I've no problem being a guinea pig

Hello everyone. For those amongst you who logged on first thing on Thursday morning to read the latest installment from the voices in my head, I apologise. It seems that our office had a power cut in the night which all but killed our server, and only now are we able to start reading our emails and checking the web for videos of cats being forced to dance and lip sync to Britney Spears records.

How ever did we survive before the Internet? I'll tell you how - we actually worked, but who am I to criticise those amongst us who choose to slack off and yet convince themselves that it is all in the name of commerce. Face it, without them I wouldn't have any readers would I? So I'd best give you something by way of an education, otherwise I'm just another overweight bald guy with way too much time on his hands, or to use the technical term - Sci Fi Fan.

Yesterday I managed to fulfil a small and yet life long ambition of mine. I've always wanted to be so annoyed in a restaurant that I could stand up, tell off the manager and then walk out without paying for anything that I had consumed so far. It's a bit of a rubbish ambition, but it's been simmering for close to 40 years so allow me my small victories.

The service in this particular restaurant was so poor that I found myself struggling to understand why anyone would go there at all. I was reliably informed by the person that suggested I go there, that the service was crap but that the food more than made up for it. Well I never actually got any food, so I guess I'll never know.

Now without going into too much detail, the problem was our waiter. He was brand new to the role and really didn't speak all that much English. The language was not really the issue, but his incompetence quickly became so.

Now after a catalogue of errors surrounding our drink order - one diet coke, one glass of port and some sparkling water - yup, he even managed to screw that up - we found ourselves less than impressed. The icing on the cake however, was when the manager came over to ask us if we were ready to order, which would have been fine, if it weren't for the fact that we had already ordered twenty minutes prior!

I made it abundantly clear to the manager that if our order had not yet started, that we would rather just leave it and walk away. She goes over into a corner and in plain view of both of us, starts to put the order through. Then she has the audacity to tell us that the order was going through and that it would just be a couple of minutes.

This is the point at which we grabbed our coats and headed for the door. The manager's explanation was that the waiter was new and did not completely understand their computer system yet. A reasonable explanation, but I felt compelled to point out that he should have been given the proper amount of training before being unleashed on paying customers. I didn't wait around for her reply - I was angry and hungry, and that's no combination you ever want to find me in.

Now inexperienced staff are not a problem - we all have to start somewhere. I don't even have an issue with people training whilst they're serving me. The problem I had in this instance was with the management of that restaurant.

Imagine my reaction if the evening had started like this: The manager comes over with the waiter and says "Good evening. This is John (I don't know his name so I'm calling him John. I don't know any Thai names. Did I mention it was a Thai restaurant? Well it was) and he's going to be your waiter. Now John is new here so I'm going to keep an eye on what he's doing to make sure everything goes well. Will that be OK with you both?"

Who would seriously have a problem with that? Certainly not me. In fact I would have wished the young man good luck in his job and would have been comfortable pointing out any mistakes that he was making in the interests of helping him improve in his job. Come on - I'm a very critical individual, but I only dispense this advice because I believe that there are better ways of doing things.

I mean think about it. When you go into McDonalds or Tesco or some other massive chain, the Trainees all wear a badge that lets the customer know that they are in training. Our expectation levels are instantly set at low and we find ourselves more forgiving if the service is not as stealthy as we would like.

If we're in a rush or know that we need to speak with an expert, we'll politely point that out to the trainee and ask if we can speak with someone in a more senior role, all the while pointing out that we don't wish to be rude but that our enquiry requires just a little more expertise than we believe they have.

So how do you let your customers know that a particular member of staff is new and is in training? More importantly, are you allowing your customers to be a part of that training process? If not, ask yourselves why - your customers will always tell you exactly what it is they need from your company. They are your best resource in so many more ways than just revenue, so make sure that you capitalise on that.

If you're the customer, don't be afraid to be critical - it really is the only way you can hope to improve upon the service or products that you're getting. It's easy to vote with your feet, by which I mean go elsewhere, but why not vote with your words instead? Chances are that the supplier in question will ultimately be grateful for the advice you gave which helped them to grow their business.

Have a good week in business and please do refer this blog to at least one of your friends or associates. Together we can change our small corner of the world.