Last Updated on: 9th January 2014, 03:43 pm
It’s become a pretty common lament that good customer service is getting harder and harder to find. Gone, say many, are the days when a friendly disposition and a few well placed pleases and thank yous would get you what you were after even when the old shopkeep insisted it wasn’t possible. But while there is indeed a sad amount of accuracy to be found in this school of thought, polite give and take between business and customer is not dead just yet.
Take, for example, the recent exchange between Tevin Kievelle Monroe and a Norfolk, Virginia McDonald’s manager.
On a day not so long ago, the 31-year-old Monroe walked into the eatery perhaps in search of food, but more importantly, on the always admirable quest for gainful employment. He approached the manager and requested that he please be provided with an application he could fill out. Unfortunately, as so often happens in this day and age, he was directed to the company’s website where, he was told, a digital version of the requested paperwork could be obtained.
Monroe, though displeased by this option, did not lose his cool. On the contrary, he remained calm, choosing to make his request again. But as anyone skilled in the art of negotiation knows, simply repeating oneself will quickly find one getting exactly nowhere. So changing his strategy ever so slightly, Monroe lifted his shirt in order to alert the manager to the presence of the firearm contained in his waistband.
Unsurprisingly, such a courtesy resulted in a paper application quickly being furnished, one which Mr. Monroe happily set about completing.
And just to prove that a little bit of kindness will go a long way, the Manager went above and beyond the call of duty to give Monroe more than he asked for, a clear nod to the celebrated tradition of the baker’s dozen. Monroe’s little something extra came in the form of a visit from some nice police officers who were more than willing to take him on a surprise field trip. They even gave him some charges to take home!
Much can be learned from such a wonderful story. First and foremost, if you give a little, you’ll get a little. Also, don’t threaten people with weapons, ya friggin idiot.
