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Like most people, I expect that when I toss my business card into a bowl to win something, what I get is one less business card to carry around.
My luck changed at my local Jimmy John’s sandwich shop last week. It turned out the distinctive Element-R business card was either randomly picked, or someone said, “Oooo. Cool card. Let’s pick that one!” to reward me with their “Enter to Win” giveaway bowl.
The e-mail telling me I won stated “With this, you have been chosen to receive one Jimmy John’s 15 piece party platter! This platter will contain your choice of 5 sub sandwiches (#1 thru #6) to share with your friends, family, or coworkers!”
Cool. I had planned to use this free lunch giveaway for a family dinner party of Austrian and German dishes we’re hosting this weekend where I know the stuff I’m prepping will be greeted with some kids scrunching up their faces and turning up their noses. “What, you don’t want steak tar tare and goulash? Here, go gnaw a sub.”
But, after a very hectic week, I cashed in my e-mail last night for a quick dinner. I called the store, placed the order, and asked that the sandwiches not be cut into thirds, producing this exchange:
JJW (Jimmy John’s Worker): “We have to cut them to make them fit on the platter.”
Me: “I don’t want the platter, I just want whole sandwiches.”
JJW: “You won the platter, so they have to be cut.”
Me: “Why? Can’t you just make the sandwiches without cutting them?”
JJW: “No… Uh, well… Let me ask my manager.”
After about a minute, the sandwich maker returned to the phone.
JJW: “The contest is about winning the platter, sir. It’s what it says.”
Me: “OK, you’re going to make the sandwiches and wrap them in paper, right?”
JJW: “Yes”
Me: “Here’s what you do… Make the sandwiches, wrap them in paper, but just don’t pick up the knife.”
JJW: “Uh, let me go call the district manager.”
After about 30 seconds, he returns to the phone.
JJW: “Uh, OK. We’ll do it this one time, but if you enter and win again, you have to take the platter.”
Me: “You bet.”
The sandwiches that my family consumed last night were typical, tasty Jimmy John’s fare. But the rules and procedures in which sometimes corporations and their franchises tightly wrap themselves can create unnecessary problems.
Jimmy John’s could have planned a little empowerment and given the person I spoke with some leeway to fulfill my simple request, making my winning the contest a short and satisfying encounter, not one where I had to coach the sandwich maker to think and run up a simple request up the chain of command.
Tags: empowerment, giveaway, Jimmy John's, procedures, rules
Um. Wow.
This actually goes to a bigger issue happening in customer service across all large companies (think SWA and Kevin Smith). Because social media now amplifies these issues, it’s even more important for companies to teach flexibility and to empower their employees to make decisions that don’t hurt the company’s reputation or lose the company money. Take a page from Warren Buffet on this.
I couldn’t help by laugh. I mean, similar situations have happened to me so many times. One day a “Here’s how to think and make decisions” chapter will be inserted into training manuals.
Thank you for printing the transcript of your discussion! “Don’t pick up the knife,” I love it.
It is a rare occasion that I go into a store/restaurant or any business and don’t see some simple solution that would make my experience so much more convenient and pleasant for me as a consumer.
While rules and policies are needed to set the course, it is just as important for businesses to review those rules/policies as they grow or at least be flexible enough to accomodate simple requests, like yours.
Great post.
In the name of efficiency and standardization, many corporations suck initiative and independent thinking right out of their employees’ heads. In their quest to make every customer experience perfectly consistent, they end up with consistent mediocrity.
Funny, Gini. The SWA/Smith situation came to mind as I was writing this. True, corporations need rules, but employees need to some discretion to handle simple situations that are within their control.
Kris, LOL, but if it comes to that, something is REALLY wrong.
Very true, Erin. Business is not like the Popeil rotisserie. You just can’t set it and forget it.
It’s robo syndrome, Steve. Don’t think, just do what we’ve programmed you to do.
Thanks for the comment. We’re trying.