I was contacted about being on TV to talk about it. They wanted me to represent the side he should not be in jail. Here were the points I was prepared to make:

• What would drive a veteran employee to do this?
• Employees are feeling more disempowered every day
• Rude customers feel no compunction about swearing or hitting employees. Why do they feel they have that right? Because they are usually rewarded with their discount, return or other special favor due to their bad behavior. Employees are disposable as long as they get their way.  That goes for how they treat teachers in the classroom to servers in a restaurant.
• This story is the canary in the mine; a wake up call to management feeling they can “get more from less employees.” Reality is, less is still less. While your employee might seem ok, it may take its toll on their home life, school or their workplace.
• Management’s goal should be to ask the questions like, “Tell me what frustrates you about your job.” Then listen and work to correct.
• Only by having the dialogue can you short circuit the “I’m mad as hell and not going to take it any more.”

Within 2 hrs the appearance was canceled due to the stock market dropping 200+ points. That afternoon people were calling Slater a “hero,” wishing “I could do that,” and lifting him up as an “everyman.”

He got a Facebook fan page; his 15 minutes of fame spread.

His actions allowed a bunch of people who feel stuck and trapped in their lives feel better about the fact they are doing nothing to change. That’s when I decided to start digging further; something just didn’t ring true.

Slater was called a name by a passenger and then over the loud speaker demanded an apology? She didn’t. That’s why he snapped?

As I saw video interviews with him, I heard him say that “I’d been thinking about doing something like this for 20 years.”

Hmmm.

Then came the revelation in the WSJ that passengers found him bleeding before they boarded. And no “abusive young woman” passenger has been found or anyone to corroborate his story. Now there is more evidence casting doubt on this guy’s story.

What’s a business owner to think?  My revised opinion on this guy is now:

• He is no hero to anyone.
• As the facts come up we find an unstable person trying to give the appearance of normalcy in a demanding position.
• The antics he used to quit were premeditated. He did not just “snap.”
• I’m just surprised the jerk didn’t video himself with an iPhone and Tweet about it.

Yes customer service is demanding but let’s not hold this guy up as the canary in the mine. He’s just looking to get on a reality show. Or a beer endorsement while “Take this job and shove it” plays in the background.

Do you have an employee about to “go off?”

When I was growing up, comedians used to call it “going postal” because of a rash of postal workers shooting other employees. Will we now laugh about an employee “going Slater?” I hope not.

Here are three clues you might use to decide if an employee is really happy:

1. When they are on break or behind your counter, do they talk about customers like they are jerks yet over-helpful to customers’ faces? Look, we can all have a few laughs occasionally about situations but if your employees regularly enter this banter it probably means they hold your customers with contempt – and probably you.
2. Do they always have “their side of the story” when something goes wrong with a customer? If they are intractable and feel superior, it is another sign you probably don’t have a team player.
3. Do they take demanding situations personally, like a customer is attacking them? You probably have a disempowered employee. These are the ones who don’t mention that the item might be damaged while selling it, telling the customer anything to get the sale or spitting in the food before they serve it. (See my post on Dominos in NC for worse.)

OK readers of the book, where do the personalities come into play with this? Glad you asked.

Slater is what kind of employee? Clues from his videos since the event: Look at me. You have to respect me. A (possible) charmer looking to make a statement.

Yep, an Expressive.

Amiables would never stand out that much – they might get hurt going down the slide, what would their mom think seeing it on the news?

Analyticals would never do this. Take a career and throw it and all the benefits away? Doesn’t make sense.

Drivers would never do that because their eyes are on how this would affect a carefully crafted plan to retire, use the travel perks and their position on various JetBlue committees. How would they explain this?

OK so as we’ve talked about before, Expressives can be a handful – that’s why you don’t want a lot of them. And they do need to be managed. Closely.

But that’s no reason to assume all Expressives will be problems. Remember their high risk tolerance can make them the sparkplug for your crew. (Expressives aren’t so hard to notice as this woman on the left shows at the Minneapolis airport demonstrates.)

