{"id":20287,"date":"2017-03-21T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-03-21T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/global2020prd.wpengine.com\/insights\/cross-cultural-customer-service-is-fast-service-good-service\/"},"modified":"2020-03-21T08:16:50","modified_gmt":"2020-03-21T08:16:50","slug":"cross-cultural-customer-service-is-fast-service-good-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/cross-cultural-customer-service-is-fast-service-good-service\/","title":{"rendered":"Cross-cultural customer service – is fast service good service?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Is fast customer service good customer service?\u00a0 As I sat waiting for my meal in Athens this Sunday, it was delightful to sit in the shade of a tree, drinking beer, waiting for my meal to arrive and feeling in no hurry. I had the afternoon to kill before meeting some people for dinner.\u00a0 So slow service was exactly what I wanted.<\/p>\n

It reminded me of an experience at a Munich hotel I had some years ago.\u00a0 It was the opening night for a brand new airport hotel. The manager of the restaurant came across very proudly and said, \u201cDon\u2019t worry, sir, we can get you served and out of here in 30 minutes\u201d.\u00a0 I replied, \u201cThat\u2019s the last thing that I want, because I\u2019ve got an evening in a hotel, I know nobody here, I want to read my book and I\u2019d like the meal to last for a couple of hours.\u201d<\/p>\n

We had an interesting discussion about different cross-cultural ad contextual assumptions about what is good service \u2013 fast or slow.<\/p>\n

When I first moved to France, I found waiting a long time for meals quite frustrating because I was used to being served quickly and equated this with good service.\u00a0 But eventually I appreciated not being in a culture where you had to book a table at 7 or 9 because they expected you to be out in two hours. In France a table was for the evening. Having time to relax with friends and not feel rushed was an integral part of the experience.\u00a0 I missed that a lot when I came back to the UK, often feeling under pressure to finish my meal faster than I wanted to, to get out, for the benefit of the restaurant –\u00a0 not at all for the benefit of the customer.<\/p>\n

So there are cultural differences in how service, and speed of service in particular are perceived and there are also times within our own culture where we want different types of service.<\/p>\n

The simple solution for restaurants and other service providers – why not ask?<\/p>\n

When people sit down, ask \u201cWhat type of service do you want?\u00a0 Are you in a rush?\u201d\u00a0 There is nothing more frustrating than being on a tight deadline and worrying that your meal won\u2019t arrive.\u00a0 Alternatively, if you have the evening to kill or you want a relaxed experience, you wouldn’t appreciate being rushed through three courses and out of there.<\/p>\n

Good customer service is about meeting and exceeding expectations, so why not find out what those expectations are. This is particularly important where you are providing service to multicultural groups of customers but appreciated even within a culture.<\/p>\n

