Have you ever made a left turn from a "no turn lane"? And even though you may have done it at the same corner 20 times in a row without any consequences, today you see the lights in your rear view.

The officer walks up to your window and asks you for your license and registration. The "no left turn" sign was there all along, yet you chose to ignore it.

Maybe making the left turn at that particular corner was just too convenient, or you wanted a certain parking space that you spied that would save you an extra 5 steps of walking down the street to your favorite lunch spot.

Signs like these are all around us everyday. They point out the right way to go, keep us on the right road, warn us of hazards, direct traffic around trouble areas, and so on.

And every day, people ignore those signs. They feel that the signs don't apply to them, or "those signs" were for someone else, or "I didn't like the way the signs made me go, I wanted to go that way" or any number of "reasons" and excuses.

And these are the same people that require "help" when they are off the road, drive into a hazard or just plain "make a mess of things."

Are you ignoring the signs in your Customer Service Dept?

1. Your customers keep making left turns against the sign, even though it's posted. Is your staff aware of the procedure or policy? Do they know why it's in place? Have they been properly trained and understand why this particular sign needs to be followed?

2. Your Customers do not stop at the stop sign; rather they just run through it. Have you really educated your customers about the service you provide? Explained how you can help them within the scope of the service department and the experience they can expect? Educated and trained your staff in all of the policies and procedures? Have you hired the right personnel?

3. No matter how hard you try, your customers keep driving into hazards. Are all of your "hazards" clearly marked? You have taken the time to explain and demonstrate to your customers what to avoid in using your product or service. It's easier to show them what they can't do than to extract them from what they did.

4. There seems to be a lot of "traffic congestion." Nothing is moving very fast. Have you looked at all of your potential roadblocks? And delegated personnel to help handle the extra "traffic" that road blocks, "special events" and "road repairs" seem to generate? Are your signals in sync? Have you installed a new "light" where you thought it might help and now find yourself with "traffic" where you did not expect it?

5. Have your personnel installed a few signs of their own? Like "stop", "yield" or "caution?" Self installed signs can be a way your personnel are controlling the traffic flow. Say, the week before Christmas, suddenly the appointments or office traffic slows way down as the employees start waiving a "caution flag" to your customers. Think it doesn't happen?

6. Have you installed your own "slow curves ahead" sign? Stopped thinking about your customer and started thinking about "everything I do" and "why am I not appreciated?" If so, start thinking about how you can correct it. What steps do you need to take to get back "on the road?"

7. And have you installed some "thru traffic" signs lately? Made some adjustments in your department so everyone has a "smooth ride?" Have you run a "traffic break" and let everyone get a little breather or pulled over to take a rest? Sometimes you just got to stop to move forward.

If you don't take time to "read the signs" and respond appropriately, you might find yourself getting a ticket.