So final thoughts, Slater is a cautionary tale about hiring, training and how a story you think you have an opinion on can be fluid.

“Now as a JetBlue flight attendant, Mr. Harris, 56, says he thinks of himself more as a “security chaperone” than a flight attendant. He says he teaches younger flight attendants a fire fighter’s tactic—how to vary the tone and volume of their voice to get and keep someone’s attention.”

Further, Chief Executive David Barger said, “People who don’t get too high and don’t get too low, you want that in areas where decisions have to be made.”

Note: The annual risk of being killed in a plane crash is about 1 in 11 million. Compare that to the risk of being killed in a car crash which is about 1 in 5,000.

Jetblue’s implied emphasis on emergencies is a far cry from the Mad Men era when intelligence and good sense as well as beauty were required for these positions. In that era it was about serving the customer. (OK in Mad Men it means sleeping with the first class customers. But that’s not my point.)

It’s not just airlines hiring the ex-military…

Home Depot has been known for hiring ex-armed services guys and gals four years.  Several years ago in a Bloomberg cover story subtitled, “Skip the touchy-feely stuff. The big-box store is thriving under CEO Bob Nardelli’s military style rule,” it  too cited 9/11 and the “battle” analogy.

“And if his company starts to look and feel like an army, that’s the point. Nardelli loves to hire soldiers. ..Recruits such as Ray “understand the mission,” says Nardelli. “It’s one thing to have faced a tough customer. It’s another to face the enemy shooting at you. So they probably will be pretty calm under fire.” You can read the full story here.

This got me to thinking: Is customer service a battle? If so, who are the enemies?

What is it about former police officers, firefighters and others in the armed services that makes them perfect for their roles in these organizations? I’m sure they do as their told. They follow procedure. They can handle bad things. They are fine employees and no offense or judgement of them personally or as a group intended.

But are their experiences a good fit for customer service?

I guess that depends as Bill Clinton would say, “On what your definition of IS, is.”

To me, customer service is making the customer – yes not that overused, over-hyped BS of “guests” – feel at that moment of interaction, they are the most important person in the world.

Have you gotten that at Home Depot? Not me. (See my earlier post.) Jetblue? Efficient- yes. But isn’t their value proposition CHEAP? Is that customer service? Or just doing the same beige thing well?

Customer service is not what happens when something goes wrong – that’s damage control.

Great customer service isn’t:

• Getting my money back on something I wore once to a party.
• Being able to return something for cash without a receipt.
• Getting free shipping.
• Getting my way for a discount because I think I deserve it.
• Giving me a gift with purchase after I am rung up, and not telling me prior.
• Asking if I have a coupon at the register. Especially when I don’t.
• Treating me like cattle, as an imposition or something to have to “deal with.” That shows by your face, your tone, your words – or lack thereof.

Great customer service is:

• Welcoming me to your store
• Connecting with me as a person first, then as a customer.
• Offering me a brief store tour if it is my first time.
• Knowing everything about a product and offering information when you see I’m considering it.
• Being a chameleon and matching your approach to my personality.
• Pointing out options prior to me reaching the counter.
• Suggesting additional items that will save me time, put my project or outfit together or enhance my experience without me asking and thus saving me a trip back or a lower satisfaction level with my chosen product or service.
• Thanking me for me patronizing your store. Could be a handwritten note, an email or just, “Thank you for shopping with us today. Hope to see you again soon.”

These are by no means all of what it takes to deliver service but for me, helping people have a better experience prior to a return – or God forbid a crash – is what it’s about.

This has nothing to do with the military, it has to do with how businesses look at customers, their experiences and creating exceptional experiences. We the customers aren’t the enemy.

What say you?

Learn how to make your customer service exceptional.

I was at the checkout counter of my local market and saw the August issue of Woman’s Day magazine with a cover story, “Shop Smart: Tricks Stores Use and How To Avoid Them.”

