Blanket Bigotry

Somewhere in this photo of sales people are a few bad ones. They don't give their customers the attention or service that they deserve. They also have no allegiance or loyalty to their company. The company has no idea.

We've all experienced someone who treated us as though we didn't matter and that our concerns weren't important. Due to their demeanor and attitude, we felt that we received bad service.

Once this happens, do we tell people about the bad employee? Not always. Sometimes we rush to our keyboards to give bad reviews or social media posts that blame the entire company and everyone in it.

We've all seen the comment "This is an awful company! Don't make the mistake of using them." I understand if there is just one or two people in the entire company, it could be a bad company. But if there are numerous companies, such as in a franchise, then we could be wrong.

If we judge an entire company by the actions of one employee, then we're using blanket bigotry. Let's blame the entire company for one lackluster person who unfortunately represents the company in a transaction. It doesn't matter that the company has hundreds of great employees, we judge them on the one bad experience we had.

Piling all these people into one bad review isn't fair or just. This is a subtle form of profiling. In this day and age of online reviews, a company can literally be ruined by a few bad employees. Small companies that rely on those good reviews to survive are especially vulnerable.

Please complain to the company and name this person who treated you badly. If I were still a business owner, I would want to know there is an issue so that I can address it. No business owner I have ever met intentionally hired a bad employee. We believe we have hired great people. They are trained to represent our company in a civil and professional manner. Personalities however, we can't control unless we know there is a problem with their service to our customers.

Their resume tells a story that looks great. We have an interview process where this person convinces us they are a good choice for the position we are offering. Even the most basic training program requires the employee to treat customers well and give them what they need whenever possible. Customer service is the most critical component of a good experience with any company.

If you own a company and you're reading this, check the pulse of your employees. Are they treating people well? Have you had complaints about any specific employee that you need to address? Is your training covering good customer service?

If you're a customer reading this, please give the company a chance to rectify the poor service you received. It takes all of us, working together, to make the world a better place to live in. Also, give good reviews when warranted. Good reviews can also make the difference in keeping a company in business. Let's all do our part.