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Win The Customer Not The Argument" Don Gallegos retired in 1998 as President of King Soopers’ supermarkets after 33 years of service. He remains active in the industry, serving as a member of the Board of Directors of Carr Gottstein Foods and, as Director Emeritus of the Western Association of Food Chains. An excerpt from Don Gallego’s training program presented at the Denver meeting. Our stores, like your law enforcement agency, has policies that are sometimes difficult to "sell" to employees. In my situation, for example, we have a "no questions asked" refund policy. That means you can return anything, and the customer does not even have to bring the item back. You only need to tell us that you have had a bad experience. For example, you bought a roast last night that was lousy. All we want is for you to get your money back, we do not want the receipt, we do not want the "uneaten" roast, all we want is you to be our customer! Often, our employees say, "Gallegos, you don't understand, we're going to get ripped off." I always tell them, "Yes, I know we're going to be taken advantage of occasionally. Now that you know that I know it, quit worrying about it!" Some people do take advantage, but only a small percentage! I believe that people do not know good service until they get it. When they receive good service they go "Wow," and make the choice to switch to the new service provider. How does this relate to public safety services? The citizen is your customer. However, the citizen generally cannot change to another provider if the attitude of the public safety officer is poor or the service deficient. Nevertheless, the citizen can make choices that effect you and your agency. Who the citizen consumer elects as their representative may determine personnel, facility, and equipment issues. The general image of the agency in the community and in the media is slowly enhanced with superior service, but can quickly be destroyed if citizens perceive poor services. The total of individual citizen’s experiences determines the reputation of your law enforcement agency and will have a significant impact on how well the department is likely to be supported in difficult times. The respect that the agency and employees receive from their contemporaries, the community, and the self-image of agency employees has a strong base in the attitude and service you provide to your customer. My employees are tired of hearing the same old philosophy, the customer is always right, the customer is always right, the customer is always right. I have news for you – the customer, or in public safety services, the citizen is not always right, but they are always our customers.
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