The premise and tone peaked my curiosity so I purchased it. (You can read the full story on their website which they have taken down a notch to become, “12 Spending Schemes We Fall For.”)

The first thing that got me was how the article tapped into the lack mentality that there was some “they” retailer out to do poor “you” the customer wrong.

Author Mary Hunt let’s you know right off that she’s “no fool.” She implies that you, dear reader are because you haven’t noticed what she does with her disciplined approach to shopping. Aah, the dirty truths of retail.

Her basic premise is that companies who hire Paco Underhill and his company Envirosell to find the best ways to merchandise their stores and grow sales to be something akin to snake oil salesmen taking advantage of gullible shoppers. Since I too help retailers merchandise, train staff, market and more with my consulting practice, I took offense.

If you’ve read my book, The Retail Doctor’s Guide to Growing Your Business (Wiley) or read this blog for awhile, you know how I feel the four personalities help us understand behavior.

The Four Personalities
Here’s a brief rundown: The Driver – think Gordon Ramsey, the Analytical – think Mr. Spock from Star Trek, the Expressive – think Jack Sparrow of the movie Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Amiable – think Norm from Cheers. (You can take a quick quiz to discover yours for free here.)

Ms. Hunt, an obvious Analytical is tapping into the worst fears of Amiables – being taken advantage of, failure by not understanding risk and not being “smart.”

That’s why Amiables frequently shop with others or defer to friends/significant others to make decisions. They also appreciate shopping where it feels like home rather than a sterile warehouse. To Ms. Hunt, retailers are luring such shoppers into debt.

Her Tips
To an Analytical, it is just logic that keeps them from being misled and her tips follow that same line of thinking such as:

• Don’t browse, just get what you need and leave.
• Don’t follow patterns in the carpeting – make your own path.
• Don’t touch it if you won’t buy it.
• Only bring enough cash for what you “need.”
• Don’t look around at other departments.
• Seek help only if you need it.
• Keep track of prices.

While this may make Ms. Hunt feel smart, it is simply not the way people shop and it shows the wide gulf between Analyticals and Amiables. We’re not talking someone with a gambling or alcohol problem here where one roll of the dice, one swig could land them in rehab; we’re talking about what should be a pleasurable experience.

For an Analytical personality, all shopping is a necessity, not a pleasure. They seem to believe someone somewhere has the lowest price; they don’t want to pay more so they will research things more than the other three personalities. Contrary to some assumptions, they are not cheap but spend their money in a frugal manner for things that are important to them. That’s who they are. That’s how they approach life. That’s fine.

Amiables on the other hand, the ones who read such magazines, are primarily concerned with their families and their friends. They don’t want to feel stupid and so some will follow her advice, I’m sure.

The Reality
Here’s the rub – many of the things Ms. Hunt calls out as warnings are intended to make the experience better for those shoppers.

To me, a Driver personality, Ms. Hunt’s suggestions like “take note of a store’s colors. Just being aware of them helps you take control,” her assertion that Food Courts are there to “keep you at the mall,” and her instructions to “forget the cart or opt for the smallest one” are just plain weird.

Do retailers work to increase sales? Of course. It’s called capitalism. Do they merchandise various things together? Yes, so customers buy all of their needs from the one store – cosmetics, shoes, the purse and the dress. It makes it EASIER on the customer.

Macy’s for example doesn’t want a customer who just plunked down $150 for an outfit to get home and find no shoes to go with it, forcing the customer to have to get back in her car to try and find a pair that match. Or discover her lipstick has run low. Or a hundred other time-savers. And land at a competitor.

How you're being told to shop

I was particularly baffled at Ms. Hunt’s suggestion to “only seek help if you really need it.”

What would that mean using her tips?

Keep looking around a store aimlessly trying to find something and then, only after you’ve not touched anything, with your hands full, eyes straight ahead like a horse with blinders would you ask for help.

Ridiculous.

I told you this might be long and a bit of a rant.

