Before a recent trip to DC to stay at a members’ only club, I phoned to inquire about suitable attire for the dining room. Since I had asked a friend to join me for dinner, I needed to know specifically whether gentlemen were required to wear a coat and tie.
The club representative to whom I spoke said gentlemen are required to wear a coat, but not a tie.” No jeans, and no snickers.”
What about guffaws? Belly laughs? Wide grins?
This club seemed to be a bit draconian in its conduct requirements. What if my friend made me laugh? Would we run the risk of being tossed out?
She never mentioned that men need to wear pants, just no jeans.
As I’ve mentioned on this blog before, one of the fastest ways to know how your employees represent your company is simply to call. Have questions that a typical customer might have, and see what you get. Also ask for something out of the ordinary, like last-minute shipping costs, discounts for large orders, etc. Find out how patient your representative is with this sort of thing. You can hire all the secret shoppers you want, but you will get the most accurate information if you get your own impressions. I recommend you do this about once a month.
My guess is that if the manager of the DC club knew his representative had been telling clients that no snickers are allowed, he’d offer some improvement opportunity direction.
