We've all had this happen.  You show up to a store, ready to make a purchase that thrills you, and within moments of arrival, all of that great energy you had gets sucked right out of you.  What happened?  More than likely, you walked into an environment that had negativity and unhappiness hovering, and the associate(s) you encountered had bad energy spewing from their pores.  (We can likely assume that these associates are unhappy with their jobs and don't have the tools/training they need to do their jobs well so they feel good.)  This negativity wildfire nearly engrosses you, and that excitement you had about your purchase is depleted.  Think about all that could be done differently by the company/associates in this situation.  Now, take a look at a very funny (very bad!) customer service exchange that takes place during Meet the Parents when Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) is attempting to board a flight.

So much to learn from these two types of exchanges!  In the first, the associates are unhappy, and while the source of this is bigger than just fixing their individual service style, they can take control of their own skills.  In the second, that airline associate puts on the look of being pleasant and happy, but she clearly enjoys being difficult and has no clue about delivering good service.  Our takeaway that we should embrace:

• Be masters of positivity. We need to squash the hidden cancer (any negativity) that is spreading throughout our company by ensuring that we, and all of our employees, take forward action to make positive change and show up with positive attitudes that are infectious.  In the first example, this company/store needs to uncover what's getting in everyone's way, face all obstacles head on, and do it all with a genuine and caring presence.

• Be okay with sometimes bending the rules. Within normal/okay bounds, of course.  The airline associate in the video had a policy to board the plane by ranges of rows; therefore, she chose not to board Greg since his row was off by one.  In this situation, obviously, she could easily "bend the rules" since no one would get hurt, no other customers would be negatively impacted, and it was logical.  If the benefits of going outside of normal policy far outweigh the negatives, you should duly consider, and empower your associates, to exercise good judgment for when to take a different action.

• Face the elephant head-on.  If you realize that your customer has been put into a difficult, uncomfortable, or unfortunate situation with you or your company, make sure to acknowledge this rather than to allow for "the elephant in the room" to distract everyone.  Had the airline associate realized that her first response to not seating Greg was perhaps wrong or inappropriately handled, she could have recovered by later saying, "I apologize for not letting you board earlier.  Our policies are very strict, and I realize it may feel silly..."  Then, Greg could walk away with a better understanding and respect for the reasoning behind the associate's odd behavior. 

• Make the customers feel good.  It feels good when you make others feel good about doing business with you.  You can do this rather easily- simply have a smile on your face, build a quick rapport, create an upbeat presence, show happiness about helping, give a nice "thank you," etc.   When the customers feel good doing business with you, they will refer you and come back for more.

Our customers will never feel like Greg, right?  Because we know that: "Every contact that we have with a customer influences whether or not they'll come back.  We have to be great every time or we'll lose them." - Kevin Stirtz.

What other ideas do you have about squashing bad customer service?