Four Reasons Why Poor Service Wins

I love a great sub. Whether it be meatball, turkey or just about any other kind, there is just something about a sub sandwich with toasted bread. Where I live, there are all kinds of choices of where to get one. But there are only a few select joints that will dish up the best grub.

There is one such restaurant I frequent. The food is great, but every time I order my food, it’s almost like they are doing me a favor. Being on the front lines of a customer service industry, I would usually get really irritated at that obvious apathy, but …

… the food is too good. So I go back and I selectively ignore the monotone, “May I take your order?”

Did you just roll your eyes at me? Nevermind …

With everyone scrapping like dogs in commodity markets, how in the world can anyone not offer a great product and outstanding customer service? Well, as I can confess, if your product is good enough who cares about the service?

There are a few ways you can escape having a great customer experience:

1. Natural monopoly: If you have a lock on a particular market because you are the best at what you do or no one else wants to compete, you can do just about anything you want.
2. Acquired Monopoly: When competitors start to show up, buy them.
3. You’re just that good: Like my sub shop, your product is just that good. People will ignore poor service for great product.
4. I’ll pay for the abuse: There are a rare few who actually make poor service part of their experience. This is for all of the masochists in the world. Nonetheless, some find it novel to be abused.

The problem is that most products out there aren’t any better than another, so my suggestion is don’t try it unless you are pretty sure of yourself and your product. Off course, it goes without saying that somehow abusive companies seem to not only survive, but often thrive. While this really undermines my greater hope in karma, I am reminded of the saying, “There’s a sucker born every minute.”

As for my excuse? I just eat there for the food…

Image courtesy of Nick Saltmarsh

Ken Stewart’s website, ChangeForge, focuses on the collision between the constantly changing worlds of business and technology in an information-centric world. Ken is also the founder of Seeking the Son. He is always interested in connecting; To discover the many ways you may connect with him, visit him at DandyID.