Consistency Counts – Part One
A close friend of mine regularly stops at her local fast food drive-thru for breakfast. Last week she asked for a cup of hot water with her order. The woman at the window told her that request would cost her fifteen cents. In the past, there was no charge for this “little extra.” Yet, on this particular day, the woman asked for money and clarified that the fifteen cents was to cover the cost of the disposable cup and lid.
Any of us in business know that this makes sense. It costs the restaurant money to provide water in a disposable cup to its customers. The next day my friend returned and was serviced by the same woman. She ordered the same breakfast, requested hot water, then proceeded to hand over an empty travel mug.
Despite the fact that there was no disposable cup and lid being used, the woman still charged her for the hot water. It difficult to know what this restaurant’s policy is. If they have one, it is inconsistent. If it happened to my friend, how many other people are experiencing the same scenario?
If you create a new policy in your company that impacts your customers, be sure to communicate this policy clearly to all employees. Customers like and expect consistency. They are also willing to pay a little extra to get it.
Thanks you for the marketing and company tips. I do enjoy your points but have reservations about the last one. The poor communications of the company in your ” Consistency Counts” was that the staff were not given a clear understanding why there is a cost with serving hot water to a customer, the point if they did supply the cup and lid being one point but also the cost of producing, serving the hot water is a cost, thou maybe small but if added together over a year turns into money out of the bottom line. And where do you draw the line in supplying free things?