These kinds of things are bad for business

By CHAD BRANCH
Published: September 21, 2008

A couple of recent incidents involving local businesses have left me wondering: “Where have common, acceptable business ethics gone?”

A while back, I went to a local store to purchase something for our church. As I entered the business, I could see they were quite busy, with several customers waiting to be seen at the counter. As I stood waiting my turn, an employee entered the business and was greeted by what I assume was a “regular” with a profanity-laced tirade.

The employee very loudly then told that customer, “You can kiss my (expletive deleted at author’s request)!”

For some reason, the employee then picked me out of the dozen or so customers in line to apologize to, but then proceeded with his foul language exchange with the customer. When I called the head office the next day and spoke with a vice president about my complaint, there seemed to be very little concern on his part. While he did apologize for it and said he would call the store and talk with the employee, he pretty much was telling me, “So what?”

A couple weeks later, my children and I went to another store to purchase a couple of items. While I was looking, my 6-year old and 5-year old walked up to a large-screen television (conveniently placed at their eye level) that was showing what appeared to be a Spider Man cartoon. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed two characters begin to kiss and “make out,” and then I heard another character let out a profanity. This was all in a matter of about a minute.

As I was preparing to make my purchase, I asked to speak to a manager. I told him what I had witnessed and asked him if he thought that was appropriate to be showing in his business. He said that they got the cartoons from MTV and that it is what “corporate” tells him to run. He said that he couldn’t do anything about it except turn the volume down a little. No apology — no embarrassment! I told him I thought it was despicable and that I would not be back in that store.

What happened to good old-fashioned business ethics?

I’ve worked in public jobs before, and these acts would never have been acceptable to management. I’m only 39 years old, but I can remember a day when the manager of a store would have been completely embarrassed for young children to see and hear the content of the cartoon, would have apologized profusely and would have turned it off regardless of what “corporate” had to say.

Although I am a minister, I certainly do not see myself as the public’s “moral police.” But when it comes to dealing with the public, especially in a place of business, isn’t there some kind of ethical code to go by anymore? After all, I didn’t take my kids into some sports bar or some place where I thought they might be exposed to such filth.

Vince Decker, a professor of business at Danville Community College, agreed with me that the incidents above, which are probably only the tip of the iceberg in his opinion, go against what they teach their business students. He said “the DCC business faculty and administrators are also concerned about the weak customer service and ethical behavior we observe on a daily basis.” He also said, “It all comes down to enlightened management recognizing that this problem exists and then taking the time to thoroughly train their employees to provide excellent customer service, which most definitely must include a high level of ethical and moral conduct. Not only is this simply the right thing to do, but it actually pays financial dividends for the business in the long run.”

I assure you that I have shared the incidents with all of my church members and any other of my friends that I could think of, advising them not to patronize the aforementioned businesses.

Businesses should be aware of the image they are leaving for customers, and we should all hope that this is not just the beginning of a downward trend in common business practices.

Chad Branch is pastor of Victory Baptist Church in Sutherlin.