The Palpable Nature of Culture

Your customer experience is simply a manifestation of your culture. An example.

Few tasks are unappetizing as getting recall/warranty work done on a vehicle. (OK, other than work you have to pay for…)

So when I finally relented and took my truck in (mainly because the back window would not roll up. In January.) I was bracing for an obnoxious experience. And the dealership delivered! To protect the guilty, let's call them "Legacy Trucks."

Of the many ways they fell short, I'll focus on one: the vibe upon walking in.

We have about 10 seconds before our customers start generating an impression when they work with us. This may be the first 10 seconds on the phone with our call center, the first 10 seconds of interaction with our sales staff, or, in this case, the first 10 seconds after walking into a brick-and-mortar business.

In this case, I walked in and, um, nothing...

I mean, there were 5 employees within 20 feet of me. But there was nothing. No greeting. No music. No smiles. Nothing. I was invisible.

So I walked another 5 feet and stood in front of what clearly was a customer check-in station. Again, nothing. No greeting. No acknowledgement. No, "I'll be right with you." And certainly no "How can I help?"

And, of course, each "customer service" station featured a three-foot-tall clear plastic COVID-era divider mounted to it. You know the one: the one where the customer and employee both literally lean around to talk to each other. The one that has no reason to be there. The one that tells your customers that you fear them, they are distasteful and disease-ridden, and you'd prefer to have a literal barrier in your communication with them.

So, as I stood there, it got me thinking: this vibe is all too common in 2025. Here are three takeaways for those of us who own, manage, or otherwise run a business:

It's All Our Fault

Everything wrong in our businesses is wrong because we allow it. It's that simple. I assure you (and have confirmed with a few other folks) that the person in charge of Legacy Trucks's service and warranty department is absent, incompetent, or both. It's unlikely they spend any time at all thinking through their customer's experience. My takeaway: How often am I thinking about my customers' path, from first contact to delivery of the product or service?

Are We Still Running a COVID-Era Business?

Five years since its onset and three-ish years since its ending, many businesses have been using residual COVID business practices that erode the customer experience and, at worst, are downright offensive.

If you still have plastic barriers up, or if you are still running at half-staff, or if you still have remote workers functioning in improper work-from-home conditions, for the love of God, fix these things. It's time. It was time two years ago.

If Your Customer Experience Sucks, It's a Process Issue

Why did these folks at Legacy Trucks treat me (and the others with me) this way?

They are not bad people. In fact, I bet they are great people. And I also bet they performed well at some point in their work history. But here's the issue: clearly no one has set a standard, showed them the standard, and held them accountable to the standard.

"You can't rely on systems when it comes to interpersonal interactions."

I've heard that before. I call bullshit. You 100% can. Here's the deal: if a system is in place and is trained upon, it makes the fork in the road really clear if the employee falls short: they either start doing it well, or it's not the job for them. But until there is a system, you have no idea if it's a team member issue or a "you" issue. I implore us all to rule out the former so we can be sure of the latter.

These three items boil down to culture. A culture of weak leadership. A culture of poor systems. A culture of taking customers for granted.

And here's the deal: your customers can feel this culture deep in their bones. There is no hiding it.

Legacy Trucks has been around for 2.5 generations. Since it's a dealership run on nepotism, it likely will continue in this manner for decades to come. Here's to hoping the third generation decides to turn it around.

Thanks for reading this post. I appreciate you. In return, please share this with those you know who may be interested.

Books of Note: Steve Martin is a comedic genius. He's also a delightful writer. And you find out how he honed this craft in Born Standing Up, his 2008 memoir. It is entertaining, engrossing, humble, clever, and as tightly written of a memoir as you can find. Highly recommend.

I’d love a follow over on Linkedin and X (Twitter), as I post things there that are either too brief for the newsletter or are just entertaining things I come up with when bored.