I was coming back from a trip last Sunday. I had just gotten onto the parking lot van; after loading my own luggage. Other customers were still boarding the van, so I sat down out of the way. After everyone had boarded the van, the driver stood up and called out for parking tickets (the paper that tells him where we are parked). Now, here is the thing: instead of coming back to the van to collect the tickets from each and every person, the driver stood in the front of the van making all the passengers get up and hand him the tickets. This, after everyone was already seated. Imagine 20 people trying to stand up in the isle of a van, in order to hand their parking ticket to the van driver. Was this an example of good service quality? Well, I can only say that if I were the owner of that parking lot, I would have had a serious talk with my driver concerning the definition of "service". And, after a lot of reflection, I decided to post my thoughts.
To me, there are two kinds of people out there: the ones that will stand in the front of the bus making customers come to them, and, the ones that will go to the customer. As an entrepreneur, if you are providing a service, you need to provide the service in the best manner possible; you need to keep the customer happy at all times. Otherwise, your competition will do a better job than you, and, you will be out of business. This is the impetus for providing the best quality of service. But, I think it goes further than that. I think there is an underlying mentality that we are dealing with in this case. And, I think this kind of mentality is changing (or at least impacting) America.
Lets look at this example from another point of view: the driver's point of view. From his point of view, he did not see any reason to take the extra steps to collect the tickets. From his point of view, the customers should bring their tickets to him. This mentality is what I call the "Entitlement" mentality. This mentality is what I believe has infected America; threatening our ability to continue to be a global economic competitor. This driver was not willing to take the extra steps necessary to provide quality service to his customers. He essentially wanted his customers to come to him. It was all about him. This is not the entrepreneurial spirit that made America the hegemonic economic power that it is today. Rather, the driver felt he was entitled to his compensation whether he provided quality service or not. And, with this kind of mentality, the driver is going to do the minimum required in order to maintain his compensation. He clearly did not believe that providing excellent (or at least better) service would provide him with any additional career opportunities. Again, he was simply doing the minimum required to maintain his existing compensation.
Imagine what America would be like if everyone had the same mentality as this parking lot van driver! Imagine an America where the majority of the population is not interested in providing a quality service; they are only interested in doing the minimum required to maintain their compensation! Are you starting to get scared yet?
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That driver must be a good example of the affirmation "too big to fail". Off course that this affirmation has nothing to do with a case like this, but he surely thinks that he's "too BIG (hmmm...was he obese, by the way?) to serve others". This guy should quit the job and allow someone else who needs a job to do it. If it's his own business, I don't think it's going to last too long. Maybe he's planning on a "baillout" as well, like all those others "Too BIG to fail" and that's why he is doing a sloppy job to see if his business can enter the baillout list. Shame on that lazy dude!
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