Fast Food Journal, Life in the Fast Lane.
The Carpenter, a mouseburger, and a shot of whiskey.
He stood about 5' 9" tall. His working uniform was a white teeshirt, tan work pants, usually stained with paint, and a tan baseball cap. He was in his late 50's, a little on the pudgy side, and hardly ever smiled. To get him to grin or laugh, took some real effort. He hardly conversed, answering questions with short, to the point answers, but he was our carpenter.
You see, I work in fast food, have for over 20 years, and you kinda take your customers as they come. What I mean to say, is that you only have them for a few minutes each day, but in those few, you at least try to make those minutes, the best they'll have that day. When you take that approach to customer service, you go away feeling good about your customer and about yourself.
Most customers are regular, they come in once a year, once a month, weekly, or everyday.Well, our carpenter was, the most regular, of a long line of regulars. He would show up at our restaurant, every week day, exactly at 3:00 PM. He would go into the restroom to wash his hands, and then come to the counter to order his mouseburger and a shot of whiskey. That's right; a mouseburger and a shot of whiskey.
The first time, he came in, we had to explain to him that mouseburgers were not on the menu, and we weren't allowed to serve alcoholic beverages. He just frowned, and said "Well, in that case, go ahead and give me a small cheeseburger and a small coke. After recieving his order, he wouldn't say thanks, but just turned and went to his truck, where he sat to read the newspaper, and eat his cheeseburger.
The afternoon crew got used to his regularity, and if he ever missed coming in, we knew he was either ill, or out of town. The first day, that he would return, one of us would comment on missing him, and had he been ill? He would reply in his usually short, "Had a Cold". That was it, no elaboration, no "thanks for thinking of me". And then, he would order his mouseburger and a shot of whiskey.
You could feel, that there was a sense of humor, hidden under that gruff exterior, but, how to get it to manifest itself? After, almost a year of this daily interaction, I felt, that I finally had learned about as much about the older man, that I ever would. And then, an inspiration!
One day, as I was preparing to go to work, I happened to see one of the kid's toys laying on the floor. It was a rubber mouse, with a lifelike appearance, and very mouselike tail. Out of inspiration, I took it to work with me, not knowing exactly what I would do with it. After talking it over with the crew, we finally had our plan.
When our carpenter, came in that afternoon, he finally got what he ordered; a mouseburger. Yes, the cook put the freshly sanitized mouse in his cheese burger instead of the usual meat patty. Of course, we acted as if everything was the same as usual, the small talk, and all. We bagged his mouseburger, and off he went to enjoy his sandwich with the newspaper.
We figured, that as soon as he opened that burger, he would march right back in, insisting on one made properly, or his money back! But, he just read his paper like normal, and then left to return to work. We were kinda disappointed at the reaction.
Now, the question was, " Had we alienated a regular and sent him to Burger King"
The next afternoon, we were on pins and needles, wondering if he would even show. Three o'clock came and just like clockwork, he drove in. What would he say, what would he do?
When he ordered his small cheeseburger and shot of whiskey, we had confirmed our suspicions, that he did have a sense of humor. Not once, did he mention the mouse! He acted as if nothing unusual had transpired. He was not going to acknowledge to us, that we had pulled one over on him. Never again, did he order a mouseburger, but he continued to order a small whiskey, until, on another occasion, I broke him of that. He remained one of our regulars for several more years, until he retired.
It's almost 40 years since that incident happened, yet I look back on it fondly as one of the many cherished memories from my life, in the fast food lane. If you treat your customers as individuals and valued friends, working in that industry can be very rewarding. You'll have more friends than you know, and a life filled with many happy memories.
Milton Thomas
********************************************************************************
Satisfied customers are the base of any business. How many you have of those, is determined by how you treat them as individuals and friends of your business. If you want to know more about how to promote and encourage effective customer service, in the workplace, check out the websight at:
http://tinyurl.com/CustomerServicePro.
He stood about 5' 9" tall. His working uniform was a white teeshirt, tan work pants, usually stained with paint, and a tan baseball cap. He was in his late 50's, a little on the pudgy side, and hardly ever smiled. To get him to grin or laugh, took some real effort. He hardly conversed, answering questions with short, to the point answers, but he was our carpenter.
You see, I work in fast food, have for over 20 years, and you kinda take your customers as they come. What I mean to say, is that you only have them for a few minutes each day, but in those few, you at least try to make those minutes, the best they'll have that day. When you take that approach to customer service, you go away feeling good about your customer and about yourself.
Most customers are regular, they come in once a year, once a month, weekly, or everyday.Well, our carpenter was, the most regular, of a long line of regulars. He would show up at our restaurant, every week day, exactly at 3:00 PM. He would go into the restroom to wash his hands, and then come to the counter to order his mouseburger and a shot of whiskey. That's right; a mouseburger and a shot of whiskey.
The first time, he came in, we had to explain to him that mouseburgers were not on the menu, and we weren't allowed to serve alcoholic beverages. He just frowned, and said "Well, in that case, go ahead and give me a small cheeseburger and a small coke. After recieving his order, he wouldn't say thanks, but just turned and went to his truck, where he sat to read the newspaper, and eat his cheeseburger.
The afternoon crew got used to his regularity, and if he ever missed coming in, we knew he was either ill, or out of town. The first day, that he would return, one of us would comment on missing him, and had he been ill? He would reply in his usually short, "Had a Cold". That was it, no elaboration, no "thanks for thinking of me". And then, he would order his mouseburger and a shot of whiskey.
You could feel, that there was a sense of humor, hidden under that gruff exterior, but, how to get it to manifest itself? After, almost a year of this daily interaction, I felt, that I finally had learned about as much about the older man, that I ever would. And then, an inspiration!
One day, as I was preparing to go to work, I happened to see one of the kid's toys laying on the floor. It was a rubber mouse, with a lifelike appearance, and very mouselike tail. Out of inspiration, I took it to work with me, not knowing exactly what I would do with it. After talking it over with the crew, we finally had our plan.
When our carpenter, came in that afternoon, he finally got what he ordered; a mouseburger. Yes, the cook put the freshly sanitized mouse in his cheese burger instead of the usual meat patty. Of course, we acted as if everything was the same as usual, the small talk, and all. We bagged his mouseburger, and off he went to enjoy his sandwich with the newspaper.
We figured, that as soon as he opened that burger, he would march right back in, insisting on one made properly, or his money back! But, he just read his paper like normal, and then left to return to work. We were kinda disappointed at the reaction.
Now, the question was, " Had we alienated a regular and sent him to Burger King"
The next afternoon, we were on pins and needles, wondering if he would even show. Three o'clock came and just like clockwork, he drove in. What would he say, what would he do?
When he ordered his small cheeseburger and shot of whiskey, we had confirmed our suspicions, that he did have a sense of humor. Not once, did he mention the mouse! He acted as if nothing unusual had transpired. He was not going to acknowledge to us, that we had pulled one over on him. Never again, did he order a mouseburger, but he continued to order a small whiskey, until, on another occasion, I broke him of that. He remained one of our regulars for several more years, until he retired.
It's almost 40 years since that incident happened, yet I look back on it fondly as one of the many cherished memories from my life, in the fast food lane. If you treat your customers as individuals and valued friends, working in that industry can be very rewarding. You'll have more friends than you know, and a life filled with many happy memories.
Milton Thomas
********************************************************************************
Satisfied customers are the base of any business. How many you have of those, is determined by how you treat them as individuals and friends of your business. If you want to know more about how to promote and encourage effective customer service, in the workplace, check out the websight at:
http://tinyurl.com/CustomerServicePro.
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