chrisbrogan.com - Latest Comments in Rage Against The Assembly Line

Re: Rage Against The Assembly Line

micro sd — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 03:35:22 -0000

I think people forget that without customers there would be no business and hence no job! Customer service with a smile and with a focus on them is what distinguishes one business from another and keeps a customer coming back! Managers have to be more in tuned to training their employees in this regard.

Re: Rage Against The Assembly Line

James Young — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 12:17:48 -0000

For every great retail experience I've had, this has been the case. Most experiences are fine, nothing special but not annoying at all. The experiences that stand out are the ones where there was a human connection made. I feel like for that to happen, both sides have to realize that we are both just humans doing something normal like being involved in a meal. There is no judgment on either side of the transaction. It's a recognition of "I'm here to enjoy a meal, and you're working to make my dining experience great," and that we've all been on the other side of the transaction at some point.

Re: Rage Against The Assembly Line

John Seiffer — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 09:29:02 -0000

You people are obviously extroverts. I don't want a relationship or a community with the person who makes my sandwich. I certainly don't want them to chat with me.

At a place like subway I just want a sandwich made quickly according to my choices.

I know I'm in the minority and that's why I'll never go into retail but keep in mind some people's boundaries are in a different place than others.

Re: Rage Against The Assembly Line

Rob O'Daniel — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 10:30:41 -0000

I'll tell you for a certainty that I do business with people - even if it their services aren't the least expensive - who treat me as a human, a friend. I've been using the same dry cleaners for more than a decade simply because they know my name and greet me with a smile. They're not the cheapest dry cleaners, but they're the ones I stick with.

I aspire to generate that same kind of loyalty with the people who I work with and for. And it takes so little to make others feel so valued - as a friend, customer, business associate, whatever. Make a little eye contact, ask a sincere "How're ya doing?" and take a dab of genuine interest.

Re: Rage Against The Assembly Line

Barbara Giamanco — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 10:11:14 -0000

Well, Chris you have certainly done it again! It drives me crazy when I head to check out of anystore USA and am faced with a surly cashier who can't muster a smile or a pleasant hello. It is as if I am an annoyance rather than the reason that they actually have a job.

Through the years, I've heard people say that "heck, you can't expect much from someone working minimum wage"...I say just what you did...BULL! If that's your attitude at minimum wage - that's going to be your attitude regardless of the money that you make. Early on I worked retail and did my stints as a restaurant server and in every case I went out of my way to deliver the best darn possible service ever. It isn't about how much you make - it's all about your attitude and your values and who you want to be as a person.

I agree - ditch the "poor me, my life sucks" assembly line attitudes! It's gotten pretty old and tiresome.

Re: Rage Against The Assembly Line

ssaadahmed — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 12:51:15 -0000

What would you rather have - 5 customers who would come back to you again and again or 10 customers out of which 3 might come back to you for the simple reason that they had no real bad experience. A question of whether "order qualifiers" would work just fine if there arent any "order winners" around. The truth is that as long as you are not doing anything terrible to the customer and there is no one who is differentiating himself by being the nicest guy you could buy from, you can do just fine being your grumpy self. However, Not everyone in the world around you would like to continue in the status quo. They would try with all their might to win your customer. So the option of sitting by yourself doesnt work anymore. The trick is - if your competitor wears a big smile, you stretch yours by another mile :)

Re: Rage Against The Assembly Line

DJ Waldow — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 12:37:02 -0000

Kill 'em with kindness. I use that approach and it works 84.7% of the time (give or take).

I totally agree that smiling goes a long, long way. Sometimes a joke or comment someone wasn't expecting also works.

I had a similar experience this weekend. My mom was in town this weekend. The 3 of us (mom, me, and my wife "the K-Dawg") decided to drive 20 miles to Park City. We were getting on the chair lift to head up to the top of the mountain. The attendant didn't even acknowledge our existence. Note: we were the *only ones* in line.

I smiled, said hello, and attempted a joke. FAIL. We saw her on the way down. I attempted again. This time, she cracked a smile (I think). A bit of "work" for me, but maybe I made her day a bit brighter. Maybe she told the story (my joke-fail) over dinner that night. Maybe it didn't even phase her. Either way, it was not much effort on my part.

