As I sat in Starbucks today, typical day, a manager (one can assume) was conducting several employee reviews. I found it a bit alarming that she would be conducting such sensitive business in an area where she is amongst customers. One of the aspects of delivery is that the image should be seamless, not constructed in full view of the potential buying audience.
As an example, I love to deliver speeches and am preparing a very philosophical piece for an inagural offering for Toastmasters. However, the very same audience that listens to a flawless speech is totally dissinterested in watching me practice the speech for a few hours (it does take practice).
Even more odd, she was referencing customer satisfaction numbers. The goal, stated the manager was to get the numbers up to 75 percent of all customers satisfied. Some of the locations hadn't "hit" 50 percent yet, and there was room for growth. As a potential buyer, if I hear that half of the people in your business are unsatisfied how detrimental is that to your marketing initiatives? That's not speculation, it's coming from the aggregate pool of your consumer base.
A final nugget of wisdom is encapsulated by the following quote:
"Just because someone is doing their best doesn't mean they are doing what they should be doing."
Vauge? Yes. Corporate? Yes. Helpful? You tell me.
