Last week I needed to purchase a roll (100) of postcard stamps. No problem, I’d go to the local post office, pick them up, be back home in a few minutes. Simple enough… or so I thought. When asking for the stamps I was informed by the clerk that they were out of postcard stamps. Seemed a little odd but figured they’d just have some shipped in the next day, because, hey, they’re the post office. Not so simple! She told me they wouldn’t be getting in for at least a week and then offered to call me when they arrived. I gave her my number and told her I’d also try to visit a post office in a nearby town to see if they had them. It really would have been nice if she could have contacted one of the other offices to make this request for me but I guess that’s expecting something “above and beyond” the call of duty. I went home and received a phone call from the postal clerk. She informed me that it would actually be at least 2 weeks before they could get the stamps. I decided to check the USPS website and order some there. I figured I could get them delivered at least within 2 days. Well oddly, their site was down! Now on to Plan C, if you’re counting. I called a postoffice in a nearby town. They had the stamps! I told her I’d be there in a few minutes. I got there and the doors were locked… Closed for lunch! Long story longer, I went the next day and got my stamps.
So what’s the point? Well the events are so ridiculous it’s almost funny. But the reality is that many businesses (even banks that I’ve had dealings with in the past) and employees operate a lot like the post office in this case. No concern for profits, the customer or getting things done efficiently and effectively. By the way, the post office is losing over $42 million dollars a day in 2012 or $11.6 billion through June of this year. What really gets me is an employee, manager or leader that defends the status quo in the face of mounting losses and sub-par performance. All I can say is… Don’t do that! Unless you have the backing of the federal government, as the post office does, don’t expect anyone to bail you out. Strive for at least better than average or better yet, strive for remarkable. And just because everyone else does it or that’s the way you’ve always done it, doesn’t mean it’s not incredibly stupid.
This is a good example of a business whose employees do not care about their customers but do not have to worry about losing their job. Our current postmaster flirts and makes sexual remarks to pretty young women and even refuses to sell some people stamps but he doesn’t have to worry about his job.