If You’re A Customer, You’ll Just Have To Wait
In the Miami airport, two huge escalators taking people to the trains that roam among miles-apart gates were stopped. There was no one to call, no signs about what to do, no way to restart them. I figured there had to be an elevator, and I found it after asking an airport worker—it was hidden away alongside a retail store with no signage at all in the concourse.
I was followed by a long trail of people. Why does this happen? Because airports aren’t built for people, they’re built for airlines.
Why is it so hard to reach out and take a ticket at a mall parking lot, or pay the person in the booth? Because the entry and exit aren’t build for drivers, they’re built for the parking lot and money collectors.
Why do you stand in a long, serpentine line at food concessions? Because they’re built for the seller, not the buyer. And don’t even get me started on theater entrances and exits, or parking lot orientations.
Is your business client-friendly or “you-friendly”? Can I leave a message quickly, or do I have to listen to a boring recitation of where you are today and your favorite Zen quotation? Do you have a full signature file on your email, or do I have to work to find an address to mail you something or even to find your website?
I have a policy with providers: If you make me work, I won’t. Simple as that. I’m not going to send you a free book, not going to stand in a ten-minute line for a cup of coffee, I’ll shop elsewhere and not visit the mall. If you’re not smart enough to treat me well, you don’t deserve my money.
And that’s my Zen thought for the day.
© Alan Weiss 2013.
