July 5, 2013

A Sticky Mess by Roger North

The blueberry pancake syrup was threatening to seep off the edge of the table onto my shorts. Carolyn and I were working feverishly to contain the spread of the gooey liquid. Having used up all of our napkins, we eventually got the attention of our half interested server. I quickly explained to her that when I picked up the syrup jar the top had not been screwed on. The result was the mess she was seeing on the table.

We finished our cleanup mission and returned to our leisurely Saturday morning conversation. Sometime during that conversation I looked down and was surprised to see a large amount of blueberry pancake syrup on my shorts. I excused myself to go to the restroom and did my best to clean the mess from my shorts. I returned to the table and a few minutes later realized that the mess was also on my shirt and had adhered to my right arm. No big deal in the grand scheme of things. After all, it was Saturday morning and I was dressed rather casually.

After we finally completed the cleanup the manager wandered over. She asked if there was anything more we needed. I responded no. I was all cleaned up and we would just have a little laundry to do. She wandered off.

It was Saturday so I probably just should have given it a rest. But the consultant in me was curious. I was curious how the manager would treat the bill when I brought it to the register. I gave her the bill and my money. She gave me the change. Again, I probably should’ve resisted but didn’t. I asked, “I am curious as to why you didn’t comp my bill?” With a slightly pained expression she responded, “Because you weren’t angry.”

Of course this little incident got me to thinking about organizational culture. What was the underlying culture that produced a response such as “because you weren’t angry”? Does the company that owns that restaurant really want to reward angry behavior from its customers? Is that their intent?

Customer service is a big issue in our lives. Most of us think that it should be much better than what we usually experience. When we go to a Chick-fil-A restaurant or a Nordstrom department store we are pleased by the attentive, respectful service. Unfortunately, that is not the norm.

Who is responsible for poor customer service? Is it the minimum wage clerk at the convenience store? Is it the stock boy in the grocery store? Is it the tired single mother of three working a second job at Kmart that is responsible?

On a very basic level, we could answer the above questions with a yes. But are we not generally a product of our environment? When we are talking about a convenience store, grocery store or department store, is not the leadership of that store or that chain responsible? What behavior do they expect from their front-line employees? How do employees obtain clarity about what behaviors are important in their organization? How do leaders model those behaviors? How do they communicate, even over communicate, their expectations? What methods do they use to reward employee behavior that is consistent with their expectations? What methods do they use to correct behavior that is inconsistent with their expectations?

One of our favorite sayings at North Group is “culture eats strategy for lunch”. You can do all the customer service training you want, but without an underlying culture that supports the tenants of respectful and attentive human behavior, it is unlikely that the blueberry syrup will be cleaned up with enthusiasm and sincere apologies. And, it is further unlikely that the $10.58 will be cheerfully refunded at the register.