Another Inconvenient Truth

Today I went to see “A Inconvenient Truth” at a local movie theater. The movie was great, but the experience was horrible. The theater has a very unfriendly customer service policy: “Box Office will open 15 minutes before show start time.” It is a bad enough policy to begin with and circumstances conspired to make it worse.

It was ironic that we were going to see a movie about “Global Warming” on one of the hottest July days on record. It was 106 degrees in downtown at 12:35 pm. We still had ten-minutes before the box office would open and there were about twenty “baby boomers” all waiting to get in the theater.

Several people tried to get the attention of the teenagers inside the “air conditioned” theater lobby, but they ignored all attempts at communication as they chatted with one another.

At 12:45 pm, several people began knocking on the door to remind the teenagers that it was time to open up the doors and ticket window, but they were involved in a very intense conversation and couldn’t be bothered to open the door. By now the group of people waiting to get into the theater had swelled to about 50+. The line at the ticket booth extended out from under the awning into the bright and very hot sunlight.

By 12:50 pm, people were knocking on the door, and the teenagers finally began to move to their positions. By then about a third of the group left to go see the movie at a theater in a bigger town with a cinema multiplex 25 miles away.

At 12:55 pm an angry crowd began to enter, with most people bypassing the popcorn counter because:

1) They were angry with the teenagers, and

2) They didn’t have enough time to buy anything before the movie would start.

Now it is time for “Another Inconvenient Truth” for all business owners based on what happened here today. The way you treat your customers tells more about the long-term survivability of your business than any balance sheet ever will and your prospects aren’t good.

The movie theater didn’t sell as many tickets as it could have and should have for two reasons. The first was their minimalist approach to customer service: “Box Office will open 15 minutes before show start time.” I would love to learn the thinking behind a policy designed to minimize the amount of money a company can take in, while maximizing the amount of bad will generated with customers.

The second reason was the attitude of their staff. The staff was more concerned about talking with each other, than they were in serving the customers. I haven’t been to the theater in over a year. I don’t think I will ever go back after this experience.