What if you broke the rules?

My girlfriend and I had a visit to a well known Fried Chicken fast-food chain last week (we know how to spoil ourselves!), and the unthinkable happened: An employee broke the rules and made us very happy customers!

After placing our order and deciding not to upgrade to large meals, we had a conversation between ourselves about whether or not we regretted not upgrading (I’m sure you’ve all had the same conversation). My girlfriend made the comment that she normally only upgrades so she can have large fries, as she normally can’t manage a large drink. Thinking nothing more of this the conversation moved on to other things.

Moments later, when our food was ready and the employee handed it over she commented that she had upgraded my girlfriends fries to a large, without charge. This made us extremely happy for three reasons:

It shows that the employee took the time to listen, to care and to act. All too often one of these goes missing from the service encounter
We have become used to the employees in this particular chain acting like cogs in a lifeless machine. The fact that there is even one employee who is breaking the mould and going above and beyond makes me happy
Its not the extra fries that matter, otherwise we would be extremely easily pleased (not to mention cheap ). Its the generosity of spirit that small acts like this make, that can transform a customers experience with a service. Stan Phelps calls this a Purple Goldfish and is gathering loads of examples of these over at his Marketing Lagniappe site

Little things really matter and the only way employees can deliver the little things is to be given the freedom and the permission to do so.

So this got me thinking, what would happen if employees were allowed to break the rules to exceed customer expectations? What would happen if the rulebooks were scrapped completely? How could this transform an experience? And most importantly, how have acts like this transformed experiences you have had?

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Tagged as: customer experience, Customer Service, marketing lagniappe, purple goldfish

http://www.robertpickstone.com Robert Pickstone

I love it when people brake the rules!

When this is done for personal gain, well, that is not good. When it is done to benefit others though, then a case can often be put forward.

There must be so many companies who have a mission statement such as “putting customers at the heart of our service” but the rules in place don’t always allow this.

Members of staff who really do listen to their customers and care about their experience should be treasured. When someone brakes the rules to make me happy, I will probably return.

If a company allowed their staff to do this and really explored the effects of doing so, they would probably learn an awful lot. Most notably that what is written in their rulebook is not always what a customer needs to build a relationship and become loyal.
http://www.jedlangdon.com/ Jed Langdon

Thanks for the excellent comment Rob. It makes delighting customers sound so easy doesn’t it? Sadly, the fact is that a lot of companies can’t bear to lose control and don’t put their faith in their employees to do the right thing. As an example, I was talking to someone the other day about a certain coffee shop chain that regularly weigh the ice creams that their employees serve to make sure they aren’t giving customers too much! This happens to be a chain that has just announced that they are closing down hundreds of stores, probably because the smaller, independent stores are giving their customers that ‘little extra’ which keeps them coming back!

Sorry for the tangent, but your last comment just reminded of this conversation

If you can think of any examples of when you got that ‘little unexpected extra’, I’d love to hear them!
Wes Douglas

I know I’ve personally “broke the rules” when working retail/service type jobs. I don’t mean to boast, but being a business student, I recognize that most of the time that even if your employers frowns upon it, it’;s definitely better for them in the long run. Not that I’m in any position to tell someone else what’s good for their business… I just like to justify my desire to help people out. haha.
Wes Douglas

Also, I know that some businesses (such as Starbucks) promote random acts of generosity by their employees. Waiving small fees for that extra shot of espresso or giving a venti instead of a grande goes a long way for a lot of people.
http://aks-blog.com Ashvini Saxena

Hey Jed,

Empowered employees who are connected with the customers are the biggest asset of a company. There is nothing better than to surprise a customer with the extra mile service. I think the restaurant chain understood it very well.

Great experience, I hope business owners read your experience and incorporate the empowerment in their own firms.

Thanks
Ashvini
http://www.jedlangdon.com/ Jed Langdon

Hi Wes,

Thanks for the comments. I think you are spot on in recognising that often breaking the rules to make customers happy is better for a business. Of course, all of this depends on context and it would be naive of us to say that this applies to all businesses, but quite often inexpensive acts can create loyal customers, which is always going to be more profitable in the long run. As I said in my post, it is the generosity of spirit and not the cost of an act of kindness to a customer that makes the difference.

Thanks also for sharing the example of Starbucks. I haven’t experienced any random acts of generosity there yet, but I will definitely be on the lookout now!

Jed
http://www.jedlangdon.com/ Jed Langdon

Hi Ashvini,

Thanks for stopping by and leaving your thoughts. I’m glad we’re on the same wavelength – I completely agree with your comment about ‘empowered employees who are connected with the customers being the biggest asset of a company’. Companies that recognise and reward this should be able to deliver and sustain better service.

Great comment!

Thanks,
Jed
http://twitter.com/DionnaSanchez Dionna Sanchez

Just stopped by your blog for the first time today. Really enjoyed it. I’ll be back!