I caught a train to London the other day, something I do regularly. I had a few moments to spare so went to get a coffee from the station buffet.
‘Welcome to the 20 Questions Cafe’, said the young lady who served me.
‘I take it that means you are going to try to sell me something to go with my coffee’, I replied.
‘Yes, we have to’, she said, in a stage whisper.
I wonder how many companies are still operating in the twentieth century, recognising their people purely on the basis of sales achieved and not putting customer service at the top of their list of priorities?
Of course, the head office people at these companies would say that they have mystery shopper programmes, Net Promoter Score and all manner of other systems and ideas to drive the business forward, but I wonder how many of them ever go and ask their front line people what they think? And if they do, do they take any notice of the replies?
Why would a member of a front line team in a large international company be so frustrated with her job that she would risk losing it by saying ‘Welcome to the 20 Questions Cafe’.