Last weekend marked the grand opening of Sprouts Farmers Market in Aurora, CO. The parking lot was teeming with cars so I dropped my wife off near the entrance and then circled the lot until I found a parking spot towards the front of the store.

Anticipating a delay due to the grand opening crowds, I put a movie on for the kids, opened a window, and relaxed. It was a beautiful day. The birds were chirping, the sun was shining, there was a slight breeze, and every now and then I’d get a glimpse of some fresh produce or breads sticking out of shopping bags as customers made their way to their cars.

I was now beginning to daydream—anticipating my own lunch made with toasted sourdough bread, fresh produce, choice meats, and select cheeses from Sprouts. Ah…

About that time, a Sprouts employee emerged from the store, leaned back against the building’s façade about ten feet from where I’d parked, and lit a cigarette—drawing deeply before exhaling a cloud of smoke.

Mood killer.

As I was downwind, I immediately closed the windows and then thought about how smoking and its residual effects (i.e., second-hand smoke, clothing odor, etc.) are incompatible with what Sprouts is attempting to promote: freshness and healthy living.

I don’t smoke. You may have gathered that already. And my hunch is that the majority of Sprouts customers, who are intentional about planning healthy meals using the freshest ingredients, don’t smoke either.

I’m no prude. I’ve smoked cigars on golf courses and in cigar bars. My point is not to bag on smokers. I will, however, bag on Sprouts for its failure to establish standards that reinforce its mission statement which includes: “…helping America eat healthier (and) live longer…”

If employees are permitted to smoke on the premises, it should not be evident to customers—by sight or smell. It’s simply incompatible with what Sprouts promotes and what its customers expect.

In addition to that, it’s a mood killer. And if customers are in the mood to spend money, it’s a business killer too.

The other day I walked by a supermarket employee who was hanging out near the front entrance of the store smoking a cigarette.

I noticed him because it always confounds me when employers permit their employees to smoke someplace where non-smoking customers have to pass through their second-hand smoke in order to spend their money.

But that’s a topic from an earlier post…

This particular post centers on the employee’s admonishment of a customer who failed to return his shopping cart to a designated cart collection area.

After a customer positioned the front wheels of his cart on a median in the parking lot, the employee called out sarcastically, “Excuse me. That’s not where the cart goes!”

The customer either didn’t hear the comment or chose to ignore it.

Customers are not obligated to return shopping carts. It’s nice when they do but it’s not their responsibility any more than it’s a rental car customer’s responsibility to clean out the car’s interior before returning it.

At some point, employees have to assume responsibility for their job roles. That means gathering shopping carts, cleaning a rental car’s interior, or whatever their job descriptions entail.

Do you see the irony here? The employee who’s chastising the customer for failing to return the cart to a designated collection area is himself employed to gather shopping carts from the parking lot and return them to the store. That’s one of his job duties. It’s what he’s paid to do. The customer’s only obligation is to pay for his groceries.

I suppose if every customer returned his or her cart to a designated cart collection area then that would save this employee time and effort, perhaps allowing for more smoke breaks in front of the store—but then who would he heckle?

It’s Customer Service Week. I suppose I’m obligated to mention it since I work in the field. It’s just difficult for me to get behind an event staged with banners, buttons, and other chotchkies lauding the importance of customers and customer service when the reality is that many customers at participating companies will remain underserved this week, as they were last week, and as they will be next week.

Besides, shouldn’t every week be customer service week?

Let me begin with a fairy tale. It’s about an emperor who unwittingly hires two swindlers to create for him a new set of clothes. Perhaps you’ve heard of it? The swindlers promise the emperor the finest suit of clothes from the most beautiful cloth. This cloth, they tell him, is invisible to anyone who was either stupid or unfit for his lofty position. Although the emperor cannot see the (non-existent) cloth, he pretends that he can for fear of appearing stupid. His advisors do the same.

During the course of the emperor’s procession through town, the swindle is exposed (no pun intended) by a small child who shouts, “The Emperor is naked!”

What does this have to do with customer service? I’m using it as a metaphor for the majority of people (employees, as well as customers) who are unwilling to state an obvious truth due to apathy, ignorance, or indifference: that the current state of customer service is unacceptable.

