“We are not allowed to sell it without the bread”: When companies get too big to personalize their offerings

Date: September 18, 2022

Author: Michelle L. McDonald

Categories: Caribbean, Customer Service, Food, Travel

I was recently in Trinidad and had to be at the airport early. The restaurant at the hotel where I was staying, had not opened by the time I had to leave for the airport. After I checked in for the flight, I went in search of breakfast. I saw on the Subway menu that they had eggs and bacon. I am trying to avoid eating processed carbohydrates, so I asked for the eggs and bacon but without the bread. The server said I had to have the bread. Puzzled, I responded that I don’t wish to have the bread. I was still not understanding why I couldn’t just have the eggs and bacon by themselves. With a “you are bothering me” look on her face, the server called the Supervisor.

After a few minutes, the Supervisor came over and I explained that I had asked for the eggs and bacon without the bread. She confirmed what the Server had told me: “We are not allowed to sell it without the bread.”

I walked away thinking what would happen if they removed the bread. Would it throw off their inventory numbers? Would she get in trouble? The other thing I thought was maybe it came pre-packaged and they couldn’t separate it. But she didn’t explain, nor did she offer a solution. Isn’t that what good customer service is about? Trying to satisfy the customer, and one who was hungry?

I asked around for local breakfast and I was directed to the Food Court, a short walk away. There I found the Bodega De Andries booth where I had a choice of a variety of items, including eggs and bacon….without bread.

Ms Sharon Andries-Franklin, after a bit of a quizzical look when I confirmed I did not want the coconut bake, cooked two scrambled eggs with bacon. She asked if I wanted vegetables with it (yes) and salt (yes). I paid $6 more for that meal than I would have paid for it at Subway.

You know in the movie Pretty Woman, when Julia Roberts’ character shopped up a storm, then went back to the store attendant who wouldn’t serve her because of how she looked, and said “big mistake” after establishing that she worked on commission? Yeah……it crossed my mind.

But instead, I walked past Subway without saying a word. I sat and ate my delicious hot, freshly cooked eggs and bacon, a satisfied customer because Miss Sharon had personalized the service and gave me what I asked for.

Big corporations must find a way to provide a customer experience that satisfies an individual customer’s needs, within reason. Customers do have a choice and they will vote with their feet, thereby reducing the company’s revenues.

Can you think of a big corporation which is able to personalize their offerings according to what the customer wants?

Handling an irate passenger

Date: August 25, 2015

Author: Michelle L. McDonald

Categories: Airlines, Caribbean, Customer Service, Employees, Service Excellence, Service Failure, Service Recovery

Recently I was on a flight in the Caribbean and witnessed an incident involving a non-Caribbean family and a Flight Attendant. I observed how it was handled and will share some pointers on what could have been done differently to ensure the situation did not escalate.

The passenger boarded at the rear of the plane with his family, which included small children. My attention was called to them when I heard the passenger shout “how many times do I have to show them? I just showed the man down there!!”

Apparently, he was irate at having to again show his boarding pass, which he had already shown the airport security personnel at the bottom of the stairs. The Flight Attendant’s voice became somewhat raised as she asked the gentleman again for the passes, which had the seat assignments on them. During this time, other passengers were waiting to board and some of those already on board were waiting to use the washroom. The incident continued for what I would consider longer than acceptable.

Celebrating Customer Service Week

Date: October 7, 2014

Author: Michelle L. McDonald

Categories: Customer Service

Yesterday marked the start of Customer Service Week globally. In challenging economic times, service is one aspect of an organization’s operation which will help it to differentiate it from competitors. This is especially true in the Tourism industry, where I have spent most of my working life. ‘Service before self’ is a mantra which we had to keep in focus daily.

What are you doing to celebrate Customer Service Week?

Celebrating Customer Service Week 2014

Do you say any of these to your employees?

