Don't air your dirty laundry in public

I popped into Costa for a coffee on my way back from lunch today. I chose that particular chain because I picked up one of the company's new loyalty cards recently so that particular customer strategy worked. One strategy that didn't though was a conversation I overheard.

While waiting for my cappuccino to be made the store manager started talking to one of her team members about company policy. During the chat she declared that "Costa needs to stop being like Asda". Not quite sure what that means and although it was an interesting statement for a business journalist like who's always looking for a story, it wasn't particularly good for a lady waiting to be served. I looked at the customer as a way of suggesting to the staff that she was there but nothing happened. I then looked at the woman and we exchanged knowing smiles but the staff conversation carried on. At one point the team member caught sight of the customer but continued chatting.

Eventually the woman was served and I left the store but the incident provoked me into writing this blog post.

It's an unwise move to air your dirty laundry in public when running a business, particularly when customers are in earshot. It's hard to stop employees doing it but for a store manager to engage in such tittle-tattle is inexcuseable. Problems involving the inner workings of your business shouldn't be visible to the outside world as it could adversely impact on repeat business. While Costa has got it right when it comes to external things like customer loyalty cards maybe the company's management team needs to look at what's going on internally.