It would have been funny, if it wasn’t so sad. Rome airport, in desperate need for a cup of tea (Earl Grey, of course). Right next to our departure gate was a Chef Express, with some tables and chairs. The sign outside was clear – table service only. No takeaway. ‘That’s fine,’ I thought. I don’t want to wait in the queue anyway.
We sat down at the table. One young girl was rushing around looking flustered. ‘Table service only’ she said. ‘Yes please, can we have a menu.’ She practically threw the menus on the table. The lady at the table next to us glanced over and raised one eyebrow and gave us a half smile. She looked like she knew something we didn’t know.
We sat and waited for the young girl to come back to take our order. She flitted around the tables, wiping one, stacking some plates on the sideboard, mumbling to herself. Eventually she came over and we placed our order. She rushed off. It certainly was Chef Express from that perspective.
The lady next to us caught the girl’s attention and asked for her bill. She huffed and disappeared again, reappearing in a flurry and dropping the bill on the table. Our tea came, without milk. My husband Peter got her attention as she was rushing off. ‘Excuse me. Could I have some milk please?’ She gave him the death stare, flicked her hair and marched back into the kitchen.
The lady at the table next to us laughed. In broken English with a beautiful French accent said ‘I wouldn’t wait if I were you. She took 10 minutes to being me some sugar!’
Peter really wanted some milk, so each time the girl came past, he waved to her and pointed to his tea ‘Milk please?’ He said each time. She completely ignored him, coming back to other tables with their drinks and disappearing again. Peter drank his tea black.
A few people attempted to sit at the tables with their takeaway, only to be shooed away by the dragon lady. We watched with mild amusement as she continued rushing about, mumbling to herself, clearly not enjoying her job.
The lady next to us handed the girl her bill with a 5 Euro note, and waited for her change. No sign of the girl returning. In a rush back to scare off some more customers, the lady got her attention and asked for her change. At that point the girl almost screamed at the lady in Italian and marched off again.
The lady looked at us and said, with that lovely accent ‘She does not want to give me my change. She thinks I should give her a tip. Huh!’
The girl came back and slammed down a rather large pile of 1 cent pieces and said ‘Here is your change! It was hardly a decent tip anyway!’
OMG! Did she really think anyone would give her a tip when she was behaving so badly? Did she have any idea how uncomfortable and awful an experience her customers were having because of her behavior?
One of the biggest challenges for business is to recognize that one person in your organization can completely ruin your efforts to market and build trust with your customer base. Every person in your business needs to be actively building trust with your customers, not destroying it.
We sat down at the table. One young girl was rushing around looking flustered. ‘Table service only’ she said. ‘Yes please, can we have a menu.’ She practically threw the menus on the table. The lady at the table next to us glanced over and raised one eyebrow and gave us a half smile. She looked like she knew something we didn’t know.
We sat and waited for the young girl to come back to take our order. She flitted around the tables, wiping one, stacking some plates on the sideboard, mumbling to herself. Eventually she came over and we placed our order. She rushed off. It certainly was Chef Express from that perspective.
The lady next to us caught the girl’s attention and asked for her bill. She huffed and disappeared again, reappearing in a flurry and dropping the bill on the table. Our tea came, without milk. My husband Peter got her attention as she was rushing off. ‘Excuse me. Could I have some milk please?’ She gave him the death stare, flicked her hair and marched back into the kitchen.
The lady at the table next to us laughed. In broken English with a beautiful French accent said ‘I wouldn’t wait if I were you. She took 10 minutes to being me some sugar!’
Peter really wanted some milk, so each time the girl came past, he waved to her and pointed to his tea ‘Milk please?’ He said each time. She completely ignored him, coming back to other tables with their drinks and disappearing again. Peter drank his tea black.
A few people attempted to sit at the tables with their takeaway, only to be shooed away by the dragon lady. We watched with mild amusement as she continued rushing about, mumbling to herself, clearly not enjoying her job.
The lady next to us handed the girl her bill with a 5 Euro note, and waited for her change. No sign of the girl returning. In a rush back to scare off some more customers, the lady got her attention and asked for her change. At that point the girl almost screamed at the lady in Italian and marched off again.
The lady looked at us and said, with that lovely accent ‘She does not want to give me my change. She thinks I should give her a tip. Huh!’
The girl came back and slammed down a rather large pile of 1 cent pieces and said ‘Here is your change! It was hardly a decent tip anyway!’
OMG! Did she really think anyone would give her a tip when she was behaving so badly? Did she have any idea how uncomfortable and awful an experience her customers were having because of her behavior?
One of the biggest challenges for business is to recognize that one person in your organization can completely ruin your efforts to market and build trust with your customer base. Every person in your business needs to be actively building trust with your customers, not destroying it.
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