By Mark Warren, Training Coordinator/Consultant
Texas Association of Counties
In September of 1963, Bob Farrell, founder of Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlours, opened his first restaurant in Portland, Oregon. Almost from the beginning, Farrell had a practice of encouraging customers to drop comments to let him know how they were doing and how the customer experience felt. Out of all the customer comments -- most of them good -- one from a disgruntled customer always stuck out in his mind:
“Dear Mr. Farrell:
I’ve been coming to your restaurant for over three years. I always order a #2 hamburger and a chocolate shake. I always ask for an extra pickle and I always get one. Mind you, this has been going on once or twice a week for three years.
I came into your restaurant the other day and I ordered my usual #2 hamburger and chocolate shake. I asked the young waitress for the extra pickle. I believe she was new because I hadn’t seen her before. She said, ‘Sir, I will sell you a side of pickles for $1.25.’ I told her, ‘No, I just want an extra slice of pickle. I always ask for it and they always give it to me. Go ask your manager.’ She went away and came back after speaking with the manager. The waitress looked me in the eye and said, ‘I’ll sell you a pickle for a nickel.’ Mr. Farrell, I told her what to do with her pickle, hamburger, and milkshake. I’m not coming back to your restaurant if that’s the way you’re going to run it.”
As Bob Farrell has told thousands of people in his audiences, the battle cry of his entire company, from that day to present, also became the title of his 1995 book: Give ‘em the Pickle! It is amazing how organizations risk running off hundreds of dollars worth of business or some of their most talented employees for the principle of a five cent pickle! Whatever the business or endeavor, when it comes to providing service or nurturing your professionals, make the customer or employee your top priority. As Farrell says, “Making the customer your number one priority can be a big step (and huge paradigm shift) for some organizations. We give pickles by responding to the individual needs of the customer and exceeding their expectations by offering special touches. It requires empowering your team members to respond to customers’ needs and wants without always getting approval from management.”
It may also require the organization to change certain policies and procedures. For example, it might be thought that “we’ve spent so much time and effort doing things right that we’ve forgotten about doing the right thing.” If the whole organizational paradigm moves together, the results may be tremendously effective and profitable!
Mark Warren is the Training Coordinator and a Consultant at the Texas Association of Counties (TAC). He served the Texas Department of Public Safety for 23 years, including seven years as Assistant Commander of the Training Academy.