Polite Employees in a Down Economy

Yesterday Trevor and I went for a quick bite at Panera. Now when I try to steer away from fast food as often as I can for a number of reasons. First, I dont think my butt needs to get any larger:) and generally the staff are unfriendly or just dont care. I blame this in large part to organizations not investing in their employees on a store level.

So we ventured in the Parnera in Edina, MN at about 8:15pm (they close at 9pm) and the staff looked very irritated we walked in the door. This was obvious both by their looks but also their loud "employee to employee" conversation that they were closing in 45 minutes. We stood there for about three minutes waiting for one of the seven employees to come and help us.

When we began to order they were out of several menu items because they said they were closing soon. And instead of suggesting an alternative, the staff just stared at us looking beat down and tired. When we finally ordered, the staff gave us sloppily put together food and didn't even respond when we told them to have a nice night. When Trevor went up to the counter to ask for some butter, the sales girl looked at him, walked in back, grabbed some butter, walked past him, filled the butter dish and turned and left. When he said thank you, she never even responded. A simple "oh here let me grab you some" would have been a simple response and solution.

In an economy where consumers are being selective where they are spending their money, companies really need to stress to store employees the importance of the customer experience. "A simple hello" and "have a nice evening" are ways store employees can enhance a customers visit. Instead, Trevor and I left with a bad experience and the impression we had interrupted the staffs need to try and be out of there by 9pm.

In all honesty, consumers don't care what is happening at any corporate headquarters. A consumer will remember their interaction with a brand based on their most recent experience. And based on mine at Panera -- i wont be visiting there any time soon.