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Who Comes First: The Customer or the Customer?

Written by: Don Doman

Article Overview: Handling multiple customers is a juggling act that requires people handling skills. You don't want to offend or lose either customer, but by faltering in your juggling you run the risk of losing one or the other, or both.

Who Comes First: The Customer or the Customer?

I was waiting for my fast-food breakfast while my cohort of four little girls scurried over the indoor Big Toy.

"They're sure taking their time today," grumbled the man next to me. He wasn't talking about my granddaughters.

He was wearing a purple tee-shirt over his middle-aged paunch. A baseball cap and jeans completed the outfit. He could have been there with his grandchildren, but he was alone.

I nodded my head. I hate standing in line and really hate waiting, but I hadn't reached my annoyance threshold, yet. Obviously, my fellow breakfaster had passed that bar.

"They wait on the drive-through customers first and make the people inside wait," he said to me while maintaining a watchful eye behind the counter and into the kitchen area.

I nodded again and followed his gaze. The young woman, who seemed about four-foot-five, behind the counter was taking orders and was doing a good job with a friendly smile. The prep people were cooking and delivering, and yet . . . on the counter were five food trays. Each had a cash register receipt. In addition, between the trays were another two or three receipts. The young woman would take orders, fill them as best she could, and then wait for food from the kitchen, while she continued to take even more order.

A tray of goodies was handed out to someone who had been behind us. "I was here before him. This has happened to me before," my hungry friend commented. "I was waiting for about fifteen minutes once and I complained to the waitress. She said she didn't realize there was a problem and offered me a free meal. I told her that wasn't the problem and pointed to all the people waiting behind me." He shook his head in disgust, "I think I need to call corporate, again."

I like to hear people complaining. It shows that I'm not the only one observing problems and potential problems in business.

The kernel of this fast-food breakfast story pops up repeatedly in retail and small businesses around the world. It's a good illustration of priorities. Who comes first: the customer in front of you, or the customer who calls on the phone (or ordering on the intercom)?

It's a juggling act that requires people handling skills. You don't want to offend or lose either customer, but by faltering in your juggling you run the risk of losing one or the other, or both. It's like fishing with two poles and a fish on each line. While this is enviable, the fisherman sometimes goes home hungry.

Here are some suggestions for working with multiple customers:

Be observant. Is everyone happy? Can anything be done for the unhappy ones?
Be polite. Use words and phrases like "excuse me," "I'm sorry for the delay," and "it'll be just a moment."

Know when to apologize and when to offer relief, "Can I get you a free coffee?"

Be respectful, "Excuse me, while I put you hold. I am currently helping another customer. I'll return as soon as possible."

Get help when possible.

I got my order before my friend, but then I was in line before he was. My grandkids ate, played, and then with money in hand went back for snacks as a group. One returned with an unsolicited comment, "It's terrible over there. People are placing orders and not getting them!" Ah, yes, that's what I like, a ten year-old complainer. She's being raised right, I guess.

As my unhappy friend left a little while later, there were 12 people in line with the same clerk and finally another clerk joined her. Within minutes the line was gone and so where the people waiting for their orders. I wish the friendly little clerk had just asked for help a little sooner. She might have saved a customer . . . the one who had been directly in front of her.

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