I worked for fast-food franchises in days past. It was hard work, but very enjoyable, thanks to the atmosphere and co-workers. Everything just flowed, and customers came back and back and back.
But these days, as a customer, I’m very disappointed in what I’m experiencing in customer service as a patron of several fast-food franchises. Maybe you’ve experienced the same.
How many of you have pulled up to the fast-food drive-through speaker and been greeted by a caustic, hostile tone from the speaker-box, practically demanding that you order immediately? If you’re like me, you might like a moment to look over the menu, ask about any specials, and try to decide if you would rather have a burger, onion rings, chicken – along with a chocolate or vanilla shake – well, no, please make that a soda! And who doesn’t need just a little time to consider the new and tempting items jumping off the menu board?
But let 15 seconds pass and an irritated voice from the speaker-box comes back again asking for your order. Asking for more time earns additional irritation. You try to order a simple sandwich, and the voice interrupts, “Do you want a combo?” No, you just want a sandwich, yet the voice from the box wants to keep talking to you about a combo (it’s part of making employees into salesmen).
These experiences happen at practically all fast-food franchises. The problem here seems to be twofold: corporate greed and a need for remedial lessons in providing good customer service.
Central to the first problem is the use of a “timer” – yes, a timer – usually calibrated for two minutes, corporate’s established time metric for an order to be taken, but not necessarily ready to be served up at the window - next customer! It’s all about the turnover.
The use of a timer is not limited to fast-food franchises – it’s also used at certain grocery franchises and other businesses. So when one encounters imperative voices from a drive-through speaker-box, observes a grocery-check-out conveyor-belt that never stops, or notices the impatience of a repairman, you can be sure that a timer is present somewhere, creating tremendous pressure on the person(s) providing you with the services you need.
No wonder personalities and attitudes become so difficult and demanding in rendering services – they face an unforgiving and unfair mechanism every day, reinforced by management and corporate expectations! No wonder these franchises have a hard time finding employees; who wants to have thumbs in their backs every moment of every working day?
Generally speaking, the people directly providing the customer service are not at fault for the enforced time limitations. However, timer or no timer, we must admit that friendly, respectful customer service is also at an all-time low. Why is this?
First and foremost is the fact that the present generation was raised with a deep sense of entitlement. Many were led to believe that longstanding social mores are wrong and outdated, and that they are free to be “their own person” – take it or leave it. This plays hand-in-hand with the information age and the tendency to be joined at the hip with technology, which consequently causes problems in social skill development and interpersonal relationships.
What many were not taught, however, is how life is unfair in many instances, that hard work is a fact of life, and that everyone should be treated courteously and respectfully in the marketplace. Essentially, good customer service begins in the heart and is a form of loving our neighbors.
Once upon a time you could pull up to most fast-food franchises, be greeted cheerfully and respectfully, look at the menu for as long as you needed to, ask questions about an item, place your order, and drive away happy, knowing that your order was filled without even looking in the bag to make sure. It was made with love and served hot with appreciation, often accompanied by the request, “Please come again!”
So yes, the younger generation needs to learn how to model that love to those they serve in the customer service industry … but can we really expect them to do that without an example to follow first? Perhaps that’s why the key to good customer service needs to start with corporate executives and managers. They could start by modeling that love themselves toward their employees by doing away with the wretched timer, which is a “whip” for all practical purposes, a tool for increasing cash per hour.
Thomas Kaufmann writes from Montgomery, and may be contacted at [email protected].
This culture article was made possible by The Fred & Rheta Skelton Center for Cultural Renewal, a project of 1819 News. To comment on this article, please email [email protected].
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News.
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