Employee-centered Service

I once bought an air pump at a Target store in Fort Worth, Texas. Now, remember we like Target, but this story will show that even the good ones can make mistakes.

Anyway, the air pump I got was the super-deluxe-blow-the-tire-of-a-monster-truck-up-in-four-seconds-version with color racing stripes on the side. A real man’s air pump if you know what I mean. This pump was amazing. It could do everything…except pump up my basketball, which is why I bought it in the first place! So I had to return it.

When I arrived at the Target store, I took my place in the line at the “Guest Services” counter. (Everything Speaks in action.) The gentleman in front of me was returning a defective videotape he had purchased three days prior. He had his receipt so it should be no big deal right? One would think so.

There were two girls working behind the counter and when the man in front of me placed the video on the counter the girl looked at it and said “Oh, great! One of these!” holding it up to show her partner. “I hate the way we have to do these now. Do you know where that new log book is?” she asked her friend. “Not me” the friend answered, “look in the back.” The girl went to the back and like your favorite Warner Brother’s cartoon, a loud series of bangs ensued. Emerging from the back, the girl held up her trophy, the elusive log book, used to process returns of videotapes.

During this process, the gentleman in front of me did what we all have done before. He turned to the line behind him and apologized like it was his fault! Have you ever done this? The girl continued her disapproving comments to her fellow team member (another Target culture vocabulary word) while she processed the man’s return. People behind me started to switch lines. They didn’t want to be responsible for messing up this girl’s day. No way!

Imagine how this customer, excuse me, guest felt. Imagine how the Target team member felt as she was processing it. Imagine how the other guests in line, like me, felt. What do you think the impact was on the business? Exactly. In all likelihood, that Target team member cost her team money and future business that day. We know that it cost Target the gentleman with the video’s business. He expressed this to everyone in line after he got his return processed.

Now this is not an indictment of Target. Target has been very successful at achieving change to a service culture (without our help we might add), but today was not their day.

Let’s examine this incident. The new process for returns was probably a wise decision for the business because it kept the cost of the return down which in turn kept the cost of the newer goods down. (Target does not have to inflate pricing to recoup lost income.) Okay, so we passed one question. Obviously, this was a good policy for the guest or customer because they receive the benefits of lower costs and, with Target giving 5% of their profit back to the communities they serve, the customer benefit is even greater. So, we pass question two. But what about question three? How does it impact the employee? Here is where Target got bit.

Somewhere in the implementation of this new process, Target forgot to consider what the implication would be on the employee who had to carry out this new procedure. This is where we see many companies trip up. They fail to recognize the impact their decisions have on the employee.

If you are customer centered, then you better think about who services your customer as much as you think about the customer!

Here was an example of a policy designed to help the customer that backfired. It failed to consider the service provider. Your best service is only as good as your best service provider. One little known fact is that Disney spends more money on litigation each year than any other company. Who would want to sue Mickey Mouse?