"We've Got the Hamburgers"
Last week I had dinner with a few executives of a multinational firm. One of them, a sales manager in the company’s Europe division, told us a great story.
Apparently, the service in some McDonald’s fast-food restaurants in one Eastern European country was so bad (surly, insensitive, rude) that American managers were called in to try to explain the value of customer service to the local franchisees and vendors. Their response to the Americans’ message? “Why should we be nice to them (the customers)? We’ve got the hamburgers they want. They ought to be nice to us!”
Well, that got a good chuckle at my dinner party. But that also got me thinking. As you and I, real customers, endure regular phone hell, delays, incompetence, and unresponsiveness from “enlightened” American firms right here in the U.S., I wonder: Do these firms also believe that they’ve got the hamburgers and we poor slob customers should be grateful?
They’d never say so, of course. In fact, their mission statements and public relations pieces no doubt emphasize their commitment and love for the customer. Very nice. But that same American customer who’s supposedly loved regularly slogs through hurdles that those Eastern European managers would certainly understand, and appreciate.
I think every executive, particularly those ensconced in corporate headquarters, ought to spend regular phone time addressing incoming customer complaints and queries. They ought to spend time on the front lines interacting with customers. They ought to regularly pretend to be an anonymous customer: Call the 800 number for help. Try to get some timely information via phone or mail. Go to a facility that customers frequent, and go with a “problem” that needs attention. You get the idea.
If more executives did that, all the “customer caring” that is espoused in training and marketing materials might become more of a reality, and the “we’ve got the hamburgers” effect might become a tale of the past.
Apparently, the service in some McDonald’s fast-food restaurants in one Eastern European country was so bad (surly, insensitive, rude) that American managers were called in to try to explain the value of customer service to the local franchisees and vendors. Their response to the Americans’ message? “Why should we be nice to them (the customers)? We’ve got the hamburgers they want. They ought to be nice to us!”
Well, that got a good chuckle at my dinner party. But that also got me thinking. As you and I, real customers, endure regular phone hell, delays, incompetence, and unresponsiveness from “enlightened” American firms right here in the U.S., I wonder: Do these firms also believe that they’ve got the hamburgers and we poor slob customers should be grateful?
They’d never say so, of course. In fact, their mission statements and public relations pieces no doubt emphasize their commitment and love for the customer. Very nice. But that same American customer who’s supposedly loved regularly slogs through hurdles that those Eastern European managers would certainly understand, and appreciate.
I think every executive, particularly those ensconced in corporate headquarters, ought to spend regular phone time addressing incoming customer complaints and queries. They ought to spend time on the front lines interacting with customers. They ought to regularly pretend to be an anonymous customer: Call the 800 number for help. Try to get some timely information via phone or mail. Go to a facility that customers frequent, and go with a “problem” that needs attention. You get the idea.
If more executives did that, all the “customer caring” that is espoused in training and marketing materials might become more of a reality, and the “we’ve got the hamburgers” effect might become a tale of the past.
posted by Oren Harari at 11:07 AM
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