Over the weekend, I finished the book How Did You Do It, Truett?. It’s a very quick read written by Truett Cathey, the founder of Chick-fil-A. In the book, Truett tells the story of how the popular restaurant came to be and what distinguishes it from other fast-food restaurants to this day.
The whole time I was reading the book, my mouth was watering for all things Chick-fil-A: chicken sandwich, waffle fries, chicken nuggets, lemonade, southwest chicken salad, chicken biscuit, etc. Mmmmm…I’m starting to crave it as I type this.
Besides the delish food, I love Chick-fil-A because I have never left there in a bad mood. The team members who work there are always so friendly. That doesn’t happen by accident. Here’s what Truett had to say about it:
If you really aren’t interested in serving others, you don’t need to be in the restaurant business in the first place. We like to say we recruit smiles. We can’t teach a sour person to be joyful. Smiles are there because the heart is behind the smile. … What we can do is suggest actions that put smiles on the faces of others. Nothing brings a smile quicker than service that goes beyond the expected.
I asked … employees to say, ‘My pleasure’ whenever someone thanked them. The purpose was not just to change the words we say, but to remind those we serve, as well as ourselves, of the servant spirit and ’second-mile’ orientation we are continually building into our business. … It distinguishes the individual and the company they represent.
I’d also like to note this statement that pretty much boils down to the success of the chain. I think I’m going to start writing this on napkins when I go out to eat and leave a copy of this book (among others) for the manager.
Businesses are not dishonest or selfish, people are. Thus, a business, successful or not, is merely a reflection of the character of its leadership. … I see no conflict between biblical principles and good business practices. We’ve tried to operate Chick-fil-A that way from the beginning.
It’s definitely a quick read I recommend taking a hour or so to read. Also, a Google search brought up this Q&A with Truett about the book.
And now for the question I want you to answer: In what places recently have you experienced exceptional customer service?
hthr said
I’m not sure if this qualifies as “exceptional” or not…but when I pull up to my bank’s drive-thru or walk in, they always say “Hi Mrs. Williams”.
At first I thought they had passed around a special memo (ie: warning) about me getting huffy when they called me “MR. Williams” but then the other day I was in there and overheard them on a first name basis with another lady also.
I wonder if they take our pictures on the drive thru camera and then play the memory game with it at night or something. I was pretty impressed.
TheBargainBabe said
My husband got to hear him speak! He was really impressed.
As for good customer service, CVS rocks! The cashiers are always kind and patient and happy to help me find something. Plus the pharmacists are beyond belief. They helped me through when my son had undiagnosed pneumonia, and they are my heroes.
mrtroy said
I find it interesting that as I sit here trying to think of places I had good customer service experiences, I can easily recall a dozen places where I regularly expect to have a terrible customer service experience.
It makes me wonder if there are truly that many more places doing a terrible job, or if rather we remember and relay to our friends the bad experiences more than we would the good ones.
Yet another reason for companies to take it very seriously.
Sam’s Club, specifically the one here in Franklin. Just thought of them. Ernesto (usually checking receipts at the door) is awesome.