Customer Service
Today at the local Whole Foods market, the barbeque pulled chicken I usually buy in the smokehouse area looked different.
The server told me that they changed their recipe and now mix two sauces together.
Since the second sauce has ingredients I can’t eat (allergies), I asked him to give me plain pulled chicken instead. I then proceeded to pick up a bottle of Carolina BBQ sauce, and planned to mix it with the chicken at home.
No sooner had I put the sauce into my cart when he said, “since I’m pulling the chicken anyway, why don’t I mix up a special batch for you with just the Carolina BBQ sauce?” And he proceeded to make me my own fresh container of hand-pulled barbecue chicken!
He didn’t have to do that.
When I thanked him, he said with a smile, “No problem. Whenever you come in, if I’m here, I’ll make you a batch.” Wow.
One often hears that customer service has declined through the years, and is no longer an integral part of doing business. “The customer is always right” philosophy that once drove business owners has been replaced with a lingering societal complacency.
But thankfully, in a little smokehose kiosk of a big supermarket retailer is one young man who understands that a happy customer is the key to business success.
He definitely brightened my day.
And you know I’ll be buying more pulled chicken. 
Leave a Reply