Guest Blogger Catrina Logan Boisson: A Case of Employee (Un)Empowerment
What do you do when your business process has turned escalation into SOP?
With my son's sixth birthday around the corner, I recently found myself headed to the local "big box" book retailer for a copy of Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator. We'd enjoyed reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory aloud over vacation, and I knew he was looking forward to the next installment. The book was easily located and I proceeded to check-out. Purchase in hand, I then settled in for a latte at the in-store cafe.
As I sipped, I happened to pull the book out of its bag and realized that somehow I had grabbed Chocolate Factory rather than Glass Elevator. Yikes - disaster narrowly averted!
Relieved that I hadn't made it all the way back home with the wrong book, I headed back to the kid's section to see if they might let me just switch the two. Nope. Computerized inventory control made that impossible, so it was back to the checkout line for me.
It was a slow day, the line moved quickly, and not 15 minutes after my first purchase I found myself back in front of the exact same clerk. I explained my mistake, showed her the two books and requested an exchange.
"A supervisor will need to do that," she said, and without meeting my eye, she shoved my books to an unoccupied register where another five minutes went by until a supervisor appeared. Okay, maybe it was just two minutes, but we were not talking about the return of a dog eared paperback purchased 3 months ago, or an Amazon hardback disguised in a bricks and mortar bag. This was an even exchange of a book sold 15 minutes prior by the same clerk?! For whatever reason, it appeared that their process dictated that any exchange, no matter how simple, be escalated to a supervisor. So much for first-contact resolution.
Now, were I more like my colleague Toni Hendrix, I would taken the supervisor aside right then and there. Instead, I took my disbelief to the Internet, like so many customers do each day....
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Catrina Logan Boisson is Vice President, Marketing, for the New Jersey Performing Arts Center and a member of the 1to1 Magazine Editorial Advisory Board.
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You are so right, Dara. And add to that the fact that the complainer whose issue is resolved quickly and courteously can end up being a more loyal fan than the customer who has never had a problem.
I had a similar experience recently and what disturbed me was how the employee pushed me to the side. Even if you could not help me, you could look me in the eye and smile while I wait. Management needs to train staff on the importance of making sure that every experience in their store is great whether they can help them personally or not. Let’s face it, the person returning or complaining is probably most likely the one that will take the time to talk about their experience with your business.
You get the prize, Don. It was indeed Barnes and Noble! The shame of it is that in my market (Princeton NJ area), the B&N stock/selection is much richer, better organized than Borders.
Agree with Jody 100%. Management thinks if they let employees do things, pretty soon they'll just rob them blind.
But Catrina - WHAT STORE was this? Come on, you have to tell us!
I am just guessing, but my guess is Barnes & Noble, not Borders.
This smacks of management that thinks they cannot trust their employees. Makes me question why they hired them in that case. Maybe so they could pay the lowest wages possible?
You know the employees feel like they are not trusted or else feel like management thinks they aren't very bright. Great for morale....not!