Can Consistency Become the Basis of Poor Service?

If we don’t take care of our customers, someone else will.

Here’s an easy way to make your company stand out from the rest.

It’s called consistency.

But not all companies understand the difference between consistency and foolish consistency.

In my town, there’s a grocery store that exemplifies this. It’s a nice grocery store. They offer quality products, friendly staff, decent prices, and the store is clean and well maintained. I do 95% of my grocery shopping there.

But they’re not perfect. Not even close. Every time I go there, I get asked the same question:

“Did you find everything you were looking for?”

This seems like a good question to ask. But it’s not. The person who asks this question is the cashier. They ask me as I roll my cart up to their cash register and get ready to checkout. What they seem to miss is, when I walk up to the cash register, it means I’m done shopping.

So, why ask me if I found everything?

If I didn’t find everything, it doesn’t matter because I’m not going to take the time now to go get it. Besides, does the cashier really want to delay everyone in their line to go find something I couldn’t? I doubt it.

If I did find everything I was looking for, then the question is irrelevant. Either way, it’s a useless question, the way it’s asked.