After an exciting visit to the Milwaukee Public Musuem a few years ago with my sons, we went to a nearby national chain pizza shop where we placed an order and waited for our pizza. And waited and waited. We were some of the only customers there, so we were puzzled over the excessive wait. There was another mad who had been there before us. Finally he gave up waiting and went to the order counter where he expressed his anger over the ridiculous wait. He demanded to know why he still didn’t have his pizza after waiting 40 minutes. The clerk pointed to some cardboard boxes sitting on the counter and said that his pizza had been there for quite a while already – as it it was the man’s fault for not noticing and picking up his pizza. The man was indignant and asked why he hadn’t been told. he had been sitting just a few feet away the whole time. Turns out that they had been focusing on their pizza delivery orders, not the in-store customers. The clerk sincerely offered this excuse: “Sometimes we be so busy that we don’t have time for customers.”
So true!
It’s not just restaurants that are at risk of falling into misguided priority traps. Companies of all kinds may make this mistake, becoming so busy with operations and cost cutting that they lose track of the customers they may be losing. They lose track of what their business is all about and short circuit opportunities for success and growth. It’s possible to successfully deliver (literally or figuratively) on short-term goals while leaving important opportunities for the future on the table, where they will grow cold and maybe even alienate segments of the market that should have been won over.
Never lose sight of what your business is all about. Don’t ignore your customers and especially those who could soon become loyal customers, if only given a little attention.
I’ve heard from people in some major companies who face similar problems – and have the intelligence to recognize it. Some see that they are missing growth opportunities because they have become too busy with all the small stuff of daily operations. A short-term focus can make an organization unable to pursue innovation effectively, and that often means that customers and especially potential customers will be neglected.
Are you too busy for your customers? To busy for long-term success? Step back and reconsider who you are and what your mission is. Deliver where it really counts!