Look In the Mirror Before Firing That 'Stupid' Employee

A Message from Radio Ink Publisher Eric Rhoads

"I'll sprint into Radio Shack and grab a couple of gifts for the triplets' eighth birthday," I thought, rushing to get home.

As I entered the store, there was a man sitting at the counter, slumped over at his computer. Without looking up, he mumbled, "Let me know if you need anything." No eye contact. I was instantly turned off. I could tell my high-speed shopping experience was about to downshift into low gear.

"I'm ready to check out," I say, laying my pile of goodies on the counter. Slumpy mumbles something about "the guy in the back...." Who comes forward, a decade later, to check me out.

"Is there something wrong with my credit card?" I ask.

"No, it's this slow computer. This stupid company is to cheap to buy us new computers."

I grimace, debating whether I should bite my tongue. I can't.

"In all due respect," I said, "if I heard that one of my employees had just trashed the company to a customer, that person would not be working for me tomorrow."

He looked up, with anger in his eyes. Before he could say anything, I said, "You should be thankful you have a job. Do you have any idea how many people in this country would kill for this job and its slow computers today?"

He stammered a bit, handed me my merchandise, and mumbled something I can't repeat.

News flash: Unemployment is skyrocketing. It's bad business to share your internal frustrations with the customers. My little purchase probably paid three hours of his wages. His "stupid company" is fortunate to be in business, and upgrading computers is probably the last thing on their minds at the moment. They're thinking about survival.

OK, I'm venting. Like everyone in this economy, I'm spending less. And yet I EXPECT to be treated well when I go out of my way to spend money with any retailer. I throw nickels around like manhole covers -- and they're welcomed in other places that will treat me well.

Under no circumstances do I want to get anyone fired. I'm not that big of a jerk. Yet, as a business owner, hearing that one of my employees did this would be cause for a stern discussion. But the warning is not just to the employee. It's to the manager of that employee and, ultimately, to me.

In the case of Radio Shack, my first instinct was to call the manager, but my guess is that the manager is the problem. He or she HIRED this loser and has failed to properly train him and help him understand what good and bad customer service looks like. So if anyone should be fired, it's the manager ... or the regional manager ... or the CEO ... or the board of directors. After all, you know what they say rolls downhill.

"I'll be phoning no one because I've had dozens of wonderful experiences in this Radio Shack. But if I saw a pattern, I'd call their CEO, just I would hope my customers would call me. But they don't until someone is gone, and then they say, "I wanted to tell you what a loser that guy was, but I didn't have the heart." Frankly, I'd rather know early.

Frustrations run high in an economy like this. As managers, we have to accept the blame for all imperfections. Maybe the computers at Radio Shack are slow and the employees are frustrated. If fixing that one thing made employees feel like the company listens and empowers them to make changes, would it make a 10 percent difference in sales? It might.

Brad Anderson, the CEO at Best Buy, once told me that listening to employees and changing the order entry program made a huge difference in employee attitude and thus their sales. So maybe the managers should listen and eliminate that frustration.

But everyone is in survival mode. Maybe Radio Shack can't spend the money to fix the slow computers. Maybe the employee is slow, not the computer. One thing we all CAN do is improve our employee communication so frustrations can be on the table and so our employees know what good customer service looks like.

Have you designed and articulated the ideal customer experience? Do the people who touch customers at all levels understand what a bad customer service experience is? Do you have standards of performance for all customer touchpoints? It's one thing we can do even in this economy, and if it improves our customers' attitudes about us, it can make a difference in our business.

Eric Rhoads

Radio Ink Magazine
PS: Though we can make improvements in our own businesses you may want to share this with local retailers who can also benefit.

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Comments

[Paul]

Eric a word of caution!

I think it is a very bad idea to single out one employee of a national company and use this company as your personal whipping boy.

Perhaps you have not read the papers, heard or seen the news. Radio is hurting for advertisers now and pissing one off is bad for business.

Our business, not yours.

May I suggest you have someone read the rants you post before you hit send.

[Gene]

OK Eric, I give up.

Tell me why a six dollar an hour employee should give a damn what you think.

Tell me why a six dollar an hour employee should be anything but ashamed of being a six dollar an hour employee.

Tell me why anyone would want his six dollar an hour job.

Your shopping experience, is why six dollar an hour people have jobs. They are there to give you what you paid for Eric, the cheapest in-store experience, buying product made in China.

Thanks for another great read about your small life.

[Stephen Meade]

Unfortunately everyone has experienced your Radio Shack clerk at some time or another. I always make it a point to hire salespeople who have
A: Played team sports in high school or college
B: Worked in food and beverage in high school or college

The team concept is something their coaches hopefully instilled in them. Working for tips can be a great motivator to do things the right way.

Stephen Meade KJEE Santa Barbara

[Eric Rhoads]

Jerry: I have the Zappos customer service manual, which is phone book thick. The time they spend training their phone people is a significant commitment. Wondering if with the sale of Zappos some board member will ultimately say lets cut back on what were spending on customer service.....which will kill the company.

[Jerry Katz]

And Great Customer service moves you to spend more. Buy shoes on line at Zappos.Com just one time, and you'll probably buy more shoes this year than last. They treat customers like long time friends. Use them as a goal and surely win! Your Radio Shack guy could never work there!

[Al Moss]

excellent commentary and quite true.

[Elliott Mitchell]

This just in: "Poor Customer Service Costs Companies $83 Billion Annually"

Research Brief: http://bit.ly/diPuQZ

[Jorge Zermeno]

Thank you for a great late night read, Eric. As thoughtful as asual, very highly appreciated!