Do You Judge Customers by their Appearance – and treat them differently?
That might not be such a good idea, you know.
For instance, I knew a man once who was a multi-millionaire. But when he went to visit his mother when she wintered in Arizona, he always wore his oldest clothes. His reasoning was that he didn’t want anyone in her trailer park to get the idea that she came from a wealthy family – they might kidnap her.
But, closer to home… Last week 12 work-weary power linemen walked into a restaurant at the end of a 40-hour shift. They’d been putting power lines back together in the fog and cold and hadn’t slept in 2 days. You can imagine what they must have looked like – wearing dirty work clothes, unshaven, and unkempt. All they wanted was a good meal, maybe a beer, a hot shower, and a couple hours of sleep before they had to get back to the job.
I don’t know if their appearance was the reason for what happened next, or if the waitress was just busy visiting – the restaurant wasn’t busy, so that wasn’t the excuse.
They ordered various kinds of steaks, and then they waited. A few went to the bar to get beer and asked the bartender if he could see why they didn’t get salads yet. No response. After 35 minutes the waitress returned, still with no salads, and told them the restauant was out of some of the things they ordered, so they’d need to choose something different.
They were all too tired to get up and go looking for a different restaurant, but they did let her know what they thought of the service – and that they’d have been better off stopping at McDonalds. After that even the manager took part in serving them, but it was too late.
This particular group of men believe in paying well for good service – so it isn’t unusual for each of them to leave a $10 bill as a tip. But not that night!
The end of the story: They finally did get something to eat and get to the motel. The waitress missed out on an extra $100 or more in her pocket, and twelve men are telling all their friends not to bother going to the Rusty Moose in Airway Heights.
And the moral: Treat every customer as if he or she were the most important person who has walked into your business all day.
And not just because you could be throwing income out the window.
Maybe that person really doesn’t have much – he’ll have more if you’ve treated him like royalty, and you’ll have more too – that warm feeling that comes from seeing someone smile and knowing you made their day just a little bit better.
Posted: January 27th, 2009 under Uncategorized.