If Jack Nicholson were your customer

I heard the late, great Fred Newell once talk about a Jack Nicholson exchange with a waitress in the movie “Five Easy Pieces” that illustrated how rules or company policy can generate conflict with customers instead of giving them what they want.

Here’s the dialogue from the scene:

Jack Nicholson: I’d like a plain omelette, no potatoes – tomatoes instead – a cup of coffee, and some toast.
Waitress: (Points to wording on menu) No Substitutions.

Jack Nicholson: (Still polite, softly spoken.) What…you mean you don’t have any tomatoes?
Waitress: (Irritated) only what’s on the menu. You can have a Number 2: A plain omelette. It comes with cottage fries and rolls.

Jack Nicholson: (Still polite) I know what it comes with. But, it’s not what I want.
Waitress: I’ll come back when you’ve made up your mind.

Jack Nicholson: (Still polite…but determined) Just a minute: I HAVE made up my mind. I’d like a plain omelette with no potatoes on the plate, a cup of coffee and a side order of wheat toast.
Waitress: I’m sorry; we don’t have any side orders of toast. You can have a roll.

Jack Nicholson: (Turns full attention to waitress. Still speaks quietly.) What do you mean, you don’t make side orders of toast? You make sandwiches don’t you?
Waitress: (Hand on hip), Would you like to talk to the manager?

Jack Nicholson: (Sighs) You’ve got bread? And a toaster of some kind?
Waitress: (Exasperated. BOTH hands on hips now, voice raised) I don’t make the rules!

Jack Nicholson: (Still calm. Talks slow) OK…I’ll make it as easy for you as I can. I’d like an omelette. Plain. And a chicken salad sandwich on wheat toast. No mayonnaise. No butter. No lettuce. And a cup of coffee.
Waitress: (Writes down. Repeats back), A Number 2. And a chicken salad sandwich…Hold the butter, the lettuce and the mayonnaise.

Jack Nicholson: (Smiles) …and a cup of coffee…
Waitress: (Raises one eyebrow. Happy now the customer has know-towed) Anything else?
Jack Nicholson: Yes. Now all you have to do is hold the chicken. Bring me the toast. Bring me a check for a chicken salad sandwich. And then you haven’t broken any rules.

(Diner scene from the movie: Five Easy Pieces.)

And the point is:
Your business used to be a monologue in which you delivered a standard product or service. The customer had very little say. Now your business is a dialogue in which the customer says exactly what they want from you. The difference is that a dialogue recognizes the power of the other person.

Are you listening? If you fail to acknowledge their power, they’ll flash their teeth at you. Don’t mistake it for a smile…

Phil Dourado: Author, Speaker, Independent Consultant and the founding editor of ‘Customer Service Management ‘Journal in the United States, and of its companion title, ‘Customer Service Management’ Journal (now rebranded as Customer Management Magazine) in the United Kingdom. He is the author of The 6 Second Leader.

•  Share this page