Today I exchanged an empty propane tank for a full one at the grocery store. I noticed two major things.
First, the request caused a problem at the register and outside. The exchange business model has been around for a while. Why are there still service wrinkles?
Second, and here is the whole story with some really scary observations. The man's name was Dakota and he had an abundance of tattoos at least on the visible parts of his arms, hands, and neck. Yes I had an immediate appearance reaction. Just wait. There is more. Now I'm not judging his parents or his right to express himself with art. I am possibly saying that, because of what happened next, this man may well be a victim of misplaced priorities and possible bad decisions involving his parents, himself, the education system, and his company management. So hang on. Maybe I am not biased. I first saw the name tag and the tattoos. Then I saw that Dakota was friendly and service-minded. He had a good attitude. For what happened next he needed a good attitude. He had a large collection of keys. The keys he brought out mostly had tags with words on them. None of them said propane. One said coin machine. Many of the keys had no tags. Many of them, labelled or not, clearly would not be the right key because of their size and shape. After trying all of the keys he went back inside and found some more keys. In that group an unmarked key worked. I think he expected the lock to work like a padlock. After some struggle he discovered that he had to remove the lock insert with the key attached.
Being a cynic, I kept thinking that I am expecting to collect social security from the tax payments of this young man and so many others like him. And then a worse thought came to mind. This man has a job and is empowered by this large grocery chain to solve a problem and to be the direct customer contact. What about the non-smoking, non-tattooed, college graduates with names like John and Susan yet with no jobs and no ability or desire to figure out how to take care of themselves? Dakota should get a bonus and a free tattoo for being at work and for getting around the MBAs, with good jobs, sitting in an office somewhere, who could not design a workable service model so that he could come out with one labelled key and know how the lock works.
What is the point here for Cowboy Safety? Design your life, your business and your future around simplification and an expectation that service problems and employee problems can consume your capital and limit your earnings.
David Sneed
First, the request caused a problem at the register and outside. The exchange business model has been around for a while. Why are there still service wrinkles?
Second, and here is the whole story with some really scary observations. The man's name was Dakota and he had an abundance of tattoos at least on the visible parts of his arms, hands, and neck. Yes I had an immediate appearance reaction. Just wait. There is more. Now I'm not judging his parents or his right to express himself with art. I am possibly saying that, because of what happened next, this man may well be a victim of misplaced priorities and possible bad decisions involving his parents, himself, the education system, and his company management. So hang on. Maybe I am not biased. I first saw the name tag and the tattoos. Then I saw that Dakota was friendly and service-minded. He had a good attitude. For what happened next he needed a good attitude. He had a large collection of keys. The keys he brought out mostly had tags with words on them. None of them said propane. One said coin machine. Many of the keys had no tags. Many of them, labelled or not, clearly would not be the right key because of their size and shape. After trying all of the keys he went back inside and found some more keys. In that group an unmarked key worked. I think he expected the lock to work like a padlock. After some struggle he discovered that he had to remove the lock insert with the key attached.
Being a cynic, I kept thinking that I am expecting to collect social security from the tax payments of this young man and so many others like him. And then a worse thought came to mind. This man has a job and is empowered by this large grocery chain to solve a problem and to be the direct customer contact. What about the non-smoking, non-tattooed, college graduates with names like John and Susan yet with no jobs and no ability or desire to figure out how to take care of themselves? Dakota should get a bonus and a free tattoo for being at work and for getting around the MBAs, with good jobs, sitting in an office somewhere, who could not design a workable service model so that he could come out with one labelled key and know how the lock works.
What is the point here for Cowboy Safety? Design your life, your business and your future around simplification and an expectation that service problems and employee problems can consume your capital and limit your earnings.
David Sneed
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