Now retailers, what if you have an Analytical personality on your sales floor? Think they are going to upsell? Owners, what if you have a CMO who is touting the “value” meal? How about organizing your store so people can “get in and get out” quickly – is that going to build profits?

What say you?

I came out of the terminal and the bus was there. Got on, put my baggage on the stand and sat down.  As the bus pulled away from the curb the driver, Mary introduced herself and then casually said as she navigated the traffic, ”Welcome to Los Angeles ladies and gentlemen, you are on bus 67.  It will be approximately five minutes to the station.

When you return to LAX, remember to get off at Century Boulevard. Proceed south to the Marriott you see right there, turn right, we’re four blocks up on the right.”

About this time we came to the bus entrance and she said, “A few reminders that our rental car return is one block up from here. Exit Century Boulevard to the Marriot and turn right. If you fly internationally allow 3 hours prior to departure and domestic 2. If you are a #1 Club member you’ll see your name on the display, if not, proceed to the counter.  It’s been a pleasure to have you on my bus.”

She got up to help anyone with bags and again thanked them. As the last person to leave, I told her she was the reason I would return to Hertz in Los Angeles. What a gracious and pleasant way to end a day’s journey.  ”You made my day. Can I take your picture for my blog?”

She replied, “Well you just made my day, of course.”

What a huge difference from the Hertz experience I had a year ago.

This person enjoyed meeting people. Her job. Her life.  And it showed.

Contrast that to the Dunne Reade clerk I met Saturday morning. With no one in line I approached the counter where a young woman was counting change and placed my Diet Coke in front of her. “Next register,” as she pointed to the register to her left about 2 feet away. I grabbed the Coke and moved it 24 inches. She took it, said, “$2.25” and scanned it. I gave her $3 and held out my hand for change. She put the 75¢ on the counter and looked away. I had to say, “Could you have given worse customer service?” She stared at me. Doubtful.

Two thoughts:
When you receive exceptional service, please go out of your way to tell others. If we want more diamonds we need them to know they are not coal.

Your brand, your image are the people at the front lines, not some mission statement, cute display or fancy catalogue.

More on that second one in tomorrow’s blog about Abercrombie & Fitch.

What diamond experiences have you had lately?

Like spotting a friendly face in a crowded room, you went in with your heart open to what awaited.

When you moved through the door, no one noticed you. Not in a stalker at a bar way but just a simple glance, a head nod or even a friendly, “Hello.”

As you moved through the store your energy level began to wane, like a spurned lover you become aware of the time you were spending with no notice from the other person.

And then something amazing happens…

A clerk comes over and your heart picks up a bit. Maybe they do notice me, your subconscious rejoices. Nope, you hear, “How are you today?” You politely respond, “Fine,” and the robot dance is on.

“Finding everything alright?” they might ask. And you find yourself shut down into scripted replies like, “Yes, I’m just looking.” At which point they robotically say, “If you need anything, just let me know.” And you finish the dance with, “Thank you.”

Is it a wonder merch sits on the shelf?!

Oh and you can substitute just about any doctor’s office, receptionist, hotel clerk, government service – you name it business type – they are all just as guilty. But I have to ask you as a consumer …

Aren’t you tired of the “act-like-you-give-a-damn-about-the person in-front-of-you-and-repeat-the-same senseless-crap-every-single-time” dance?

I’m sure if you were to ask them or their owner, those employees would say they were being “polite” and “not pushy.” In reality they are rude as a guy sneezing into his hands and offering to shake your hands.

Why? Because they are not valuing the person in front of them!

I’ve been known to reply to the robot dance question, “Let me know if I can help you find something” with “A million dollars in tens and twenties.” Some will laugh and snap out of the robot dance and laugh and share.  Some will guffaw and say nothing. Still others will have no response. That’s because they are dead.

Dead from too much rejection from customers. Dead from too much rejection from family. Dead from too much rejection of themselves.

You can’t have these energy vampires on your sales floor!  As customers, we don’t want to have to endure the robot dance. We want sun sources who can meet us as we step through the door.