Here are three glaring examples of behaviors that I regularly observe in retail settings that store management appears to tolerate (because these behaviors are chronic):

1.) Routinely, I observe aloof employees checking their text, email, and social media accounts on their phones. Employees have one set of eyes and if they’re affixed to a handset screen they cannot be scanning for customers in need of service.

2.) I regularly walk past employees who are smoking near the main entrances to stores. Not only is this an eyesore, it’s disrespectful to customers and absolutely avoidable for a management team willing to establish and enforce minimal standards.

3.) Frequently, I encounter employees complaining about their schedules, coworkers, and even other customers. Customers should not be subjected to this toxic banter. In fact, customers should not be subjected to banter at all. Employees, in deference to their customers, should cease personal conversations while in the presence of customers. Instead, engage the customer regarding his or her shopping experience. There will be plenty of time for you to resume your conversation with your coworkers later—without making your customer feel non-existent, like a store fixture.

What’s happened to our sensibilities? It’s not okay to check your email or text a friend in full view of a customer. Besides the unsanitary perception, it’s wrong (and illegal in many locations) to smoke near the building entrance where customers must pass through employees’ secondhand smoke to spend their money. And it’s disrespectful—not to mention awkward—to complain in front of a customer or to carry on a conversation with a coworker in the presence of a customer. The emperor’s wearing no clothes and no one seems to want to acknowledge it!

What happens in most cases is that: a.) there are no credible standards in place to enforce; b.) even though standards are in place (usually in the employee handbook that hasn’t been cracked since each page was initialed during employee orientation), mangers are unaware of them or apathetic towards their enforcement; or c.) managers themselves engage in the same indifferent behaviors!

I could have used a lot of words just now to describe this behavior (e.g., poor, unacceptable, reprehensible, etc.) but I chose indifferent. I chose that word because that’s how I perceive these employees behave towards me: indifferently—as though my presence makes no difference and I really don’t matter all that much.

Here’s a litmus test I like to use when determining whether or not an employee’s behavior is acceptable: If I were the division president conducting an on-site visit, would this employee behave the same way? Would his manager tolerate it then?

If the answer to that question is “no” then clearly, instead of being some pet peeve of mine, the behavior is unacceptable. If the division president was on-site, everyone would get the message from management, loud and clear, that there would be absolutely no texting their friends while “on the floor,” no smoking near the main store entrance and no audible complaining or personal conversations with coworkers in the presence of the division president.

Even without the message from management, front-line hourly employees know better than to do these things in front of the division president. In fact, most of them will be on their very best behavior and productivity will likely soar in the days and hours preceding the executive’s visit.

So, why the double standard? Why is it okay to behave indifferently toward customers and roll out the red carpet for the division president? Why do employees paint, wax the floors, and polish the chrome for the division president and text friends, smoke, and complain and banter in the presence of customers? I have a theory about this but I’ll save it for a future post. For now, suffice it to say that this behavior is unacceptable.

I’m sure this post won’t be popular with many employees. That’s understandable because, based on my experience, customer service and, in some cases, work ethic aren’t popular either with the same employees.

Companies need to acknowledge that the emperor is not wearing any clothes. They must establish standards and then hire employees who can meet and exceed these standards. National unemployment is near 10 percent. Employers can afford to be picky. Be picky. Once hired, employees’ performance must be managed. This means that managers must communicate, reinforce, and model these standards—regardless of whether or not the division president is stopping by.

Now, put away the phone, find a different place—far, far away from customers—to smoke, and resolve never to complain or carry on personal conversations with coworkers in the presence of customers again. It’s awkward for customers and undermines customer service.

Take a stand during this Customer Service Week. Look around your operation. If you see the behaviors highlighted in this post in full view of customers or if you detect employee apathy or indifference towards serving customers, call out, “The Emperor is naked!”

Using this as your battle cry, initiate a revolution to treat every customer like the division president—with courtesy, respect, and care. Not just during Customer Service Week, but every week of the year. You will be amazed by the results you see in your customers’ satisfaction as well as your own job satisfaction.

Okay, here comes the Emperor’s procession. Get ready…