Date: April 20, 2014

Author: Michelle L. McDonald

Categories: Caribbean, Customer Service, Employees, Engagement, Motivation, Training

Entrepreneur magazine published this article by Lindsay Broder which discusses 7 things you should never say to your employees. Be honest. Have you ever said any of them in the heat of an interaction with your employees? I have heard many mangers say #1 “I’m the boss. Do as I say.” Perhaps early in my managerial career, I might have been guilty of that too. However, as I focussed on my personal development, I realized that I had to find other ways to influence the employees I managed to do their assigned tasks….and willingly, so that customer service could be at the desired standard.

I recall having success where I managed a team, most of whom were much older than me, were unionized and were generally seen by others as the ‘bad eggs’ in the company. Treating each as a human and an individual, I set out to find what made them tick, what their hot buttons were and ways which made them shine. I guess I realized I was successful, mostly, when I received an award for my leadership of that team.

My feeling is that if managers have to resort to any of these 7 phrases or retorts, then they themselves have some work to do on their skills. I am not saying that all managers have to be perfect, however, they should certainly try to better tomorrow, than they were yesterday. Read more, try new things, hire professionals like us to help identify the issues and suggest solutions.

Commit to avoid saying any of these phrases to your employees. They will appreciate you for it and your customer service delivery will improve.by

What’s the vision for your service?

Date: March 20, 2014

Author: Michelle L. McDonald

Categories: Customer Service, Engagement, Training

Business owners, especially those who are in a manufacturing type company, may focus all their energies on the product, from design specifications to manufacturing processes. How much time is spent designing the service they would like their employees to deliver to customers who will buy those products?

I feel that the starting point is to define what the vision for your company’s service is. What would you like to measure your service against? What key performance indicators will you use? What kind of training will be necessary? How often will you test the service anonymously to see if the end result you envisioned is being delivered to the customer?

If you have been in business for many years, it is not too late to do this exercise. Gather your key employees together and you should also try and include those who have served customers directly as they may have valuable contributions. Brainstorm and see what you define as the draft vision for your service. Although you would be working from ‘front to back’, you will be able to use the vision statement as the starting point to make changes throughout the company.

To complement that exercise, you will also need to have the necessary training sessions to ensure that it permeates throughout the entire organization and is infused in all your processes.by

Getting the word out

Date: February 28, 2014

Author: Michelle L. McDonald

Categories: Caribbean, Customer Service, Training

I was on foot for part of today while my car’s air conditioning system got a check up. In the Caribbean, it is ESSENTIAL to have a proper working air conditioning system in one’s car. Walking the island’s streets certainly confirmed that!

As I walked along, I noticed things that I wouldn’t normally have seen while driving. And I also saw many persons who I haven’t seen in some time. Since this is a new venture, I have decided that I will tell everyone I meet that I am now freelancing, providing training and human resource development services to small and medium sized companies in the Caribbean.

I stopped in by office of the sister of a friend. She works in Accounting and so has to visit several companies on the island each year. As I normally do, I ended my spiel with “so if you know any company which would benefit from my services, please think about me.”. Her response? “All of them!”

Seriously though, I am sure there are lots of them who are doing a good job in customer service and human resource development and when I see those examples, I will be sure to get the word out. by

“Where is my bag?

Date: February 15, 2014

Author: Michelle L. McDonald

Categories: Airlines, Caribbean, Caribbean Airlines aka BWIA, Customer Service, LIAT

When the West Indies was preparing to host the Cricket World Cup, I travelled around the region as a correspondent for the website CaribbeanCricket.com. On one such trip, my bag and I separated. Naturally, I wrote about it.

Where is my bag???????by

Customer Service in the Caribbean

Date: February 2, 2014

Author: Michelle L. McDonald

Categories: Caribbean, Customer Service, Training

There are varying thoughts about the quality of customer service in the Caribbean. As a frequent traveller in the Caribbean, I have had very good and very bad. Fortunately, having worked in Customer Service all my life, with companies which have been recognized for excellent service, I am able to recognize what is and what isn’t.

Even though most people curse LIAT (and I have, on the odd occasion), one event stood out as excellent. The young man about whom I wrote the Chairman, is still working there and I make sure and say hello whenever I am passing through Barbados, where the encounter happened.