Is that so hard?

But wait…

Is it any wonder human relations managers scratch their heads trying to come up with something to “motivate” these robots? Contests? Bonuses? Commissions? “Team building?” They know they have to do something but like a bad archer they keep missing the target.

They have to give the skills for how to make each interaction special. Not just scripted, for that can lead to my earlier post about the white shirt customer.

Tinker with employees engagement skills based on something like my Five Parts to a Successful Sale and you’ll break down the robot encounters.  It is not the employees job to “figure it out” as it is a monkey-see-monkey-do world.

Only when we stop the robot dance can we truly serve a customer, by becoming human.Until that happens, enjoy the piles of merch on your floor – they aren’t going anywhere fast.

What do you say?

He was in a high-end retail shop. Spotted a white shirt, decided to try it on. Came out of the dressing room and the salesperson said, “Wow, that shirt looks great on you.” Randy took notice, felt good at being complimented on his choice, picked up another and returned to the dressing room.

He came out, stood in front of the mirror and the salesman again said, “Wow, you look great in that shirt.” At first he thought, wow, two in a row.

Then he saw a woman come out of the dressing room next to his and the salesman said, you guessed it, “Wow you look great in that.” Randy returned to the dressing room, removed the shirt and left with nothing.

My Take
You can see from one aspect that the salesman was doing a great job of complimenting the customer. He aced his training and if there were no one else in the store, he might – might – have gotten away with it.

But the fact is, he didn’t. Why? Because he was either trained to say the exact same thing or became lazy or never was educated how to mix it up. That’s a shame because the concept was right, just the implementation.

As you know, I train the Five Parts to a Successful Sale in my speeches, on my DVDs and in my new book. One of the parts I like to be the same is “Good morning, good afternoon or good evening.” I think it sets the stage that it is different than the rest of stores who are silent or can only say, “Can I help you?” It could be changed up I suppose but then I might just get, “How’s it hangin’ dude?” or “How are you today?” Both of which are unacceptable.

The reason so many people struggle with training is that we often make much of it like we were writing computer code, “If this… then do this.” The reality is you can’t script every interaction perfectly. That’s why you also need to hire people who can be trained to a higher level of education.

Once you train someone, you have to educate them on the why you want it done a certain way. Not because “I told you so,” but that it makes a better experience for the customer. Once they understand your goal is to honestly help customers choose from your merchandise, you’ll never hear the same thing twice because every customer is different.

Training is only the first step, high sales come from educating.

Learn more about how to improve your business.

Turns out we did need brakes and a brake fluid change, so that brought our original estimate of $94 to the final total of $608.

Just two days after that service, I received coupons in my email from the dealer.  I could have saved $40 with those coupons!  I called the dealership and after the phone continued to ring unanswered, my husband and I decided to go in and ask them to credit the $40.We spotted the service guy who normally helps us and told him what we wanted.

He said, ‘I can’t do anything about it.’  Hubby says, ‘We want to see the service manager.’

Service guy says, ‘Just talk to so and so since he wrote it up.  There isn’t any need to talk to the manager.’

So and so says, ‘I can’t do anything about that’  (Oh, that just escalated my boiling point right there.)  I said, ‘Then call the manager.  This is ridiculous.’

He went to talk to the manager, came back and said, ‘$20 credit on future servicing is all he’ll do.  You can only use one coupon.  With the new management, we’re following all the rules.’

I replied, ‘You are telling me, as a 6 year LOYAL customer, that I am not worth saving for an additional $20?  Forget it.  We’re done.  We won’t be coming back and we SURE won’t purchase another car here.’  And with that, we left.

Within 2 hours, we received a call saying that we would get a $40 credit towards a future servicing.  However, I don’t feel warm and fuzzy about the dealership.

Just goes to show that you can really damage a good thing over something that, in the scheme of things, was very little.  I’m sure you hear this all the time.  If only these companies would get a clue.”  – Dian

My Take
What struck me first about this story was that she was talking about 6% of the total order being refunded.  You can bet their cost of acquiring a new customer is probably five or more fold.

