We Have Met the Enemy, and He Is Us

A veteran entrepreneur explains why it's usually employers, not employees, who create poor customer service.

1 | 2 NEXT

Street Smarts

Don't blame employees for bad customer service. In most cases, it's the employer who's at fault

It's no secret that there's an epidemic of bad customer service going around. Some people, I know, blame it on changes in the workforce. They may be a factor, but I think the major fault lies elsewhere. In most cases, after all, it's not the employee who creates the problem. It's the employer. How? Usually by establishing a bad rule.

Here's an example from my wife's uncle Arnold, who lives in upstate New York. He called recently to tell me about an experience he'd had when he took his car to be repaired at one of the dealerships in town. This was the second time he'd brought it in for the same problem. When he returned to get the car, he was told the bill came to a couple hundred dollars. "Fine," he said, "but I want to take the car for a test-drive, just to make sure the problem is really fixed."

"OK, but you have to pay first," said the guy at the service desk. "We aren't allowed to let any car leave here until the bill has been paid."

Now, Arnold is not a stranger to these people. He's been doing business with them for 40 years. He used to be the head of administration at the local hospital. In that capacity, he'd purchased five or six cars a year from the dealership, which had even assigned a salesman to his account. In addition, Arnold had bought a new car for himself every four or five years. So we're talking about a million-dollar customer.

And the guy at the service desk knew exactly who he was. Arnold was incredulous. "Wait a minute," he said. "Are you really telling me that I can't drive my car out of here because you don't trust me to pay a minor repair bill?"

"I'm sorry, sir," the guy said. "Those are the rules, and we can't change them."

Arnold went home and called the owner of the dealership. He said, "Jim, what's going on here? This is ridiculous." The owner apologized and told him not to worry. He'd take care of it. He'd personally bring the car over. Arnold could drive it for a day or two and pay the bill when he was satisfied.

So what had the owner accomplished with his rule? He'd aggravated a good customer. He'd made an employee look like a fool. And he'd caused himself embarrassment and inconvenience.

I can sympathize. I've done it myself.

I understand why companies have rules. You get to a certain size, and you suddenly realize that you need them. Employees have to know where the boundaries lie--how they're supposed to conduct themselves, what's going to get them into trouble and what isn't. Some rules you establish for survival's sake, to avoid mistakes that might put you out of business. Others you have because you want to maintain certain standards. Still others you decide you need after you get whacked on the head. Then there are those you institute because you think you've discovered a terrific new way to boost your sales or streamline your management system or cut your costs--whatever.

Behind every rule there's almost always a good reason, or at least a good intention. At the time you establish them, the rules appear to make all the sense in the world. And yet, if you're not careful, you run a high risk of creating rules that will hurt your business. What happens is that you take away your employees' ability to use common sense in responding to the reasonable requests of customers.

1 | 2 NEXT

Try a RISK-FREE Issue of Inc. Today!

Renew | Contact Us | Current Issue

Select Services