“Wow, the people at that McDonalds are really good!” said a friend of mine as we were leaving the McDonalds located at the Cincinnati airport. She was referring to Rick Keating, the guy taking care of us at the counter.
Here is what happened. First, the total food bill came out to $9.02. I gave Rick a $10.00 bill and instead of him giving me back 98 cents, he gave me back a dollar. How did he know I hate to jingle? Seriously, it was a nice gesture.
Second, I had ordered a “value meal,” which included a soft drink. After he had already filled the cup with soda, I noticed they had bottled water. I had never seen (or maybe just never noticed) that McDonalds had bottled water. I asked if I could have the bottled water instead of the soda as part of my value meal, and he said, “No problem,” and made the switch. Now, I don’t know if I could substitute a bottle of water instead of the soda, but that is not the point. All he seemed to want to do is take care of his customers. And, what a splendid job he was doing!
Now back to the original comment my friend made. She said, “The people at that McDonalds are really good.” What’s so interesting about this comment is that it wasn’t the people at that McDonalds that were so good. It was really the person. One person! This one person, Rick Keating, made his entire restaurant look great.
This isn’t the first time I’ve heard comments like this – not just about McDonalds, but others businesses as well. The lesson is simple. You see, people don’t just do business with a building or even a brand. They really do business with the people who work in the building or represent the brand. People do business with people. And at any given time, one person has the power to make or break the organization.
Do the people who you work with know that they have that much power? Make sure they do!
Shep Hyken, CSP is a professional speaker and author who works with companies who want to develop loyal relationships with their customers and employees. For more information on Shep's speaking programs, books, tapes and learning programs please contact (314) 692- 2200. Email: shep@hyken.com Web: www.hyken.com