Filed under: Customer Experience
A recent visit to a popular fast food restaurant had me thinking about the topic of feedback and if sometimes you should just let negative experiences go. I would bet if you ask any restaurant manager this question the response would be a resounding “we want to hear everything”. I don’t know though, because some days I think I would be giving feedback on service or product issues several times over.
After ordering lunch at the drive-thru I pulled up to the window to receive the order. The polite employee at the window asked if I would pull into one of the parking spots to wait because they were running a bit behind. There was already one other car sitting waiting and soon after I parked I noticed the car behind me was asked to do the same thing. I have to admit, once this type of thing happens I usually start thinking negatively.
“This is going to take forever.”
“They definitely are going to mess up the order now.”
“They will forget about me.”
After a few minutes, a high-school aged boy came out with a bag of food. He handed it to the man in the first car that was asked to wait. With a thank you and a smile the man drove off. The worker sprinted back inside to track down the next order – impressive! He was in full uniform and seemed to take it upon himself to run instead of walk.
Another minute went by and the boy came out again. This time he was holding two bags of food and my order should be next. He ran out of the building just like last time. I tapped my fingers on the steering wheel happy that my order was about to arrive. He didn’t sprint towards my car though, heading straight for the car that had ordered after me instead.
“There it is!”
“They forgot about me.”
“I knew it.”
I watched the boy talk to the family in the car–he kept looking through the bags. Then there was a shake of the head, and I knew exactly what was happening now. He brought my order to that car which caused confusion. The family rejected the order and the worker turned around. But he didn’t come over to my car. He ran back inside with both bags of food!
Another minute went by and there he was again….with one bag of food. He delivered it swiftly to the other car and that family happily left with their delicious noontime meal. I tried to get the employee’s attention as he ran by, but he didn’t hear me.
After another couple minutes, my savior finally appeared with two bags of hot, terribly bad for you, but scrumptious food. Halfway across the lot one of the bags split open–”This isn’t happening!”–and the burgers and fixings spilled out onto the parking lot. The ambitious hard working kid quickly grabbed as much as he could off the ground in a bear hug and continued on to my car. He said, “Did you order three bags of fries?” I said, “Yes, among other things”. He handed me the bag that was intact and said that the other items would have to be remade. He was “very sorry.” Off he went. Another full sprint into the building.
Several minutes went by as they remade my order and soon he was back again. When he got to my car he apologized another time and told me a couple apple pies were added. He thanked me for waiting. All was well again. The situation was handled well. I drove home…finally.
When we tore into the bags to eat our lunch we quickly realized that one of the sandwiches was incorrect. I stared down at the receipt that had a phone number and website, and a message that said “How are we doing”? “Not well,” I said to myself. Should I call and complain? Should I let the manager know how I was feeling about our experience? I probably should have called…
But I didn’t. And now I have only regrets.
How are they going to improve if they don’t get feedback? Even though I may be tired of giving feedback, each separate incident has something at stake for the company involved. Plus, I could have also given compliments to the ambitious, fast-moving worker that operated with a smile on his face. He deserved a few kind words. Even with a seemingly engaged employee doing the best job that he/she can, stuff happens. At Questar we promote giving feedback on companies, managers, and employees. Feedback is a key to people and businesses improving themselves. When you struggle with the question of should you or shouldn’t you give that feedback…I encourage you to answer “yes, I should!”
Steve Mars | Vice President
Filed under: Customer Experience, Employee Engagement, Employee Retention, Uncategorized
The fast food industry has one of the highest employee turnover rates compared to any other industry. When I worked in a fast food restaurant back in high school, I saw new faces at least once a week, but only to see some of them quit after a mere week. To be fair, I only put in five months myself. New employees equal a lot of time spent training and patience for mistakes. Because fast food is meant to be “fast,” it’s hard to be satisfied dealing with employee turnover situations that only slow business down.
Perhaps we should turn to the research for a little guidance?
