Written and Published by Ira S. Wolfe                                   November 20, 2002

	Those darn customers -  They just seem to get in the way of running the business.  While standing in lines ten or more deep several mornings each week at the convenience store, I have come to the realization that many businesses have simply detached the word fast from convenient and customer service.   Every few days early in the morning I’m greeted by a newly trained and sometimes friendly “sales associate” who manages to over-charge me for my coffee and bagel special. Each time I need to train the new associate about the breakfast special, how much to charge me, and what buttons to push. How bad does business need to get until corporate executives understand that customer service training doesn’t mean that their loyal customers are responsible to train their new hires.  Since when did it become the customer's job to train the employees how to use the computer at check out and count change? This assumes, of course, that I can get coffee in the first place. Approximately once a week, all the dozen or more coffee pots are empty. And the nearby machines are spewing powder and water all over the counters instead of blending and filling cups with cappuccino. I wonder if the help wanted sign is any indication that turnover and retention is still a problem – even at one of the industry’s best run organizations - and the labor shortage is alive and well. What’s the problem? Could it be a lack of  “good” employees? How could that be with unemployment nearly 3 full percentage points higher than just 2 years ago? But let’s not think I’m just slamming convenience stores. We all know that the convenience store industry has a notorious history of high turnover so what can you expect? What about those large box stores, especially one that promotes excellent customer service and is glamorized in business journals as one of the best places to work? On a recent Friday night, I dropped by one of those stores to pick up a few bathroom fixtures. A BIG mistake. After wondering around for a few minutes, I decided to do the non-male thing and ask for help. How embarrassing!  Here I am willing to bare my soul to a perfect stranger and admit I have no clue where they are hiding the bathroom fixtures and - you guessed it. I couldn’t find anyone to ask. When I did find an employee with one of those nice orange aprons that told me how they are pleased as punch to help me, the line waiting for their assistance was deep, very deep.  How nice it must be to be so wanted. Too bad the patience of the customers was wearing thin. I finally found my way to the fixtures on my own and headed back to the check-out.  Here I was. Friday night. Two check-out lines open with 19 and 20 people in each of these two lines. The paint line right in back of us had another dozen or so people.  You could imagine the conversations in line.  “It didn’t use to be this way.” “It’s getting just like Wal-Mart  - lots of lines and no one to help.”  “All the employees must have picked up and gone to Lowes.”  I watched at least a dozen people give up and walk out. Amazing. Here you have people with merchandise in hand and a wallet pulled out and no one to take their money! Am I missing something here? You spend millions and millions of dollars in advertising to get people to come to your store, willing to shell out hard-earned dollars and whack! You watch customers leave hundreds of dollars worth of merchandise in the aisles just a few feet from the proverbial business finish line, the cash register. Think about it. Revenues are down. You need to reduce expenses. You downsize. Store traffic increases but revenues are still down. You pare more payroll. You blame the economy. You blame your advertising and marketing departments. You need more sales. This short-sighted financial statement viewpoint that simultaneously builds stores and cuts  employees drives a business model that looks like a giant funnel.  You attract more and more people into the cone of the funnel and then trap them at the escape tube. I’d like to propose that maybe, just maybe that our economy is not as slow as the media reports.  Maybe businesses just don’t have enough employees – or at least skilled employees - to take our money and that is why revenue and profit targets are being missed. I did finally make it to the head of the line and went home only to pick up the paper and read about the rising unemployment. If unemployment is so high (Isn’t 5 percent full employment, anyway?), then why can’t businesses hire more qualified employees? And if business is so bad, why are customers lined up at the checkouts?  CoachView™ and Insights to Success/Blueprint to Success™ are the best coaching and development tools on the market.  They are both web-based and include  descriptions of strengths, weaknesses, roadblocks and recommendations. To learn more about CoachView or Insights to Success or request a sample report, click here. Managing to Excel 2003 Begins January 8, 2003 Lancaster Chamber of Commerce and Industry Southern Market Center Managing to Excel is a collection of 12 half-day workshops, each dedicated to the development of a single critical supervisory competency.  The competencies are grouped in four primary clusters:   Communication: Relating to Others Administrative: Managing Your Job Cognitive: Thinking Clearly Team Building:  Building the Team   Join Ira S. Wolfe, Founder of Success Performance Solutions,  and Ed Krow, HRE Essentials for  2003 Managing to Excel training series -  a must-attend for new managers and supervisors. Learn and improve twelve mission-critical supervisory skills.   What do participants have to say about Managing to Excel? “Very hands-on – all of our managers should attend”             “Presenters are enthusiastic, knowledgeable, and engaging”             “Great sessions – great workbooks!”             “Very effective – gets the entire class involved” Managing to Excel 2002  December 10, 2002 - Disciplining and Counseling Employees  8 AM to Noon To learn more about Managing to Excel and get a preview of the workshops, contact us today or click here for more information.   Managing to Excel is also available as an off-the-shelf program for  consultants and organizations. Click here to request more information about our purchasing from one to twelve Managing to Excel modules for your in-house training. Visit our new website at www.online-personality-tests.com The Business Accelerator Boot Camp At last, a hands-on seminar that will teach you how to turn YOUR business into a profit-making machine .........learn marketing, sales, recruiting, hiring and retention, technology solutions from the best. December 6 - 7, 2002 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Presenters: Eric Dombach, Action International Ira S. Wolfe, Success Performance Solutions Rich Landis, Technology Solutions Associates, LLC You’re invited to a Preview Seminar…Free! Come and see for yourself how you could benefit from attending the 2 day boot camp. The Preview Seminars are information packed, so your time will be well invested. When:   Wed., November 20, 7 to 9 p.m. (evening) Thurs., November 21, 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. (morning) Where:   Lancaster Host Resort & Conf. Center Click here to reserve your seat (space is limited) at the Preview or Boot Camp or to request a brochure. 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