I just moved to a new area of town, which means that I am basically starting over in terms of finding businesses to help me with my chores. I didn’t know where to take my dry cleaning, get a bagel or have my oil changed. Since Austin has a very strong local business culture, I began to seek out friendly entrepreneurs to help me get my chores done. But do you know what I found instead? A bunch of assholes.
It started at the dry cleaners when the woman wouldn’t serve me until I got off of my cell phone. I am totally fine with having that as a rule in your store, but it was my first time inside so how was I supposed to know the rule? Instead of politely explaining the rule to me (ex. “We are really glad you came into the store, but for the future know that we have a rule that says we can’t serve people on their cell phones.”) she stared at the wall blankly and pointed to a sign that said “No service til you get off your phone.” I was trying to give them business, but instead I got frustrated with being a noobie in their store.
From this moment on I am instituting a no asshole rule. If you are a jerk, I wont do business with you.
BUT, if you delight me, dazzle me, thank me for doing business with you I will make it worth your while. I will be a regular, I will tell my friends and I will spread the word of your company.
Business owners- What do you gain from being an asshole? By implementing policies, acting arrogant and being angry you only create a bad experience for customers.
If you treat every customer you deal with as the most valuable one you may ever have, you might just find that it’s the truth.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Best. Post. Ever. Hope you’re doing great at your new(-ish), awesome job!!!
I’m not trying to be rude, I promise. But, I think it’s interesting how you thought SHE was the asshole in this story. Maybe its a sign of the times or an illustration of how we as Americans think we’re always the center of attention, but talking on the phone while being helped by a salesperson or the like, in my humble opinion, is always rude regardless of whether there are rules on the wall or not. And I’m not the only one who thinks that by a long shot. I appreciate that you have a lot of things on your to-do list and feel the need to multi-task, but the people helping you aren’t a computer. They’re a human being and deserve to be treated as such. Just because you’re a customer doesn’t me you have the right to treat employees of that business however you wish. If you want to get respect, you’ve got to be willing to give it.
Hey Jaime,
Thanks for your comment. You are obviously entitled to your own opinion.
I agree that I probably should have gotten off of the phone, but I didn’t and it was still my first time in the store. I’m just trying to make the point that you should go out of your way to delight your customers.