As longtime readers of my blog know, I am not a fan of couponing.  I think it often causes problems – usually in regards to loyal customers.

BUT if you’re going to offer them, if you made the decision to give away money to people who will use them, then darnit, don’t pull back from honoring your coupons!  You aren’t losing anything!

Jeez, from Dian’s story you’d think she was asking them to give the store away when in actuality, it was less than the tax on the total bill.

Secondly, if you have a CYA culture that is disempowered you will get customers railing against you on Yelp, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube – even blogs.

Couple that with Analytical personalities who only see black and white and you have a recipe for disappointing many customers as they follow the letter of the law.  (See my post last week about the Analytical manager who stood in my way of a refund.)

What’s particularly ridiculous is their offer of $40 in future service.  Heck, they should have refunded the $40 and given ‘em the $40 towards future service in a personal phone call from the manager or new owner.  A bonus would have been a gas card to pay for their trouble to come in in the first place because no on answered the phone.

Instead Dian has told me and I’ve told thousands of you her story.

What say you coupon givers?  Was Dian being unreasonable?  Should coupons be absolutely verboten on previous purchases?  And how does that compare to your local Macy’s, Nordstrom or Best Buy?

Don’t make the same mistakes your competitors do when hiring; learn about the four personalities in my new book, The Retail Doctor’s Guide to Growing Your Business.

As a matter of fact, a manager I took over from one January had held all of his refunds from Christmas in the bottom of the till so they wouldn’t count against his end of the year bonus.  You can’t do that nowadays.

I went into the Price chopper grocery store a few weeks ago with two bottles of fiber pills. My hound Hallie Mae’s vet prescribed them for her to help with digestion. I had purchased these two to six weeks ago and hadn’t noticed they were actually laxatives with fiber – not what was needed.  (Think the chili scene from Mr. Mom. )My goal was a simple exchange but they didn’t have any so I went to the “Customer Service” counter where three employees were waiting.

Why don’t they just call it a “Damage Control” counter? Customer service happens prior to the sale. Damage control is what happens after. In this case, it was “Cost Control” counter.

I was surprised when the guy told me he had to look through every day of the week for the past month to try to find the transaction.  He suggested I go do my shopping and come back. OK

Turns out he couldn’t find my transaction in the past month. Because of that they couldn’t give me a refund. I suggested since I was one of their loyalty card members, could he find it that way he replied, “No.” I suggested just a credit towards my purchase.

One of the three proudly pointed to their return policy that anything over $10 needed manager approval so they called over an older guy with Manager on his name tag.  He said, “Can’t do it without receipt. I don’t make the policies I just have to enforce them. You can call the number on the register tape if you want.”

OK, lets back up; I was buying about $160 worth of the groceries again. I live about ½ hour away from this place.   They do a lot of advertising on Yankees games and other networks.

Could this have been your store? A manager so tightly wrapped that all he could see was what they were losing or what the policy was.  He was an Analytical personality that couldn’t see it from the shopper’s standpoint.

The likelihood of me having picked up two of the exact same thing to try to take from them was probably not the right way to look at it; especially if you’re a manager.

I told him, “Look, I’m going to call that number and complain. You don’t have to do this, you could just make this go away and give me a credit,” but he refused. I was nice, not screaming or making a scene.

It surprises me that 30 years later we have a dis-empowered manager looking at what they are losing.  In this case, it means they’ve hired people they don’t trust. Or they’re hiring them for a different reason than customer service, which is to follow the letter of the law and limit damages.

A few more points about this encounter with Price Chopper:

• They were making an employee physically look up a transaction, which a simple scan could have confirmed.
• Even if I did steal it, which I’m telling you I didn’t, giving the customer a store credit means they minimized any potential loss by at least half than if refunding a purchase.
• This was a loyal customer doing a return, which they could see by reviewing their loyalty card records.

