EDITIORIAL

Trickledown Rudeness

l^usrolvGRs encounter rudeness from employees Vin the many ways we have all come to know and dislike. Whether it's in person or by phone, fax or letter, nobody likes this kind of treafinent. Employees get the total blame in957o of the cases. Yet they may not be totally to blame.

The root cause and instigator may well be the person or persons at the very top of the organization. Certainly employees with a bad attitude need no prompting to tick off the customer. Yet, other more subtle ways of annoying, infuriating and exasperating customers can come down from the top.

The message that the company isn't all that thrilled with its customers can be transmitted in many ways. Sometimes it's obvious: "Don't take any nonsense off these jerks." Sometimes negative attitudes of managers and owners are passed along with a dismissive wave of the hand. an arched

DAVID CUTLER editor- publisher

eyebrow, tone of voice or general body language. Unfortunately, employees are all too adept at receiving and implementing tlese negative messages.

When employees get the idea that it isn't all that necessary to charrn the customer, the damage quickly begins and is very difficult to stop. Starting a negative attitude is far easier than stopping ir

Managers and owners need to ask themselves if they are inadvertently causing these kinds of problems. Is the message loud and clear that without satisfied customers this company c€ases to exist? Is every customer treated as if he or she is the only customer and without them the firm would fail? Is the company attitude as positive as it should be? Constantly reinforcing employee attitudes regarding customers should be Job I and an on-going program.