The first was in the dentist where they seem to have employed (of course) the rudest receptionist in the world. When I arrived there was no-one in reception so I sat down. Then she came down the stairs – the unsmiling one. She ignored me and the other bloke in reception and went into one of the dentist’s rooms. Poor chap. Then she came out again, still no acknowledgement, and ducked behind the desk. I went upstairs and 5 minutes later was back downstairs stood in front of the desk. Still no acknowledgement so I broke the silence which was followed by “name”. Having a 3 year old who never says please or thank you you get trained into saying “please!” every time someone should say it and doesn’t. I had to bite my tongue three times during the “conversation”. It culminated in a request for the next appointment....”19th May 9am?”. At this point I was writing a cheque for the treatment and before I could reach for my phone (to check my calendar) the question was followed up with a “yes?”. I’d had enough at that point and snapped back to give me a chance to answer!

Then, this afternoon I went to B&Q, the place where the only smile that comes with the service is when they are telling you that the item you ordered 15 weeks ago is still not in stock, despite them ringing you earlier in the day to say it is. But that’s another story. B&Q was quite quiet, one person in the queue in front of me. When I got to the cashier he was THE most polite person I have ever met. I was greeted with a “sorry for the wait” yet I hardly waited at all. I was called sir and thanked with a goodbye. Incredible.

So what. Well we know the dentist is a six monthly trauma anyway, but I’d certainly look forward to going back to B&Q more than the dentist based on these experiences. The customer service angle is pretty obvious, but what about leadership? Well as a leader your role involves lots of small interactions with your people. During each of these interactions you can choose to have a positive impact or negative impact on the person you are talking to. On many workshops people will say to us that respect is one of the things that the best leaders possess. The question though is how to gain respect? Simple. Treat everyone else with respect. Be polite, smile, thank your people and they’ll keep buying from you!