I had an enjoyable time the other night at Tweetea, a local Tweetup.  Tweeteas are held Tuesday evenings at a tea house in Royal Oak, Mich.  I’ve attended about five Tweeteas and enjoyed each one.

After the event, a few people decided to move the conversation to a nearby bar.  I was asked to join the group. I said, sure, why not?

About eight of us reconvened on an outside patio at a nearby bar.  The patio contained round tables that seated four or five people.

Someone decided to push two of the round tables together so we could all sit as a group. Right away a bar employee walked up and separated the tables, explaining that joining the tables was a violation of the fire code.

OK. I understand the need to maintain safety standards.

So, I turn my chair from my table toward the table where most of the folks were sitting.  A few moments later, the employee returned. Once gain citing the fire code, he asked me to turn my chair back to its original position at the empty table.

As this was unfolding, I also was debating inside my head whether I should just go home. My family soon would be back from a day trip to the beach. They may need my help. I had a gut feeling that I should leave.

So, I let the concerned employee make the decision for me.  I stood up, announced that I would leave, and that I’d catch up with the group another time.

I didn’t leave mad, with steam coming out of my ears, because I was inconvenienced.  The bar will survive without the $10 I would have spent on drinks.

The experience, however, did get me thinking. On my way out, I made note of other seating options inside the bar that would have accommodated our group and not violated safety regulations. I also thought this situation would make a good blog post.

It dawned on me that the employee that was treating us so rudely was more concerned about following rules than finding solutions.  I see this a lot in businesses of all types and industries.  A rule or policy is established and the stupid customer is penalized for not understanding it through osmosis.

I’m not complaining about fire safety rules. I’m  merely pointing out one employee’s complete lack of desire to give customers a positive experience. There are ways to find solutions while observing the rules.  In this case, the employee could have taken the extra step of finding a way to accommodate our group while maintaining safety by moving us to a different location within the bar.

I see business owners regularly creating rules and polices designed to minimize loss.  Before they know it, almost every customer who walks in the door is the ignorant enemy.

You’ve seen it.  You’ve felt the tension. You feel like you’ve done something wrong by walking in the store.

Are you setting up rules that make it hard to do business with you?  Don’t cut off all your customers at the knees because of a few bad experiences.  Develop policies that create win-win solutions when rules aren’t followed and things don’t go as planned.

Rosh