Image is everything...

A co-worker and were both witnesses to the following incident:

I was patronizing the Speedway gas station (1215 S. Saginaw, Midland) last Saturday (05.31.09) when I noticed an irate customer. This customer, a driver for the Shining Star Taxi company in Midland, has just purchased some stuff from the store and went back out to his van only to it blocked in. Now if this driver was a regular at the store, he would have realized that the parking lot at this Speedway is small and extremely poorly laid out. Not so with this customer.

He walks back into the store and tells the employees the truck needs to be moved. Walking back into the store moments later, he says (his words), "This is bull****" and that he gave 5 minutes for the truck to be moved or he was calling a wrecker to move it. Never mind the fact that this truck probably belongs to another customer who probably understands what I do about this parking lot. Of course by the time I left, both parties had left.

Here's what I understand:

If you are out in the public eye conducting business for your employer, you are being watched. They notice that you are wearing the uniform, whether on your body or vehicle or some other place, therefore they are watching you to see if you are someone to do business with. In my business as a pizza delivery driver, sometimes I am the only person that customer sees.

Because I am the only person they can see, I have to give the best impression I can. This is true whether everything is going right or if the customer is acting like a complete and total jerk. If I give a positive impression to my customer, the likelyhood they will order again increases dramatically. If, like the Shining Star driver, I come to you start making demands, complaints, and cussing then the chances of you wanting to do business with me decreases dramatically.

This is something Shining Star needs to convey to its employees. Right now businesses need every customer they can get. Conveying the positive image will go a long way, not only in getting the business but in retaining the business too.