A better employee experience: Are your “regular” customers always worth the effort?
The other night I watched a drunk get verbally abusive to a customer and a staff member at a restaurant. The restaurant manager smoothed things out, calmed him down and removed the charge for a glass of wine; a glass of wine which the drunk had bought for a woman he was hoping to “get to know.” She refused his advances and the glass of wine.
Things got a little loud as the manager let him know she was removing the glass of wine from the bill. He was complaining about the wine being bad. It wasn’t that the wine was bad; it was that he was rejected. How about removing the drunk from the restaurant were my thoughts.
Apparently this man has outbursts like this and exhibits stupid behavior on a regular basis. And therein lies the problem. He is a “regular.” He comes into the restaurant often. So they put up with his nonsense. The owners and managers continue to allow employees and other customers become uncomfortable.
For whatever reasons businesses seek to protect “regular” customers. I wonder how many employees are having a miserable experience because of this one idiot. I wonder if employee turnover is related to business not creating an environment that is comfortable for employees and non-regulars. I wonder how many “new regulars” have been lost because of idiots like Gil.
