I am a regular customer and a great tipper at a local, mid-priced restaurant near my office.  Today while eating lunch at the small (20 table) restaurant, after being greeted by name and a big smile from the manager, I ordered a salad, and instead of rice with my chicken, chopped cucumbers. When I made the request, the waiter looked at me like I was speaking Chinese and said no, we can’t substitute.  (Jean George this isn’t…)  I said I wasn’t concerned, they could charge me extra.  He said no.

I politely asked for the manager (the same one who gave me big smiles), and asked why they wouldn’t give me cucumbers.  The manager explained for 5 minutes, standing not more than 10 feet from the kitchen, why he couldn’t cut the cucumbers for me, the foremost reason being, “I can’t accommodate for all the many different substitutions that people request, because there are too many choices.”

Almost irony, on a block with perhaps 25 restaurants, as I agreed with him and said, “Yes, there are many choices, and there are also many restaurant choices.”

I paid my bill, and left… and as a business owner was sure that the business owner wouldn’t have treated a customer in the same manner.  I am sure the business owner would have bent over backwards to please a customer in such a small manner, and would be livid if an employee acted in this manner. 

Working in the service industry, I certainly don’t subscribe to the school of thought that says the customer is always right, but to not go the extra mile in customer satisfaction with the basics is simply bad business. 

Needless to say, this restaurant, where I dined at least 50 times last year, won’t need to cut me any cucumbers moving forth.  I pray that my employees always go that extra mile to give our clients the customer service they deserve.

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

So it’s not exactly a news flash for me to say that it’s not the ideal time to search for an entry level public relations job (or any job for that matter). So, imagine my surprise this morning when I got two astounding emails in a row, requesting just that.

The first was sent from a blackberry and literally had no periods.  It contained only one run on sentence, which lasted maybe 10 lines. This person recently moved from another country and worked in real estate, but her “life dream” was to work in PR.  And that was why she deserved a job here.  To make matters worse, she then followed up with two phone calls (which I didn’t return).

The next email was sent from an email address rife with four-letter words, though the attached resume was actually very good, after receiving these two emails, I felt a responsibility to share a word of warning.  Scoring an interview is much more than just a decent resume.

Our PR agency is constantly hiring, but we also turn away countless aspiring publicists.  Suffice it to say, neither of these individuals received a call back. 

Now, back to work…

Ronn Torossian

5WPR

I (foolishly) spent the day shopping during this major holiday weekend – admittedly at high-end, brand-name stores, and primarily at those establishments that spend a ton of money in advertising in an attempt to draw customers to the stores’ various locations.
 
Earlier in the week, at a major sporting event, I had a similar thought: Why do brands spend so much money trying to draw people to their stores and then so little time and attention once they have people there? At this event, a 5W client and I stood on line for perhaps 15 minutes attempting to buy food and drink — products that cost more than the employee serving the food makes in an hour — and as the line grew to about 10 people, many simply walked away due to the long wait and the employees’ lack of attention to the customers. Why wouldn’t the brand ensure that the site has enough low-wage employees working rather than turn off its patrons?

Although a lot of noise was made some months ago regarding Starbucks training employees and closing all locations for a few hours, after today’s experience, I came to the conclusion that many of America’s retail outlets could use similar training. From a store manager who loudly said to an employee, “Don’t bother answering that question - it’s dumb,” in response to a customer’s question, to stores that allow people to wander endlessly without its employees simply asking, “Can I help you?” one wonders, why spend millions on advertising? Perhaps the money is better spent retraining employees.

True, it’s tremendously difficult for anyone to manage employees — particularly employees in retail who aren’t well-paid — but I can’t help but believe that many people echo my opinion that stores need to focus much more attention on this arena. Without well-trained employees who reflect positively on the establishments they represent, store operators might as well say, “Take my customers, please.” That’s surely PR too.

Ronn Torossian
5WPR

This morning I was forwarded a brilliant article by a colleague regarding Zappos, the internet-based shoe company.  I found it simply inspiring.  Here’s the amazing concept: Zappos, famous for outrageously great customer service, trains their CSRs (customer service reps) for a week and then offers the representatives $1,000 to quit.  What does this process hope to achieve?  Very simple: the process culls the true believers from the paycheck players.

Any entrepreneur or business person in general knows how difficult it is to find dedicated and loyal employees.  I found Zappos’ concept fascinating.  Many great organizations expect dedication above and beyond 9 to 5 and are always searching for ways to increase employee commitment.

Kudos to Zappos, an industry leader for going a step further.  They have truly set themselves apart from the competition.  If someone is only about the paycheck, that someone won’t be a GREAT employee, and it’s worth the cash to find that out.

Ronn Torossian
 

It has been a personally rewarding experience to watch the brightest and most ambitious young leaders and future PR pros from across the country interview for internships at 5WPR. So many of these kids are hungry and ready to succeed – it’s a similar energy that we foster here at 5W.

I am very proud that we have developed one of the most competitive and highly sought after internship programs in the PR industry. Many prospective interns came to our office telling us that their professors or friends in the field advised them to apply here at 5W. The success of our internship program is predicated on the same philosophy that led to the unprecedented growth and success of 5WPR. That is, we always encourage our interns to work harder, to be aggressive, and to take on and appreciate greater responsibility.

Unlike many other companies, an internship at 5WPR is not about getting your boss a cup of coffee. Rather, we’ve fostered an environment where our interns will learn, practice, and execute the fundamental skills required in the public relations industry.

While I cannot stress enough the importance of a formal education, in many ways, we’ve geared our internship program at my company to create a “secondary education” for our interns so that they can learn firsthand about all facets of the public relations industry. We believe that interns are part of the workplace and that all great companies must understand how to tactfully combine their corporate objectives with the goals and interests of the interns themselves.

5W has developed a reputation throughout the PR industry for representing hungry, passionate, and relentlessly driven clients. The best way to cater to this type A personality is to imbue our company with an intense energy that starts with our interns and moves upward to the corner offices.

I look forward to meeting each of the 14 interns who are currently working at 5W’s NY office this summer. Furthermore, I’d like to dispel the rumor that we never hire our interns – over the past few months, we’ve hired eight as junior associates.

Ronn Torossian

5W PR