Just this morning, I read a complaint that a friend’s wife posted on Facebook regarding her experience she had yesterday when taking her sons to one of those indoor”bouncy” places. You know the sort of indoor playground that has blow-up/bouncy/jump-around things for kids birthday parties. Apparently she got an attitude from the teenage receptionist when she questioned why she had to purchase a special pair of gripper socks for her boys despite not having to do the same a few weeks earlier.
She asked to speak with the manager who agreed that she did not have to make the sock purchase. When he was informed of the “attitude problem”, he replied, “well, you know how teenagers are.” The manager was describing that he hires teenagers and the expectation from such an employee is very low.
Apparently this manager does not understand the interview process, how to set expectations and how to train employees. And he’s certainly missing the boat on how to foster relationships with repeat customers. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated problem. It is so easy to see examples when we call businesses and get a rude greetings, long hold times and attitudes that are apathetic.
Just make sure you are doing the opposite in your own operation and that your employees are polite and competent or your customers will, literally, bounce themselves over to your competition.