Unfortunately, some companies have great ideas and strategies which are simply badly implemented or fail because of one loose link in the chain. A very basic example happened to me recently in a well know American coffeeshop chain. One member of staff asked me for my name, then asked me to spell it etc. etc.

When I got to the end to wait for my coffee, another member of staff shouted tall latte. Why the hell did I have to go through all that rigmarole of spelling my name etc. I left with my coffee but felt I’d had a bad experience as a customer – weird !

I see examples like this all the time both in the digital world and in the real world with members of staff. Acting out some directive from above which some senior guy knows will improve the customers view of the business. In this example, I think it fell over because I saw absolutely no benefit in giving my name to the barista and felt that she’d just wasted my time – how does that benefit me ?

A big smile was all I needed to go with my coffee and I’d have been a happy customer.