\"Facebook<\/a> Join our Matrix Management<\/strong> Group<\/a> \"Facebook<\/a> Follow us on Twitter<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cross-cultural customer service – is fast service good service?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-20287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","type-blog"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCross-cultural customer service - is fast service good service? - Global Integration<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Cross-cultural customer service - is fast service good service?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/cross-cultural-customer-service-is-fast-service-good-service\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cross-cultural customer service - is fast service good service?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Cross-cultural customer service - is fast service good service?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/cross-cultural-customer-service-is-fast-service-good-service\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Global Integration\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-03-21T00:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-03-21T08:16:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.buttonshut.com\/LinkedIn-Buttons\/LinkedIn-Buttons-81-41-.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kevan Hall\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kevan Hall\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/cross-cultural-customer-service-is-fast-service-good-service\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/cross-cultural-customer-service-is-fast-service-good-service\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kevan Hall\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3ad6577af9c33612e410fbcdc3ff2a9a\"},\"headline\":\"Cross-cultural customer service – is fast service good service?\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-03-21T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-03-21T08:16:50+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/cross-cultural-customer-service-is-fast-service-good-service\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":466,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/cross-cultural-customer-service-is-fast-service-good-service\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.buttonshut.com\\\/LinkedIn-Buttons\\\/LinkedIn-Buttons-81-41-.png\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/cross-cultural-customer-service-is-fast-service-good-service\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/cross-cultural-customer-service-is-fast-service-good-service\\\/\",\"name\":\"Cross-cultural customer service - is fast service good service? - Global Integration\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/cross-cultural-customer-service-is-fast-service-good-service\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/cross-cultural-customer-service-is-fast-service-good-service\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.buttonshut.com\\\/LinkedIn-Buttons\\\/LinkedIn-Buttons-81-41-.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-03-21T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-03-21T08:16:50+00:00\",\"description\":\"Cross-cultural customer service - is fast service good service?\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/cross-cultural-customer-service-is-fast-service-good-service\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/cross-cultural-customer-service-is-fast-service-good-service\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/cross-cultural-customer-service-is-fast-service-good-service\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.buttonshut.com\\\/LinkedIn-Buttons\\\/LinkedIn-Buttons-81-41-.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.buttonshut.com\\\/LinkedIn-Buttons\\\/LinkedIn-Buttons-81-41-.png\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/cross-cultural-customer-service-is-fast-service-good-service\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Cross-cultural customer service – is fast service good service?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"www.global-integration.com\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Global Integration\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/GI_logo_hero.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/GI_logo_hero.webp\",\"width\":312,\"height\":271,\"caption\":\"Global Integration\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/uk.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/global-integration\"],\"description\":\"Global Integration are a leading global training provider specializing in matrix management, cross-functional teams, remote, virtual and hybrid working. They provide highly interactive face-to-face, virtual and online learning delivered globally\",\"email\":\"kevan@global-integation.com\",\"foundingDate\":\"1994-04-01\",\"numberOfEmployees\":{\"@type\":\"QuantitativeValue\",\"minValue\":\"11\",\"maxValue\":\"50\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3ad6577af9c33612e410fbcdc3ff2a9a\",\"name\":\"Kevan Hall\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Kevan Hall\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/author\\\/kevan-hall\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Cross-cultural customer service - is fast service good service? - Global Integration","description":"Cross-cultural customer service - is fast service good service?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/cross-cultural-customer-service-is-fast-service-good-service\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Cross-cultural customer service - is fast service good service?","og_description":"Cross-cultural customer service - is fast service good service?","og_url":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/cross-cultural-customer-service-is-fast-service-good-service\/","og_site_name":"Global Integration","article_published_time":"2017-03-21T00:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-03-21T08:16:50+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.buttonshut.com\/LinkedIn-Buttons\/LinkedIn-Buttons-81-41-.png","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Kevan Hall","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kevan Hall","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/cross-cultural-customer-service-is-fast-service-good-service\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/cross-cultural-customer-service-is-fast-service-good-service\/"},"author":{"name":"Kevan Hall","@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3ad6577af9c33612e410fbcdc3ff2a9a"},"headline":"Cross-cultural customer service – is fast service good service?","datePublished":"2017-03-21T00:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2020-03-21T08:16:50+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/cross-cultural-customer-service-is-fast-service-good-service\/"},"wordCount":466,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/cross-cultural-customer-service-is-fast-service-good-service\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.buttonshut.com\/LinkedIn-Buttons\/LinkedIn-Buttons-81-41-.png","inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/cross-cultural-customer-service-is-fast-service-good-service\/","url":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/cross-cultural-customer-service-is-fast-service-good-service\/","name":"Cross-cultural customer service - is fast service good service? - Global Integration","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/cross-cultural-customer-service-is-fast-service-good-service\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/cross-cultural-customer-service-is-fast-service-good-service\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.buttonshut.com\/LinkedIn-Buttons\/LinkedIn-Buttons-81-41-.png","datePublished":"2017-03-21T00:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2020-03-21T08:16:50+00:00","description":"Cross-cultural customer service - is fast service good service?","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/cross-cultural-customer-service-is-fast-service-good-service\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/cross-cultural-customer-service-is-fast-service-good-service\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/cross-cultural-customer-service-is-fast-service-good-service\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.buttonshut.com\/LinkedIn-Buttons\/LinkedIn-Buttons-81-41-.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.buttonshut.com\/LinkedIn-Buttons\/LinkedIn-Buttons-81-41-.png"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/cross-cultural-customer-service-is-fast-service-good-service\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Cross-cultural customer service – is fast service good service?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/","name":"www.global-integration.com","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/#organization","name":"Global Integration","url":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GI_logo_hero.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GI_logo_hero.webp","width":312,"height":271,"caption":"Global Integration"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/uk.linkedin.com\/company\/global-integration"],"description":"Global Integration are a leading global training provider specializing in matrix management, cross-functional teams, remote, virtual and hybrid working. They provide highly interactive face-to-face, virtual and online learning delivered globally","email":"kevan@global-integation.com","foundingDate":"1994-04-01","numberOfEmployees":{"@type":"QuantitativeValue","minValue":"11","maxValue":"50"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3ad6577af9c33612e410fbcdc3ff2a9a","name":"Kevan Hall","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Kevan Hall"},"url":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/author\/kevan-hall\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20287"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20287\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}