public appearance

A while back (September) we had elections in Norway. The elections where local municipality elections. 

As part of the pre-election marketing mix in my local community, a couple of the parties (we do have a few here) went door-to-door and talked to the inhabitants. A great service, and a possibility for us normal people to discuss local and national politics with the politicians who pulls the strings.

 One of the parties that knocked on my door, invited me, my family, and our international business guest to a promotional event where they would serve a special, Norwegian dish in a dramatical cultural location. The mix of the culture, and their political agenda was very inviting, and when upon my direct question, I was told that our international guest also would be welcomed, we changed our plan for the weekend and decided to go.

Upon arrival, we decided to be on the outskirts of the speech area so I could translate and explain to my guest. And after the program, we where welcomed and told to go to grab a bite - of a dish called Sour Cream porridge - a special Norwegian Feast dish, traditionally served in weddings and other feasts.

We lined up, and as it happened we where early in the line - number 5 or 6. When it was our turn to get our servings, the clerk told us briskly (tone of voice as old teachers talk to 10-year old bad-boys) that

"You have to walk out of the line and wait until all the others have been served!"

I was surprised, and told her that we where here by invitation, and that we should be treated like any one of the other guests. To no avail. She could not be reasoned with.  

We obeyed, disappointed and with a growing anger (I was pretty hungry, I have to admit, and I just love the sour cream porridge). We decided that we'd better leave the event since they obviously did not want us there. 

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And therein lays the lesson to learn. 

No matter what you try to achieve - seducing voters, selling hot-dogs, or any other services where you have people representing you, your message and your products/services - it only takes one person, one single error to turn a great message into the opposite.

In this particular case, it was based upon a mistake. The clerk thought me and my guest to be tourists, and not voters (I was, my guest was not). Thus, she decided that we where to be served after all potential voters.

Even though the event was advertised in local media. The municipality is small, but not so small that she would know all inhabitants.

The party did have their internal discussions on this event (actually, they still asks my wife if I am still angry). They recognize the  error, and do all they can to fix it.

What can you do to avoid this? 

The first thing you do is to reccognize the potential price to pay if such a thing happens. Particularly in a small place, one person actually can make a lot of noise. Also keep in mind that the one person you do treat badly, might be a journalist, a potential large client - it is not certain that it is "just a tourist".  

Then you need to prepare your staff - service, service, service. Treat people nicely, and remember your role. If you represent a brand, or a service level - keep with it no matter what you think of it personally.  And as a manager, you need to train your staff accordingly.

When (not if) disaster strikes - get on it right away - solve it. Start at the source, and find out what went wrong. Try to help the client/voter to recognize that this behavior is not part of your brand - it was all an error. Most people will be reasoned with - at least if you let them cool down first. 

As for your source of error - the clerk - make sure that the story is turned from a critic into a learning experience. We all make errors, and unless they are made on purpose - make your staff learn by their mistakes. Forgive, retrain and use the story as a learning story for new people coming on board. 

Also keep the persons (the clerk) feelings in mind. People  do have feelings, and even though they may not show that they take the episode hard - they might. You do not want to loose a great resource, so you should spend some time and effort to make sure the person can turn the negative reaction into a positive learning experience. 

Doing so helps strengthen your brand, and it shows your organization that it is OK to make mistakes as long as you are learning by them.