Week 1 – Critical Thinking Quiz – Essay: Cab Driver Article After reading the Harvey Mackay Cab Driver story below, list and discuss the Five Needs of every customer listed in your text as they relate
Week 1 – Critical Thinking Quiz – Essay: Cab Driver Article After reading the Harvey Mackay Cab Driver story below, list and discuss the Five Needs of every customer listed in your text as they relate to the story. Identify sections of the story that demonstrate each of the Five Needs. Grading will be determined based on the quality and depth of the student’s answer. Please keep in mind that quality answers require at least 500 words to answer the questions. The 500-word minimum does not include restating the question, and is a requirement to receive a passing grade. This is a great story about the choices we make. No one can make you serve customers well. that’s because great service is a choice. Harvey Mackay, tells a wonderful story about a cab driver that proved this point. He was waiting in line for a ride at the airport. When a cab pulled up, the first thing Harvey noticed was the taxi was polished to a bright shine. Smartly dressed in a white shirt, black tie, and freshly pressed black stacks, the cab driver jumped out and rounded the car to open the back passenger door for Harvey. He handed my friend a laminated card and said: “I’m Wally, your driver. While I’m loading your bags in the trunk l’d like you to read my mission statement.’ Taken aback, Harvey read the card. It said: Wally’s Mission Statement: To get my customers to their destination in the quickest, safest and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment… This blew Harvey away. Especially when he noticed that the inside of the cab matched the outside. Spotlessly clean! As he slid behind the wheel, Wally said, ‘Would you like a cup of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf.’ My friend said jokingly, ‘No, I’d prefer a soft drink.’ Wally smiled and said, ‘No problem. I have a cooler up front with regular and Diet Coke, water and orange juice.’ Almost stuttering, Harvey said, ‘l’Il take a Diet Coke.’ Handing him his drink, Wally said, ‘If you’d like something to read, I have The Wall Street Journal, Time, Sports Illustrated and USA Today… As they were pulling away, Wally handed my friend another laminated card, ‘These are the stations I get and the music they play, if you’d like to listen to the radio.’ And as if that weren’t enough, Wally told Harvey that he had the air conditioning on and asked if the temperature was comfortable for him. Then he advised Harvey of the best route to his destination for that time of day. He also let him know that he’d he happy to chat and tell him about some of the sights or, if Harvey preferred, to leave him with his own thoughts… Tell me, Wally,’ my amazed friend asked the driver, ‘have you always served customers like this?’ Wally smiled into the rear view mirror. “No, not always. In fact, it’s only been in the last two years. My first five years driving, I spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the cabbies do. Then I heard the personal growth guru, Wayne Dyer, on the radio one day. He had just written a book called You’ Il See It When You Believe It. Dyer said that if you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you’ll rarely disappoint yourself. He said, ‘Stop complaining! Differentiate yourself from your competition. Don’t be a duck. Be an eagle. Ducks quack and complain. Eagles soar above the crowd.’ ‘That hit me right between the eyes,’ said Wally. ‘Dyer was really talking about me. I was always quacking and complaining, so I decided to change my attitude and become an eagle. I looked around at the other cabs and their drivers…the cabs were dirty, the drivers were unfriendly, and the customers were unhappy. So I decided to make some changes. I put in a few at a time. When my customers responded well, I did more. ‘I take it that has paid off for you.’ Harvey said. ‘It sure has,’ Wally replied. “My first year as an eagle, I doubled my income from the previous year. This year lIl probably quadruple it. You were lucky to get me today. I don’t sit at cabstands anymore. My customers call me for appointments on my cell phone or leave a message on my answering machine. If I can’t pick them up myself, I get a reliable cabbie friend to do it and I take a piece of the action.’ Wally was phenomenal. He was running a limo service out of a Yellow Cab. I’ve probably told that story to more than fifty cab drivers over the years, and only two took the idea and ran with it. Whenever I go to their cities, I give them a call. The rest of the drivers quacked like ducks and told me all the reasons they couldn’t do any of what I was suggesting. Wally the Cab Driver made a different choice. He decided to stop quacking like ducks and start soaring like eagles. How about us? Smile and the whole world smiles with you… The ball is in our hands! A man reaps what he sows. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up…let us do good to all people. Ducks Quack. Eagles Soar. Have a nice day, unless you already have other plans. Five Needs of Every Customer Every customer comes into the customer situation with differing wants. While wants are frequently hard to identify and may occasionally be unrealistic, all customers have the following five basic needs: 1. Service: Customers expect the service that they think is appropriate for the level of purchase that they are making. A small, spontaneous purchase may have a smaller service need than a larger purchase that has been carefully planned and researched. 2. Price: The cost of everything we purchase is becoming more and more important. People and businesses want to use their financial resources as efficiently as possible. Many products previously considered unique are now considered commodities. This means that while a consumer previously had to travel to the local hamburger restaurant to purchase a hamburger, now one can be acquired at many other locations. This makes the component of price even more important to the customer. 3. Quality: Americans are less likely today to think of their purchases as throwaway items. Customers want the products that they purchase to be durable and functional until customers decide to replace them. This requirement of quality mandates that manufacturers and distributors produce products that live up to the customers’ expectations of durability. Customers are much less likely to question price if they are doing business with a company that has a reputation for producing a high-quality product. 4. Action: Customers need action when a problem or question arises. Many companies offer toll-free customer assistance telephone lines, flexible return policies, and customer carryout services in response to the need for action. Customers are human beings and like to think that they are an important priority and that when a need or question arises someone will be ready and waiting to help them. 5. Appreciation: Customers need to know that we appreciate their business. Customer service providers can convey this appreciation in many appropriate ways. Saying “thank you” to the customer through our words and actions is a good starting point. Preferred customer mailing lists, informational newsletters, special discounts, courtesy, and name recognition are good beginnings to showing our customers our appreciation. Additionally, letting them know that we are glad that they have chosen to do business with us conveys a positive message. A fast-food restaurant has a sign in its drive-through lane that says, “We know that you could eat somewhere else; thank you for allowing us to serve you.”