For putting up with our incompetence

A good friend and fellow blogger just posted about fast food visits and I fully agree! I feel I'm qualified to speak on this because I spent one and a half years in management at Wendy's. With this experience I can honestly say that it starts at the top and is allowed to continue because of the lazy consumer. The corporation and the franchise owner are in it for the money. The customer is willing to except piss poor service with closed mouth because of their lazy 'don't get involved' attitude. But first read VW's post here.

Why do you have to wait for your order to be taken? Because management does not do their job. ALWAYS have someone near the register to greet the customer with enthusiasm and the skill to listen intently! Not so hard right? WRONG. Why? The management, from the top down, cares about customer service as much as the typical customer does. Why you ask. Because the lazy customer is just happy to be there since they don't have to cook! So what that their food is substandard. THEY DON'T HAVE TO COOK! Besides, they have come to expect these things because it has evolved to this since they are too LAZY to complain loud enough to be heard. Shame on you Mr./Mrs./Miss/Mz. customer. 

Why does the employee not understand customer service? Their attitude sucks! Why? Because they have not been taught and trained by the management. Why? Because it's damn near impossible to find a young adult that understands that they are not being paid to just take up space. During their upbringing at home and at school they learned through the actions of the older adults that personal responsibility is old fashioned and just too much trouble. So management needs to start at the basics and look at the employee's blank stare or except the fact that this kid will most likely not be there in thirty days so get what you can from them while you can. Thank you parents and teachers. 

As I said at the beginning I worked at Wendy's in management and saw this time and time again. My training occurred at the busiest location in the franchise. The man in charge of my training was one in a million. He had been doing this so long that he had developed his patience and kid training skills to their fullest. It probably helped that he too was middle aged and was raising four kids with the discipline needed to become properly productive in the world. I met all four and could see where they were headed, thanks to their parents.

 

Later the franchise owner decided that he wanted to dedicate one store to training management and I was one of the two managers that was assigned to that location to do the training. So me and my peer set out to do the best training the corporation had ever seen. Alas, the hiring pool was questionable at best. Young men and women who also had a very difficult time grasping customer service. INCLUDING a couple that had washed out at McDonald's and Hardy's. 

 

All too often the upper management just excepts the lower standards and just gets what they can from the people while they can. Why is that you ask? Because the customer's simply do not complain loudly enough to the management and the employees to force a higher standard!!! The current catch phrase is 'If you see something, say something'. 

 

If you are one that wants higher standards, REMEMBER THAT PHRASE and ACT ON IT! What are they going to do? Throw you out and you actually have to go home and cook!!?     

 

If you feel that the manager/employee is not listening you can always say something along this line: "What is your name? How do you spell that? I want to make sure I give the credit to the right person when I post this on my Facebook." In this social media society that will SURELY get their attention. 

                                                         BON APPETITE