The day started out at a Florida theme park.
The second ride of the day, which my grandson was looking forward to, had a 90-minute wait but we proceeded to wait in line.
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Within 10 minutes, the wait was 120 minutes. We waited and waited.
The line crawled along and seemed to stop more then it moved.
A couple of announcements came over the speakers stating they were running at minimum capacity and trying to correct it.
Now we were in it for two hours, so we waited and waited not knowing if the end was near or far.
A few more announcements of running at minimum capacity.
We ended up being only inches from the amusement car about four hours later, I know we sound crazy but my grandson wanted to ride it, and then BOOM.
They closed the ride…
We were standing there in awe, frustrated and not as much as an, “I am sorry,” from any worker.
She just stood there and said, “it happens”.
I told her four of us just waited in line for four hours, we got a shrug and were pointed to the exit.
My next stop was customer service, a quick explanation, and we were offered one VIP pass to go to the front of the line if and when it was fixed.
Fours hours wasted in line, 30 minutes wasted talking to the customer service representative and nothing.
We left frustrated and not really wanting to experience the next 3 and a half days at the park.
On our way out after walking around a bit, we stopped at a restaurant to eat and the waitress asked us, “How has your day been?”
When we told her about what had happened, she apolagized.
At this point, we just wanted a meal and to put it behind us, but it would leave a bitter taste in our mouths.
Once we finished eating a manager came over and told us the waitress explained our day to her and she was also apologetic and told us the meal was on the house, that was the least she could do.
WOW, What a great way to end the day!
We were now leaving with a better taste than before the meal.
Imagine if the gatekeeper had the power to make a customer smile or make a decision that would make a customer feel at ease?
As I recall this scenario I ask myself, “how do we empower our employees to make the right decision?”
Here’s what we do:
- Allow them to say “YES” to questions and requests by customers.
- We treat everyone as if they were our parents, with the respect they deserve.
- If something needs to be done or should be done, we do it regardless if it is on our work order or not.
- Empower our employees to make every project a win-win scenario for our customer and us.
- Embrace our employee’s ideas and discuss during team meetings.
- Perpetual education for the entire company to grow and challenge ourselves with new opportunities.
Every person on your team can make or break a customer’s experience.
Imagine completing a project and on the way out the door, the last employee leaves a mess.
The customer will share the story of your project with a, “but, they left a mess.”
Empower your team members to make the decisions that are right for your customer and your team.
Keeping all decisions and actions above the line is the only way to go.
Click here to learn about staying “Above the Line” with this free PDF.
An employee who is trusted with the decision-making ability will feel important and valued.
Make your employees valuable and in turn, they’ll have value to give back to customers.