Give them a Piece of the Pie and Customer Service will Improve

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I got to thinking about something about customer service, and why it has become such a huge problem, and a rarity to find good customer service. No one who works for the business is, in any way, CONNECTED to the business. At least when it comes to the big ones. You know, like Walmart and Burger King or Shoe Carnival. The smaller businesses care because they aren't big and they know every customer means something important to their bottom lines. In other words, in these larger companies, no one has any real skin in the game. Not even the managers. They get a paycheck, and that's it. If the bottom line falters and customers stop coming in and spending money, they don't really feel any real pain from that. There aren't any real consequences. Maybe the place really goes to hell and they lose their job. But do they really understand why that happened or how they wound up in their situation? Do they feel any sense of ownership over bad customer service they were likely part of that sent customers to other places? They are more likely to blame the fat cats or someone else for their job loss. "It just can't be that when those customers complained to me about something and I turned a blind eye or was rude in return, and did nothing about it, that could be the reason the business failed." If the managers were paid differently, maybe that would up the ante, I think. Give them a piece of the business as part of their compensation package. If they own a piece of the pie, they might be more interested in making sure the pie is good. When they own a piece of the business, they see every customer that walks in the door differently. Not just as another person, or a potential thorn in their side they will have to deal with. But instead, they will see the customer as another potential dollar in their own pocket when the dividend checks are sent or when the stock price rises because the business is doing well and customers are happy. Sure, you can offer managers bonuses for well performing stores. But I think ownership is more rewarding and more of an incentive to do customers right and be more prone to fire bad workers who hurt the business than a simple bonus. There's a reason a mom and pop takes more care of their business. They own it. If a customer doesn't come back, it's less money in their pocket. It has an impact. And it's a big one. And they care when a customer walks out and tells their friends the business is not worth patronizing. You can't say that about the manager at McDonald's when you complain that your hamburger is overdone. Beyond that, when the girl at the counter you complain to rolls her eyes and brings back another burger and slaps it on the counter like you're the problem and you tel the manager, and she gives you the same cold shoulder and sympathizes with her worker's frustration at the customer, rather than scold her for it, she does that because she doesn't care any more about the customer or the business than her worker does. No one loses anything, really. The paycheck still comes and is cashed. Who cares, right? That's all they are there for after all. Just for the paycheck. But if they own the business, if smiles from customers have more value to them, it changes the game. It ups the incentive to do good. It does more to encourage smiles over frowns. It makes one more interested in doing it right every time rather than some of the time. When people have skin in the game it really does change how people think about things, and how people feel about things, and how they react to things. Suddenly more matters. Anyway, that's my thought for the day. Do you think customer service would be improved if the people managing stores had an actual stake in the thing they are managing?