I used to work for a general manager who was critical of our hotel’s food and beverage director because he had a reputation for rolling-up his sleeves and pitching in when the restaurant was slammed. Sometimes, he would seat guests. Other times, he would bus tables.

My GM believed that the reason he had to seat guests and bus tables was because he inadequately staffed the restaurant to service the forecasted volume of guests. That may be true but, as any operations manager can attest, there is a finite number of payroll hours to work with each period in order to stay within budget.

For this reason, many operations managers roll-up their sleeves and pitch in. (Believe me, this is a lot easier than increasing your department’s payroll budget.) Often, their motivation has less to do with being seen as team players and more to do with not exceeding their budgeted payroll hours.

Maybe my former GM was right and the F&B director scheduled inadequately? Or perhaps the F&B director did what he had to do to staff a restaurant with an inadequate payroll budget? I can only judge by what I can see: a line of guests waiting to be seated and a cluttered table that needs to be bussed.

Recently, my son and I were at Cold Stone Creamery. As a line formed nine customers deep, a single employee scrambled to accept, fulfill and ring-up orders. Meanwhile, a second employee was “working” in back in full view of customers waiting in line.

As the harried employee rang up our order, I motioned toward the employee in back and asked, “Is she available to help you out?”

He responded, “She’s a manager, so she has other things to do.”

Unfortunately, her “other things” didn’t have to do with supporting her staff or serving customers. Perhaps she feels as though she’s done her time working on the front line? Maybe she’s above it now that she’s a manager and, as such, should focus on more urgent managerial-type tasks like scheduling, procurement and budgets?

Or, possibly, none of those applies and she just missed an opportunity to demonstrate leadership and exceptional customer service by supporting her staff while reducing the wait time for her customers?

Most managers are classified as exempt employees who, because of their positional duties and authority, are exempt from the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. While managers may be exempt from overtime, they are not exempt from serving.

If you’re a manager, understand this: You will rarely have enough budgeted payroll hours to staff your operation the way you’d like to. Scheduling to service forecasted volume is fraught with trade-offs. And there will always be urgent tasks that require your attention.

The most important element to any operation is people: employees and customers. So, when you have the opportunity to serve either of them, do it. Right away.

Illustration: Aaron McKissen

Do you pay attention to the greetings and farewells you receive as a customer?

I do.

Here are a few that I’ve received lately:

Last weekend, as I pulled up to the Krispy Kreme drive-thru window, this was my greeting: “$16.65”

That was it. I was greeted with the total cost of my order.

After paying, the cashier handed me my doughnuts saying, “Your receipt’s in the bag.”

That was my farewell. Nothing more. This employee seemed to prioritize efficiency: processing more customers faster.

And earlier this week, after spending $62.15 on groceries at Albertsons, I received this farewell: [Cashier speaking into register phone handset] “I’m at (register) six. Do you want me to bank out on (register) seven?”

That was it. I was completely ignored by the cashier as he chose to focus on his real priority: getting the hell out of there.

Compare these employee interactions with the one I had at Chick-fil-A last night:

As I approached the drive-thru intercom, here’s how I was greeted: “Welcome to Chick-fil-A! How may I serve you?”

And the experience ended on a refreshing note as well. In place of the typical fast-food industry sendoff of “No problem” (in response to a customer’s “Thank you” upon receiving his to-go order), I received an elegant “It’s my pleasure.”

Ladies and gentlemen, Chick-fil-A is a quick service restaurant—like Krispy Kreme or McDonald’s. The difference is that Chick-fil-A genuinely prioritizes customer service and this is reflected in the behavior and language of its employees.

If a quick service restaurant can do it, there’s hope for the rest of the service industry.

Care to share any memorable greetings or farewells you’ve received?

Years ago, while attending a 7 Habits of Highly Effective People seminar in New York City, I listened as our facilitator, Dr. Larry Kokkelenberg, stated that the word “no” is not a negative word.

The word “no,” he explained, is actually a positive word. It’s an empowering word—a liberating word. It’s a word that enables us to remain in command of our time and priorities.

To illustrate, let’s say a coworker invites you out for drinks after work. Although you enjoy spending time with this coworker, you also recognize that you’ve been inconsistent lately about getting to the gym due to work and other demands and are now beginning to “feel it.”

In this case, if fitness is a priority for you, you might say “no” (to drinks) because you have a bigger “yes” (fitness) burning inside.

So, if we’re talking about personal development, recall that “no” is a useful word to have at your disposal. But if we’re talking about serving customers, eliminate the word from your vocabulary.

Why? It’s bad for business.

Last night, I stopped by a liquor store on my way home to pick up a 12-pack of Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA.

I discovered that, while they had space reserved for the 12-pack, they were currently out of stock. To the right, I spotted a full shelf of 6-packs. I also noticed that the 12-pack price was $15.49 and 6-packs sold for $7.99.

I grabbed two 6-packs and brought them to the register at the front of the store. Before the clerk scanned them, I asked if he could give me the 12-pack price since the only reason I was buying two 6-packs is because they were out of 12-packs.

He said, “No. We can’t do that.”

He then reached for the first 6-pack to scan it (apparently assuming I was okay with his answer) and I said, “Listen, would you mind putting these back for me?”

Surprised, he said, “Yeah. Sure.”

I thanked him, left the store, and then drove to another liquor store (Did I mention that I pass, like, 10 of them on my way home?) and bought a 12-pack there.

There is no state liquor law preventing this employee from extending the 12-pack price to two 6-packs. What prevents him from doing so is a mindset that says, “I’m willing to forfeit a $15.49 sale to save 49 cents.”

That’s a ridiculous mindset to have in business—especially when your profit margins are above 20 percent.

While words like no, can’t, won’t, and don’t may support personal productivity, they undermine customer service.

And what’s bad for customer service is also bad for business.

Too often operators recognize employees for the job they do with processes rather than customers.  I recall hearing a perfect example of this from a consultant named Rick Tate:

When a restaurant hostess is hired to greet guests and make them feel welcome as they arrive, she also recognizes there are several other processes that she is responsible for (e.g., completing side-work such as filling salt and pepper shakers, folding napkins, filling the butter cups, etc.).

From day one, the hostess is told how her number one priority is the guest.  So she focuses on greeting guests as they arrive to make them feel welcome and then, as they depart, thanking them for their business and inviting them to return.  When the manager then emerges from his office and sees that she is behind on her side-work, what do you suppose happens?  Right.  He doesn’t recognize the job she’s done making customers feel welcome and appreciated.  Heck, he may not have even observed those interactions.  Instead he points out what he can see—that the butter cups need to be filled!

Over time the hostess learns that if she’s going to win with this manager, she had better make sure the butter cups are filled!  So now, instead of being a welcoming, guest-focused first impression at the hostess stand, she is primarily focused on completing her side-work.  In this scenario, the customer becomes an interruption in her job as opposed to the reason for it!

Now, guest interactions with this hostess are rushed, stressed, and decidedly uninviting.  We’ve all experienced it.  In these situations it’s easy to blame the hostess for being preoccupied, indifferent, or even rude.  But then I wonder how often the enthusiasm and personality for which most guest contact employees are hired has been unwittingly stifled by the process-focused environments in which they work?

How about you?  What are your company’s “butter cups” and how might they be contradicting your organizations true priorities?