Yesterday was my BIRTHDAY – what a great day of the year!! I took most of the day off to spend with my wife and family and had a fabulous time. BTW, presents are still being accepted if you would like to send one. 🙂
It seems like no matter what you do, there is always a connection in some way to customer experiences, expectations and promises – and yesterday was no exception. It started when I realized I had to get my drivers license renewed -ugh, always hate that process. There I was, sitting in the hard plastic chairs, holding number 42 and only number 28 is showing as being served – going to be a long wait. But fortunately many of the people got tired and left so it only took me an hour from start to finish – wow, an hour of wasted time, other than e-mail on my phone. I was watching the lady at the counter “abuse” all the customers as they came up. All she was looking for was what was wrong with their applications or documents or anything else – obviously a very unhappy person or having a very bad day.
I was dreading having to deal with her because no one escaped her wrath. But then again, I am the “customer guy” so i figured I could win her over or at least point out what she was doing to everyone – like she would really care. But, as luck turns out (it was my birthday after all), she left on break just before my number was called. The lady that replaced her was an exact opposite – friendly, cracking jokes and making you feel like a real person. Wow, what a difference. I personally viewed what we have been talking about for years – “Random acts of Excellence and Chaos” all in one meeting! What a difference and it made me realize what customers go through every day with companies and why they defect continuously .
The moral of the story is two fold. First, don’t wait until your birthday to renew your license and waste an hour of the most special day for any person, the day they were born. Second, really, really be careful when you are looking at your own company to see if you are following the same pattern – having people that are really nice and really crabby serving the same customer. Believe me, the CUSTOMER NOTICES and you will wonder why they suddenly left. Customer don’t want random acts – they want CONSISTENCY and if you can’t deliver this, you can be sure they will defect and leave – giving you no reason or a lame one as to avoid the controversy. So do an introspection of your own company and be honest about it – are you delivering “random acts of excellence and chaos” or are you “consistent” – I hope for consistency.
Blaine