Employees in the fast food business work in a broader industry called “dirty work.” The concept of “dirty work” was first introduced by a social psychologist in the late 1950’s, referring to work that is either disapproved or stigmatized by members of society who do not work in such jobs. I’m not saying that people disapprove of fast food. However, few people aspire to become a worker at such restaurants. According to the research, we tend to wonder how they can do it. (more…)
SIOP 2011 in Chicago was a huge success! Anna Erickson, Brad Buchanan, Bob Blackwood and I represented Questar. The 4,500 people in attendance set a record. It was my first time at SIOP so I can’t compare to previous years, but it was VERY crowded all week. We came to SIOP with a new idea to get people engaged with us as they passed through the exhibition hall. It not only worked, but exceeded our expectations! (more…)
Filed under: Customer Experience, Employee Development, Employee Engagement, Uncategorized
I had been thinking about switching internet providers for a few months. A few weeks ago, I saw a promising ad for a free modem and a free month of service followed by a low monthly fee. Sounded pretty good to me, but I wanted to see it in person. I went to one of the company’s kiosks at a local mall, tested the connection on one of the laptops, looked at the coverage maps, and asked a few questions. Next came the sales pitch. (more…)
Unless you have your own private plane we all have to deal with the airport experience if we want to travel. And typically you don’t hear people talking about the wonderful time they had. Instead, you hear horror stories about delayed planes, TSA pat downs, canceled and over-booked flights, terrible food, and long security lines. Although these things are common and sometimes out of an individual airline’s control, it doesn’t change the fact that people want to be treated well. On a recent business trip I witnessed the good, the bad and the ugly of airline travel. (more…)
Filed under: Customer Experience
Finding new ways of communicating and connecting with customers is nothing new to the world of Retail. First it was internet, then email, followed by social media. Now it’s smart phones.
With the explosion of smart phones, retailers have been in a bit of an app race– trying to create the most user friendly and innovative applications. In fact, many retailers are opting to have multiple apps in an effort to beat the competition. These apps vary slightly but most offer exclusive sales, store locators, product listings, reviews and some even have bar code scanners so you can be sure you are getting the best deal on products. Even though these are very “cool” applications, I believe we’re just scratching the surface of where smart phones and mobile marketing are (more…)
Filed under: Customer Experience, Employee Engagement, Executive Leadership
That may be one of the most cliché phrases in the English language. Every time I feel forced to say it I cringe and think “here we go again”. In addition, how does it feel to be the powerless employee that has to admit that they do not have the training or authority to help the customer? A recent experience of mine got me thinking more about how this ties into what Questar does to help employees and customers with this type of situation.
Going paperless when managing household bills is a good thing, right? Online statements are convenient and online bill pay has become easier. Not to mention we all want to do our part to help the environment. Why wouldn’t a person want to “do the right thing” while at the same time making their life easier to manage? I found out a few days ago there is a little more to think about when you choose to discard the “old way’ of doing things for a “better”, more progressive approach. (more…)
This month, Questar celebrates 25 years in business. So when I ventured to write this blog—my first blog—I intended to write a list of 25 things I learned in the survey research business over 25 years. But who, I thought, would really want to read a list of 25 things? Not me. And how was I going to come up with 25 things that anyone would want to actually read? The answer to that was: I wasn’t going to. So I scrapped the idea.
And then it hit me the other day.
Tuesday.
The day of our company-wide celebration event—a boat cruise on Lake Minnetonka.
The biggest thing that has changed in 25 years is accessibility. I should write about that.
Now, what do I mean by accessibility? Just follow me for a minute here. That Tuesday was a gloomy day and it seemed it might rain at any moment. So an hour before we needed to leave I checked the weather radar online and sent a reassuring email to all the employees—weather is looking good so come and have some fun. Right before I left, I made sure I had my Blackberry. Then I used the GPS in my car to direct me to the correct location. The last thing I did before I got on the boat (more…)
Filed under: Customer Experience, Employee Communication, Employee Engagement
One of the things we do well is help our clients engage employees and customers and create brand loyalty. We do this in several ways—mainly by harnessing the power of employee, customer and stakeholder feedback to improve company performance.
Our friends at Bolster (www.bolstercreative.com) are also in the business of driving brand loyalty. They use authentic storytelling, and engaging and sustainable communications tools to strengthen the reputation of a brand.We thought they had some good ideas and that you might find them interesting as well. Let us know what you think.
Once Upon A Time-Driving Brand Engagement Through the Power of Story
Stories are the creative conversion of life itself into a more powerful, clearer, more meaningful experience. They are the currency of human contact. — Robert McKee, Screenwriter
“Tell me a story.”
“What’s your story?”
“That reminds me of a great story!”
The overwhelming familiarity of these phrases reminds us that we are all truly hardwired for stories. They are how we learn about our world as small children and how we come to define our social and cultural values as we grow older. Listening to others’ stories is how we decide whom to invite into our social circles. If the story someone tells us contains values that align with ours, a connection is made. And perhaps best of all, stories are universal. There have been societies that did not use the wheel, but there have been no societies that did not tell stories – true story. (more…)