Who knows, right?

--
DJ Waldow
Director of Community, Blue Sky Factory
@djwaldow

Re: Rage Against The Assembly Line

bgavin — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 10:15:57 -0000

In my self-centered opinion, I think the grocery cashier (or CVS clerk or fast food worker) should pay attention to me and not be talking on the cell phone or talking trash with the person running the next register or making plans for this evening with someone standing at the foot of the counter. When these things happen, I wonder if my business is important to the store.

Re: Rage Against The Assembly Line

bgavin — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 10:04:03 -0000

To me, the epitome of good customer service is Boloco, here in Boston.

Re: Rage Against The Assembly Line

Judy | mojo2Go — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 07:54:51 -0000

I'm working IT!!! !! In fact we filed for nonprofit status for a Community Civility Projects outreach business.... And since you're in the Boston area, hopefully you'll see some press on it once we officially launch. (BTW thanks for the follow ;D

One CAN make a difference.... and how much more effective our business relationships would be with our vendors and more over our customers if we just gave a shit about each other. And most certainly, the relationship in our communities will benefit.

I love this whole sharing platform!! It is such a kick in the pants.

Re: Rage Against The Assembly Line

The SME SEO — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 06:04:18 -0000

Not everyone would be happy with that rate. I don't know what it translates to in UK pounds. The happiest workers we have here in the UK in menial jobs tend to be the Polish, who can take their weekly wage, which is not very much, and send much of it home to Poland where after being exchanged for Polish Zlotys is worth four or five times as much. They work same as the Brits do, but they get rewarded far more for the same work.

Re: Rage Against The Assembly Line

RodGillies — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 04:52:55 -0000

Good point, I totally agree.

I was a pub manager (in the UK) for a long time. I like to think that generally my staff were friendly, fun and helped everyone have a good time. Why? Because that's what I was like, and that's what I thought was important. Everything to do with good service trickles down from the manager.

I have little patience for the "shifting units" approach to service which some people think applies when it's lower wages, or high volume / low value operations. We always said we were not selling beer, we were "renting out atmosphere". Whilst that's easier to get people to buy into in an entertainment-retail operation, it's really the main purpose of most retail offerings with any competition - to deliver the same commoditised product as everyone else, but in a more attractive environment.

Re: Rage Against The Assembly Line

David Bennett — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 03:37:31 -0000

"If your most loved relative or friend were on the other side of you, how would you treat them?"

A good thing to think for any situation.

:-)

Re: Rage Against The Assembly Line

Wendy Hagen — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 01:37:30 -0000

Don't mean to be terse but... agree.

Re: Rage Against The Assembly Line

dougmcisaac — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 00:09:08 -0000

There are several pieces to this service puzzle that would make it better:

Better attitude on the employees part:
yep I agree, when I served my time in the service business ( I think everyone should) it didn't matter if I was up all night, dead tired, just got yelled at by someone or didn't want to talk to another soul, I still turned it on and smiled and made sure that my customers had a good time. Because it was my job to make their night memorable.

Even today when I'm consulting, teaching or speaking, my audience could care less what happened to me before I step up to speak to them they expect and deserve to get 100% of everything I can deliver.

Better training on the manager's part:
Yep management should provide an environment where people want to have fun and enjoy their job, even if it's minimum wage. They need to show their employees that they care about them and train them to enjoy their jobs as much as humanly possible. If the employees feel supported and that management cares about them it will come through in their interactions with customers.

As a part two to management
I would add, better hiring on the part of the management. You need to put "people people" up front and non "people people" in the back. I worked in restaurants for years and I knew some extremely talented kitchen staff who would have made horrible wait staff because of their personalities.

Our part:
We need to do our best to make sure that every encounter we enter, we leave the people feeling better than when we arrived. That can be as simple as noticing something about the person and complimenting them on it. "Nice earrings..." or thanking them for a smile, it's amazing what sincere appreciation will get you. We need to remember that customer service person has been treated as an automaton for most of the day if not most of their lives. Give them a little kindness and you'll be grateful in the long run.

