VISITORS to Steamboat Springs, Colorado, like it well enough but not well enough to recommend it to their friends.

The town's small business organisation found its rate of visitor satisfaction in a survey came in at 68 out of 100 - with much of the feedback focusing on poor customer service.

The New York Times report on sales tax collection puts Steamboat Springs ahead of Crested Butte and behind Telluride. What they lack in customer service they make up for in mellifluous monikers.

So, while business owners weren't overly concerned from a financial point of view, the Steamboat Springs Chamber Resort Association, decided to give the entire town customer service training.

A group of restaurant staff were schooled in "the connection stack", a set of five questions designed to help staff find common ground with customers. The next time a waiter asks you about your hobbies, you'll know his jig is up. I imagine there must be some kind of nuance to this. "Excuse, me, could I have a glass of water?" "Where do you travel?"

The newly connected staff were sent back to their organisation to train others in turn. It's apparently had the effect of making everyone friendlier. Even the "notoriously cranky lift operators" loosened up. "It was like they hired a bunch of grumpy old men" said one resident. "Now it's like the same old men, but they're friendly."

Sadly, friendliness has not been enough: the latest survey has shown the town's score slip further, to 67.

I'm not sure people really want friendly interactions. Most people are suspicious of their fellow man. If your lift operator asks you where you went to school, you'd want to know what his game was.

In Starbucks I give the name Marsha for my cup of coffee. Despite taking a great interest in people, it's a one-way street. I want to know all about them, but I'd rather keep myself to myself. There's nothing worse than someone you don't know pretending to be your pal and making a hash of it because they're repeatedly pronouncing your name wrong. There's something creepy about it. A customer justs wants to be served well, quickly and by someone smart. If I wanted a chum to help me, I'd call one.

It's no surprise customer service training hasn't helped Steamboat Springs' ratings rise. If you have to train people to be friendly then you're probably training people who are in the wrong job to start with.