Greatness, in obscurity

My first job out of college, I worked as an accountant for a small business in a small Texas town.  We had our favorite lunch spot, called “Kathleen’s Kitchen”.  They had the best bread for their sandwiches and the best strawberry-spinach salads. One lunch we are there talking about staffing challenges. During that lunch, my boss said, “without being creepy, watch that waitress do her job.” I had never before paid too much attention to wait staff doing their job, except when they were right in front of me.

In a short time, I knew exactly what he was talking about. She was more efficient than her peers. She gave better customer service than her peers. She handled challenges better than I would expect. She took ownership for matters far outside her expected role. She was clearly most expert at her craft.

Impressed, I told my boss he had a good eye for detail but wanting to move back to the discussion of staffing I said something like, “too bad we don’t need to hire any wait staff.” 

He then kindly taught me the bigger picture and his experience and my lack thereof shined through. He said, “The way she carries herself in her current role, tells me that she would excel in a multitude of roles. I’ve never hired someone exclusively for the open role I have now. I’m always thinking of their total potential in my organization and the open role is no more than a starting point.”

Bold and forward-looking leaders plucking talent out of obscurity is inspiring.  And got me thinking about two other recent stories of great CX operating in near obscurity. 

The first story shared with me:

I took my daughter to In-N-Out and of course, we added on a chocolate shake to our order. When we got our shake, it was different. I went up to the counter and the gentlemen who had rung us up immediately walked over to us. He remembered us. I asked if this was what their chocolate shake normally looked like. And without hesitation he said, Let me make you a new one. I could tell that he wasn’t concerned if it was right or wrong he just wanted to make sure I was satisfied. As he walked away to make the new one, my daughter turned to me and commented on how she couldn’t believe how nice he was. When he came back with the shake, I thanked him and told him how impressed we were with how he treated us. He said, “I learned from a young age working with my parents how important it is to treat your customer right because without them you wouldn’t have a job!”

The second story shared with me:

From Shelby Skidmore, a Senior Living advocate.

Today I witnessed something incredible and it took my outlook on customer service to a whole new level. There have been a few times where a drink has been dumped down the side of my car in a fast-food drive-through. Not intentionally but out of mere mishap. Today this happened at Chick-fil-a.

As tea dripped down my door, inside and out, the young man asked me to pull around into an empty parking spot. As I began to wipe down my car the young man (Blake) who had taken my order approached me holding towels and a spray bottle of cleaner. He apologized for inconveniencing my day, wiped down the inside of my car, and told me that he would pay for my meal. Blown away, I thanked him for his act of kindness and as he handed me my meal he offered me a $10 bill to have my car washed.

THIS HIT ME HARD! Blake could have offered a half-hearted apology, handed me my meal and went on his way, but instead, he went above and beyond!

Of course, I declined to accept the $10, but told him I appreciated his kindness and then OFFERED HIM A JOB!

Today I learned that accepting ownership of our mistakes and going the extra mile to fix them can change any situation. Even a bad one.

If the restaurant and fast food industry can get it right and be a breed ground for such powerful CX minded folks, can’t we get it right in our industry in just as powerful a way?