at a churro cart you need to book her for tomorrow time I had never heard of a toddler patient and wait and wait and wait patiently for so will dress that I thought, it was wearing long pants in like a suit or a costume in but that was definitely amazing that you went to a movie theater in Japan. What is the difference between that so oh this is another example of how when I get when I go somewhere, they know enough English to help me. Do you know what they may not be speaking for this but they get where do I pay? How much is this? Do you have this? Yes, no hey here thank you very much so props to everyone who’s ever learned English in Japan I highly appreciate it so big differences in movie theater saying I see a movie in the United States every weekend like that is my thing I that’s my my Greg time you know I I see it by myself I get my standard in a giant gallon and a half of Diet Coke and probably some peanut M&Ms and if I’m feeling extra that day I’ll get some popcorn Butter big deal I think I just described what a lot of people do at the movie theaters when they go so when I go to Japan and I go see a movie, I saw the Shazam to goodbye the way loved it. It was great it was in English with Japanese subtitles, so it was very easy for me to say But before you win couple of things, one is when you buy your ticket, you will have a QR code and you have to scan your QR code at the usher station for a that’s different than what we do here we have electronic ticket scanner thing, but normally they just let you go like it’s not a big deal. You could be four minutes early and be 40 minutes early do you care in Japan? You cannot enter until you were within 10 minutes of the show time. So Abby, so I got some sessions and I did my standard order. I would like a large Diet Coke with M&Ms and popcorn with butter and the woman looked at me like I had four heads in Hwy butter and white butter you know how carpet butter like a side of butter like a stick of butter and she’s like we don’t have butter yeah where am I serve candy I’m so sorry but we do have churro so I got my my popcorn without butter lol and I am a large Diet Coke. What is the size of an American child size end to Strahov as if I can’t finish this on my own and I just I just remember looking at this and thinking like wow like no wonder obesity is such an issue And I went to a quick service location I got a large Coke zero large large me a large is a smaller medium in America and there was two holes and two straws so that the whole and it’s so big for them. Meanwhile, an AMC theaters in Florida we have a mega size drink, I thought that was hilarious. Yeah yeah I usually drink my standard gallon and a half of diet differences before we end this. I just definitely want to say that after we left Japan, I my cousin David was there and he lives there and I wanted to keep in touch with him so there’s this app called what’s up that they use Remind me to always be in touch with people because even though he’s far we from the world, just a phone call away or text or even just a hello message goes along way, correct yeah, I love the line that you said earlier, which was how to keep in contact with you within a huge world is by keeping your word small and just sending texts like that I got a random message from my dear friend of 🧋madi and I Lenny just messaged me and said he’s gonna let you know I’m thinking of you and I was like wow that’s cool because I do I I for the past year I’ve been making sure that I was every day I text you to randomly Like 2 to 3 people just out of the blue eyed my phone contacts in my head from high school college from Hawaii or even thinking of you and that’s it and then they write back and they are thankful for that when we start engaging in conversation again and that just speaks a lot in five seconds of your time I encourage you to do that and I hope y’all will see you there anything you want to save this episode of lesismore the Arctic get service was sponsored by panda travel, travel, specializes in group doors from Honolulu. Each tour comes with a native, speaking tour guide, and then itineraries pre-planned and booked so you don’t have to schedule your next vacation with any travel go to panda online.com that’s pandaonline.com. Thanks Ryan all right well till next time we certainly people listen to our podcast, my podcast is based upon my own personal experiences and best practices that I have learned throughout most of my professional and personal life. This podcast is in no way endorsed or affiliated with Warner Bros. planet, Hollywood or the Walt Disney Company.