My thoughts,

Doug

Re: Rage Against The Assembly Line

Jim Gaudet — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 22:40:47 -0000

I couldn't say it better, Peter. As always, we return to Acceptance.

Re: Rage Against The Assembly Line

Benjamin Strong — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 21:52:04 -0000

Chris, I love Subway. I will even book a hotel on business around Subway locations. I should get a kickback. I agree with your suggestions and offer this. When I was a professional paramedic in a very tough neighborhood I used to greet all my patients (customers) the same way. "Hi, my name is Ben and I am a paramedic," I would add "What made you give us a call today?" and unless the person was shot or about to die it usually helped the situation. I would even tell my interns that the most important skill was to identify yourself, be cheerful, smile, and help defuse the situation. Make the patient comfortable. The same could be said for the folks at Subway.

At one of the Subways near my office the staff plays a little game. They are treated rather poorly by the Wall Street crowd and will ask ridiculous questions just to see if the customer is listening. Often the customers aren't. I have heard the staff say "What bread would you like," and so on until they let out "Would you like a poke in the eye with a sharp stick?" and the customer will often say "Um, sure"

I just laugh and usually joke back with the staff.

I always try and treat people as I would like to be treated. Being grumpy, anxious, or just plain rude doesn't do anyone any favors.

The service industry AND customers need to be nice to each other, or someone may get an eye poked out!

Re: Rage Against The Assembly Line

Peter Mis — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 21:44:18 -0000

Is there anything more important than us rising up, given the condition of our world right now? It is up to us...

Judy, let the revolution begin!

Re: Rage Against The Assembly Line

Winnie — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 21:27:31 -0000

Thank You for this post Chris ... I had jobs in retail for the past 30+ years and I know it's not easy, but anyone can make it fun !!! I know I most certainly did at times :-)

Had I been at your side with that person handling you in that way, had it been me, I more then likely would have said YES, I want some bread for my Sandwich, and of course some meat, cheese, vinegar, peppers etc ... You get the point and hopely she would have too ... LOL

Everyone needs to learn or find a way to make it fun, not only for themselves, but for everyone they come in contact with ... Once again, Thank You for this post ... It's inspired me in more ways then you may imagine!!!

Winnie :-)

Re: Rage Against The Assembly Line

Judy | mojo2Go — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 20:09:38 -0000

I'm in!!

Re: Rage Against The Assembly Line

Peter Mis — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 20:00:54 -0000

"Rise up. We can do better. All of us. (Me especially.)"

To me, this should be a mantra for society. We all need to step up and maximize our contribution. We have an obligation to rise up and do better. We have a responsibility to ourselves and to each other to live up to our potential, whatever that potential is. Let's accept the challenge of doing better by simply doing better.

Re: Rage Against The Assembly Line

Jim Gaudet — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 19:31:37 -0000

It must be the Law of Attraction. Since I am having a great day, you should too. :)

Please make sure to keep that feeling for the rest of your Sunday. And in 3 weeks, we can all be happy that the NFL season is here.

Re: Rage Against The Assembly Line

Judy | mojo2Go — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 19:11:25 -0000

Ahhhh ... YOU 'thejimgaudet' have made what was a most average, and good day, really great!! See it worked aready!! ;)

Re: Rage Against The Assembly Line

Jim Gaudet — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 19:04:35 -0000

F!@#ing A Judy, right on. You just made me think and I love that.

I can say for myself, that I TRY to make sure I am listening and paying attention to the one I am talking to. I have seen many people do what you say, get in line at Taco Bell and be rude to the other person.

But I still feel that the person behind the counter has to treat each person differently. You cannot take what the last person did to you and force your emotions onto the next. That too is unfair...

So in the end, it will always be up to us to make the experience better, whatever the XP may be. Just like Mr B and yourself "We can do better. All of us. (Me especially)"

Re: Rage Against The Assembly Line

Nigel Walsh — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 17:57:29 -0000

it costs nothing but yet is worth so much.. I often think the same when people try and get on and off the underground here in London - what happened to manners, letting people off first...