Some people just shouldn’t work in the service industry

It was a lovely spring afternoon, the kind of afternoon that just screams spring cleaning — or spring repairs, in my case.

I was the only person standing in line at the local lumber/hardware store, balancing a board in one hand and a box of screws in the other. It wasn’t your run-of-the-mill home repair store because that balanced board was much more specialized. And if you want special, you need to go to the special store.

It’s just as true in the restaurant business; if you want a hamburger, you can get a hamburger at dozens of different places. But if you want a great hamburger, that narrows things down a bit. And if you want a specialty hamburger, that narrows it down even more. And if you also want some wine to go with it, another narrowing. If you want great wine, then there’s yet another narrowing, and if you want to have somebody who knows something about any or all of that, you arrive at just a few places.

“I need some plywood for under my sink,” said the woman standing at the counter, which seemed like a pretty normal request in a hardware/lumber store. What wasn’t normal was the guy behind the counter’s reaction.

“What the hell am I supposed to do with that?” asked the man, throwing both of his arms up in the air in obvious exasperation — so obvious in fact that I could hear him from 10 feet away.

There’s a reason why people often make a distinction between the “service” industry and the “hospitality” industry. One is based on simply providing a service, the other is providing an experience. And while both of those things can often line up, sometimes they just don’t. And this hardware store encounter was one of those.

We’ve all experienced that waiter, clerk or salesperson who’s more into making a point than providing a service. I’ve seen bartenders do it. I’ve seen mechanics do it. I’ve seen real estate agents do it. And now I’ve seen a hardware/lumber store clerk do it.

Sure, maybe that woman didn’t provide enough information on the first pass. But, so what? Is making her feel inadequate or stupid going to help? And furthermore, why would you want to do that?

But sometimes in the service business, some people would rather do that than anything else.

There are certainly some people who shouldn’t go into the service industry. They’re just not cut out for it. And sometimes there’s a point when some people should get out of it, too.

Trust me, I get the frustration. I’m the guy who has heard “shaken not stirred” thousands of times. And perhaps as many as 50% of the martinis that people order from me start like this: “I’ll have a martini” — as if that’s anywhere near enough information. It isn’t. In fact, it’s not even close. Vodka or gin? What brand? On the rocks? Up? Dry? Dirty? Twist? Olive? Onion? And that doesn’t even get us to the shaken or stirred part. And sure, I could throw up my hands and exclaim loudly, “What am I supposed to do with that?” But you know what, I don’t. Ever. Because that isn’t going to serve any purpose whatsoever.

The minute you start seeing customers as the enemy, you’re done in the hospitality business. Will Rogers once said, “I never met a man I didn’t like,” and that’s really how every interaction should work — at least initially. In the service business, we have to be optimists, because if we aren’t, the pessimism will drive people right out of the door — maybe not immediately, but eventually. And maybe it won’t be us that gets driven out of the door, but it will be them. And without them, what do we have?

Leaving me with these thoughts:

• Not only did the woman at the counter leave without buying anything, so did I. I bought that board at the place next door.

• A friend of mine once commented, “Rude salespeople often think that they are ‘killing it.’” And they really are, just not in the way that they intend.

• “It’s a stupid thing to be rude. To make enemies by unnecessary and willful incivility is just as insane a proceeding as to set your own house on fire,” once wrote German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer.

• Always encourage your competitors to keep doing what they do, because sometimes what they do makes what you do so much easier.