“You can pay people to work, but you can’t pay them to care . . .”
“You can pay people to work, but you can’t pay them to care . . .”
It’s not uncommon to pick a convenience store that is the most convenient to you. That’s kind of the point I think.
So, when a new convenience store was built by a well know chain right on my way to work, on the right-hand side of the street, with no additional stop lights or stop signs to go through, I thought I now had achieved convenience store heaven. My objective was to stop every morning for a cup of coffee and occasionally a donut or two and be a “regular” to the staff.
My convenience store infatuation lasted maybe a month. The relationship began to slip when there were no coffee cups one morning. Oh, there were coffee cups, but no one had bothered to re-stock them. Then one morning there were coffee cups, but all the coffee containers were empty. A few days later there seemed to be a world-wide shortage of donuts because the rack was empty. Then two gas pumps quick working, and for whatever reason the trash cans were always full. The glow of the new convenience store was fading fast.
A few days later, I was traveling and stopped at a location for the same chain about an hour and a half away from home. I was in another world as I walked in. All cup holders were loaded, all coffee containers were full, the store had donuts galore and the entire place was clean and bright.
When I headed to the counter to check out, I noticed the person at the register had “manager” on his name badge. I told him I did not want to complain, but that I had stopped going to my home store of the same brand because of all the problems, and yet his store seemed to be totally opposite and well ran.
He looked up at me and said it all boils down to the employees. “You can pay people to work, but you can’t pay them to care. They have to bring that with them.”
Wow. That statement didn’t come from a business book or high dollar seminar, but from someone on the front lines that understands customer service and how to build customer loyalty. No matter what job we may be recruiting for on any given day at LandaJob, we look for those candidates that bring a sense of “care” with them. It’s a difference maker.
By Mark Perrin
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