We were all set up for a recent trade show in Dallas. The booth looked great. We had our new product all ready to roll out. Run through the check list one more time before the show opened. Price list - check. Literature - check. Give aways – Give aways. Oh we no we forgot the giveaways. What to do? I know. I’ll go over to the world famous coffee house with the green mermaid as it’s logo and buy some gift cards to hand out to good customers as our way of saying thanks for visiting our booth.
There is a short line and I wait a few minutes for my turn. As I move forward the line grows by a few people. It’s my turn to order. “One cup of coffee, black and twenty $10.00 gift cards please.” I am sorry sir we are too busy to do gift cards now. There is a line behind you. "Yes, I know there is a line behind me, however I want to spend $200.00 on gift cards and there are 10 people behind me that want to spend $4.00 dollars each on coffee. That’s $40.00 bucks. I need $200.00 in gift cards now.” I am sorry sir you will have to come back.” I can’t believe what I am hearing. I repeat, "I need $200.00 in gift cards now, please." Wait a moment sir. The cashier yells in a foreign language to someone in the back. A voice booms out, “Tell him we are too busy and he will have to come back.”
"You have got to be kidding. The economy is supposedly bad I want to spend $200 now and you are turning me down because the people behind me will have to wait?" What has happened to service in America? What has happened to common sense? What would you have done?
I tell you what I did. I took my business to the juice vendor down the hall. He was happy to take my money. I had several people behind me even when I asked for his gift cards. The problem for the world famous coffee house with the green mermaid as its logo is that I told everyone who came into my booth about my experience on how not to treat customers. I am telling you as you read this page. The world famous coffee house with the green mermaid had recently made a big deal about closing down for a day to retrain their staff about coffee and customer service. At least that’s what the PR department stated.
There is a short line and I wait a few minutes for my turn. As I move forward the line grows by a few people. It’s my turn to order. “One cup of coffee, black and twenty $10.00 gift cards please.” I am sorry sir we are too busy to do gift cards now. There is a line behind you. "Yes, I know there is a line behind me, however I want to spend $200.00 on gift cards and there are 10 people behind me that want to spend $4.00 dollars each on coffee. That’s $40.00 bucks. I need $200.00 in gift cards now.” I am sorry sir you will have to come back.” I can’t believe what I am hearing. I repeat, "I need $200.00 in gift cards now, please." Wait a moment sir. The cashier yells in a foreign language to someone in the back. A voice booms out, “Tell him we are too busy and he will have to come back.”
"You have got to be kidding. The economy is supposedly bad I want to spend $200 now and you are turning me down because the people behind me will have to wait?" What has happened to service in America? What has happened to common sense? What would you have done?
I tell you what I did. I took my business to the juice vendor down the hall. He was happy to take my money. I had several people behind me even when I asked for his gift cards. The problem for the world famous coffee house with the green mermaid as its logo is that I told everyone who came into my booth about my experience on how not to treat customers. I am telling you as you read this page. The world famous coffee house with the green mermaid had recently made a big deal about closing down for a day to retrain their staff about coffee and customer service. At least that’s what the PR department stated.
How can a local independent compete against a big corporate giant like the world famous coffee house with the green mermaid as its logo? Simple. Give the customer what they want, when they want it. Be pleasant. Be likable. And most of all, train your staff to be ready for extra business even when they are busy. Find a way to take care of good customers. Moral. Stop picking up dimes when you can pick you dollars. I now drink coffee from the golden arches and I save $2.50 a cup.