Why wouldn’t a manager just start from thinking maybe this is the one in a million who is trying to take advantage of us but at least he’s coming back.

But no the “manager” locked his horns and set the customer up to feel like a jerk.  The 3 people at the customer service counter also were made to see how stupid the customer looked or worse given the message that customers are out to screw us over and we need to hold firm.

But it’s 2010. Isn’t it time we realized that customers generally are not out to get us and we can get more bees with honey instead of giving them the stinger?

PS-  I finally got a call from the store manager apologizing after I received a letter from corporate restating company policy.

A few weeks ago, a colleague of mine James Bickers Senior Editor at Retail Customer Experience, shared a story that I thought was particularly good. “Just down the road from my house is a great, locally owned, independent comic book shop that used to be one of my frequent haunts. Recently I’ve gone back in to reconnect with a hobby that I once loved.

The owner, an unassuming and quiet fellow named Doug, is there virtually all of the time. He has a deep love for and knowledge of his product, and is always happy to make suggestions about what to read next, based on what you’ve previously enjoyed.

Doug does something else that I didn’t notice at first, a powerful little trick of language: When he’s handing you your purchase and change, he leaves you with a phrase that, for lack of a better term, is a command to come back.

He doesn’t say, ‘Come see us again!’ or ‘Thanks, please come again!’ or any of the common parting shots. No, he says, confidently, ‘You’ll be back’ or ‘You’ll enjoy” or ‘You’ll come back for more soon!’”

Notice the level of specificity in his parting shot. He planted the seed for my next purchase by spelling it out for me. Much more effective is a simple and direct statement of what value the customer received, why they will want to receive it again, and what they will come back for.”

Giving thought to what employees should say as customers leave is something most of us never consider when trying to build sales. I’m reminded of my first sales training in footwear when I was in college. After you were all done and the order was paid for you’d move out from behind the counter and say something like, “Now let me show you your next pair.”

Set the right expectation and you’ve planted a seed for satisfaction and return sales.

I walked over to the counter and ordered a plain one. “$3.49 Sir.” I hadn’t expected it to be that much so I simply said in my kidding self, “It better be a great pretzel for that price.” The guy answered, “I can’t speak to that – I don’t like pretzels.”

I took the product and walked away. The pretzel was thin, warm but kinda stale. It’s almost like the kid knew it wasn’t up to snuff.

I then went back to the United counter to see if my upgrade had been cleared. With a few strokes of the keys the agent pronounced, ” I can’t deal with this new crap we got to do. I just can’t do it for you. Where is the code I’m supposed to do? I can’t deal with this.” And on and on. She finally called another woman over who showed how to retrieve the information by entering the word “ALL.” Not before she had processed all her frustration in front of me.

News for managers: we don’t care what your employees have to go through to help the public and if they don’t use the product, they probably won’t have any respect for it being made or delivered properly.

What would have been the right thing to say for the pretzel guy? “We sell a lot of ‘em and if it isn’t the best pretzel you’ve eaten, we’ll either get you another or refund your purchase.”  What should the United gate agent have said? “Will you excuse me for a moment? I need to get help with this.”

How have simple courtesy and professionalism been obliterated? A world where the far right is on TV and in the papers red-faced screaming about the injustices they have to deal with and the far left is on TV and in the papers red-faced screaming about the injustices they have to deal with treating issues like they were people.

And you and your employees are watching it all – confirming every bad thing you may have thought on the politcal spectrum – not to inform but to remain part of the hive.

I entered a local drugstore a couple weeks ago to hear a woman bemoaning healthcare reform in the same soundbites as she had heard on Fox that morning. The pharmacist came out from behind the glass to loudly add his two cents, “What do you expect from a Muslim not even born in the US.?”

No wonder people bemoan customer service! How can you throw the switch from working yourself up about something you’ve seen on TV – equating any conflict to a personal dig – and then walk in to your store or restaurant and put the needs of your customers first?

How to deal with all of this? Tell your employees day one: keep your frustrations and opinions to yourself.

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