A few years ago, I had the privilege of attending a leadership conference at which Chick-fil-A CEO Dan T. Cathy was speaking. During his talk, Cathy addressed the question, "How do we take a teenager who has never held a job and turn him or her into a customer-service specialist?" Cathy's answer: We teach them that everyone has a story. The folks that show up at the drive-through window or walk up to the counter are going through things. They have a story. The may have had a good day. Or a bad day. Or a terrible day. They may be struggling with relationships. They may be facing illness or the loss of a loved one. As the person behind the counter, Chick-fil-A's employees don't know their customer's story. Chick-fil-A trains them to be aware that every person is worthy, every person deserves the best customer service possible. "My pleasure."
In September of 2018, Hurricane Florence rocked the Carolinas. The employees at one Chick-fil-A franchise put "everyone has a story" into action. The staff volunteered to open the store on a Sunday -- normally against company policy -- and delivered 500 sandwiches and 1200 nuggets to folks in 3 different Red Cross shelters in the area. You can read about it here.
Everyone has a story. Everyone deserves respect.
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