I’m remodeling my kitchen. One weekend I went to Home Depot ready to order my countertops. I had the measurements, a nice little drawing with every single detail and the design choices in hand. All I needed was a friendly countertop customer service rep to take my order.

There happened to be one guy working the countertop department the night I was there. He was helping a couple when I showed up. I waited 20 patient minutes before he even acknowledged me and asked if I had a question. I explained I needed to order a countertop. He told me he was going to be a while and didn’t know how long, and that “no” there was no one else who could help me.

I told him I had some other items to pick up, so it was no big deal and I would check back in a while. I left my cart, which was heaping with supplies for the new floor, at the countertop department so he knew I was serious about checking back.

Another 20-30 minutes later I returned to see if the lovely couple had finished up with the guy. They had, but the guy had finished up for the day as well. He was nowhere to be found, and we were told by a fellow co-worker from another department that he had to leave. Corporate wasn’t allowing any overtime any more – apparently even if that meant not allowing me to place my order after nearly an hour of waiting.

I reported back to Home Depot two days later to give it another go. I was happy to find a different countertop expert ready to take my order. I explained to him what I needed, showed him my nifty drawing and thought we’d be on our way to placing the order. Within five minutes of our conversation, the guy sold Home Depot out and told me it was going to be better for me to order my countertops from Menards. They’re cheaper, and even though he believes Home Depot has a better product he doesn’t think it’s worth the added cost.

He went on to tell me that he – and several of his co-workers who deal with customers – has been going to management meetings for months and explaining to them that their product is overpriced for the value it delivers. Apparently management isn’t listening because their employees have taken to blatantly sending potential clients to their competitors.

With times the way they are, I understand that management has tough decisions to make in order to keep their companies afloat. Not servicing clients and not listening to your employees who are in direct contact with your clients are not survival strategies I would recommend.

Question: Any client service horror stories you’d like to share?

Dawn and I were just in Portugal. We were invited to present to the European contingent of the Leading Edge Alliance, a think tank for managing partners of accounting firms.

Our session, “Managing and Marketing in a Downturn,” asked the partners to work in groups to brainstorm and share ideas on various topics. All of them, except one partner who worked in Hong Kong, reported being in a downturn and expecting it to get worse. (China is not completely export driven, and although they will probably not have the double-digit economic growth they have been experiencing, the Chinese still expect their economy to grow at least 6% next year.)

The most riveting story came from Liam Rattigan, managing partner of RBK House, Irishtown, an accounting firm in Ireland. The Irish construction industry was hit very early. It became clear to Liam and a few of his partners that their firm would not be growing like it had and they would have to pull in by 20-25%. Liam shared a fairly detailed plan for the firm to survive. One of the items was a partner retreat during which they identified the “protected talent list,” a group of people who they wanted to keep no matter what. They went to the people on that list and talked to them, telling them that they would not be made redundant (Irish for “laid off”), and that the firm considered them part of the future beyond hard times. Then the layoffs began.

I am thinking about the protected talent list. In some of the jobs I have had I would have made it on that list, no sweat. In others, maybe not. (Whenever I had a job counting money I am sure I would go first).

My advice — no matter whether you believe we are one step away from selling apples on the street corners in the next Great Depression or we may have a slight dip in the economy, get on that list! Be the best and demonstrate commitment now. If you are in a role in your firm that is not “billable,” make your role valuable. Now is the time to report on the projects you do, publicize your successes and track the returns on investments made in you. Now is the time to make sure that if some hard decisions are made, you have powerful advocates who understand your value.

Question: What have you done to be on “the list?”