July 21, 2006
On a recent 11-hour family car trip I came upon a great example of what's wrong with customer service these days. It seems, as the old saying goes, you can't find good help these days. This trip was no exception.
We were about 2 hours from home after a week-long trip that took us through three states. It was about 9:15 at night and I knew I needed a small cup of coffee to help take me that final leg of the trip. I pulled off the interstate at a desolate section of the corridor and pulled into one of only two gas stations open as far as the eye could see. I walked into the first station and placed my cup under an automatic coffee machine. Nothing. I looked over at the two-top Bunn machine. Nothing. I asked the girl behind the counter if they were planning on making any more coffee. “Not this close to closing,” she said. I looked up at the clock on the wall. It was 9:17. They close at 9:30? I asked myself. That seems rather odd. On a weekend, no less.
I shrugged, headed back out to the car and pulled across the street to gas station number two. As I was entering, the young lady was holding the doormat and beating it with a broom while having some words with a man mounting a motorcycle. As I found the coffee machine and proceeded to fill my cup, she came in cussing under her breath.
“What's wrong,” I asked her. “I just cleaned that doormat and that idiot just wiped the mud on his boats on it.” Better than to track mud into the store, I thought, but didn't dare say.
“I'm glad to see you have coffee,” I said, to break the tension. “I just stopped at the station across the street and they didn't have any. They said it was too close to closing time. Do they close at 9:30?” She looked at me and grinned one of those half smiles, half smirks. “They're not supposed to,” she said. “They're supposed to stay open until 10 but they always cut the lights off at 9:30. That means all the interstate traffic pours into my store because everyone knows gas stations close at 10.” I didn't know that but I didn't tell her. “So, that's good news for you guys, huh?” I said, as I added creamer. “Heck, no. Just means I have to work later. I get paid the same if I work 8 hours or if I work 10.”
I approached the counter and reached in my pocket. “Aw, it's on me,” she said. “You sure?” She waved her hand. “Thanks,” I said.
As I drove along I thought about the disastrous business models I had witnessed. Store number one couldn't wait to close, even if it meant running customers away. Store number two begrudgingly stayed open - but don't dare wipe your feet before you come in. Neither, I'm sure, had any stake in the success or failure of either store and that's the owner's fault. In my business, I'm paid according to my success. If I don't continually succeed, I'm out of a job. We're quick to blame bad service on the employee giving it, and they certainly should share the blame. But the major source of bad service is the business owner. Either they create an environment for bad service or they tolerate it. It's no small wonder that 95 percent of new businesses fail. How I long for the days when the customer was king.