Over the weekend, I went to a brick and mortar store to buy a few things for an upcoming event. Of the four items I was looking for, the shelves were empty for two and they only had two (of six needed) of the third item. At a second store, the results were the same. They were out of stock of two of the items. In both cases, the people suggested I look online, but not necessarily at their store.

But here’s the thing: There is no way to capture sales that don’t happen because you are out of stock. And, when you tell people to shop elsewhere, they will.

The lessons from this time of disruption in the retail industry are important to observe and to learn from. Too often people are using Amazon’s dominance as an excuse for a poor customer experience. Website problems, out of stock inventory, and long delivery times are just a few examples of poor customer experience. And when not addressed, the business will go out of business.

Do you know how your customer experience stacks up? What actions can you today to improve your customer experience?

Laurel vs. Yanny was everywhere over the last week. I heard Laurel so clearly, it was hard to imagine hearing Yanny. Surely someone must have adjusted the pitch so people could hear both. So, I went out to the internet to find it. I found a Youtube video that adjusted the sound in a way that was supposed to let you hear both. And I still heard Laurel.

As a leader, it is important to hear different perspectives from your team, your people, and your customers. Sometimes it takes work to hear those perspectives. And sometimes, you won’t hear the perspective directly no matter how hard you try. But, you need some way to know that it exists and it is a valid perspective.

How are you seeking out the perspectives you need to hear?

It was a long flight, so I got up to stretch my legs for a minute. The flight attendant was nice and not in the middle of anything, so I stopped to chat for a minute. She was having a tough day. The coffee had exploded on her three times, leaving spots across her uniform at the start of the flight. Catering did not stock about half the food they should have. She expected to spend the entire flight apologizing. After all, she had 26 years of experience and did not relish being in the position of looking incompetent.

Being on the front line is tough. Especially if the business is not run well. Front line people are left to apologize and take heat for something they have no control over. At the same time, the customer expects a certain level of experience and don’t really care who is to blame. Having a cohesive experience is important. How are you ensuring you meet customer expectations, while not leaving your front line people to flap in the wind?