The Customer Service Problem at McDonald's Is a Symptom of a Much Bigger Problem

[bhikkhu]

71. You have to actually like your customers

and believe that they are good people. I've worked in various fields, but the one common denominator is that people who hate people give lousy customer service, and people who like people give good customer service (assuming the tools to do so are in place).

Oddly, this is also the general definition of "liberal vs conservative", where conservatives think people in general are not much good, lazy, unintelligent, dishonest, and undeserving. The liberal viewpoint is most simply defined as a worldview where people are generally good, hard-working, thoughtful, and honest. And deserving of more than they get, usually.

The corporate culture at the top does tend to trickle down, so you can often tell what kind of politics the owners have by how the lowly treat you.

And there's nothing worse than shopping at or working for a company full of people who hate their customers. Pay the front guys more is a good start, but the whole thing can be like a cancer that's pretty tough to get over.