Monday, April 10, 2006
What happened to "Have a nice day"?
I just came home from the famous big W store. You know the giant - rah-rah- we are the greatest privately owned super department store with happy faces posted on all of our price tags store. And when you leave- the greeter makes sure to tell you - "have a nice day".
As I went to pay for my purchases, and was standing at the check out with several items that added up to just under one humdred dollars, there were two clerks standing there talking amongst themselves. Neither said hello as they scanned my goods - but continued talking about their life, their day at the store and what they were doing after work. Then one says to the other - "You are such a 'sl_t" and then starts to laugh. The other repeats the insult back to the first. This went on several times - in front of a customer!
My question is- when did the customer spending hard earned money become the spectator to the crude comedy performance - and lose their status as the 'raison d'etre' for the company? Don't companies exist because there are customers?
What happened to manners and acceptable speech? Since when did insults such as this become so common place that there is no longer a shock value to them? Do we stand by and watch, or do we demand a refund? Do we call the manager out and have the two repeat their perfomance?
As long as we accept this kind of behaviour, we will continualy be subjected to poor manners, poor service, and leave the premises with a lot less than a "nice day".
Conclusion? Yes I called out the manager and repeated the conversation. She was shocked at the behaviour - or at least appeared to be. For her the customer was right.
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6 comments:
Ah, good for you.
On the flip side of that, I had great customer service at Teen's accessories store at Christmas. They called around to all their locations to search for an item for me and had it shipped to the store closest to me so that I didn't have to run around like a chicken with my head cut off. It made such an impression that 5 months later, I still remember it.
Cheryl
I know its an extremely rude behavior in front of a client! But as all of us pass thro' innumerable bad days and just have that need to ignore the entire world.. once in a while, just appease the inner person within at the risk of losing everything, probably the lady didnt know what she was doing!
Dunno what you did is right/wrong, but I would have rather reminded her about her company culture & asked her why she chose to ignore it at that point! :-)
S -
As business women, I think we can take this experience and apply what we learn from it to our own businesses.
I have encountered similar instances where store staff have been less than courteous, uninterested and just plain lazy.
Although, this may be in part due to immaturity or just plain lack of appreciation for having a job, I believe education and stated expectations on the part of the employer plays a significant role.
How many businesses just hire people to fill positions, teach them the fundamentals then leave them to their own devices?
What kind of difference would it make in customer service if emphasis was placed on educating staff on the importance of treating customers with courtesy, going above and beyond in helping meet customer needs, the power of a smile and sincere attention? The critical importance of satisfied customers to a business' success?
What could businesses (including our own) do to ensure employees take pride in being a part of the organization? What could we do to empower our employees and emphasize their critical role in the company's success?
Some employees will just be lazy and disrespectful regardless of management support and this is where strict hiring practices and employee discipline measures need to be enforced.
I believe that with ongoing education, demonstrated employee appreciation and emphasis on the importance of front-line customer service, these types of incidents would become few and far between.
Laurie Hayes
It really is one of the most frustrating things to experience. I used to work in customer service in a bank and there were employees there that would be chatting and ignoring the customers. I used to think "if the customers weren't there we wouldn't have jobs". Some employees used to be annoyed at being disturbed with their filing!! Unfortunately there a lot of employees in these box stores and other places who are working for minimum wage and just don't care! Yes, the manager should find out about them. Even now, working in a travel store, I see a few consultants who don't greet customers the way that they should. I have been an employer also and it's important to follow-up with your clients when you can and make sure they were happy with the service they received. Some people just won't be able to be changed - those are the ones that should be changing positions - out of your business! Merry Christmas to everyone and go with the flow if you're stuck in a line. It's a pretty good time to start a conversation, perhaps by inviting the others waiting to the next Roaring Women dinner! Cheers! Judi
I would like to hear a 'Thank You' once in a while. Not even 'thank you for paying my wages', or 'thank you for helping our store/business be a success', just a plain 'thank you'.
Talking of great customer service, I was at Mothers Music the other day, and got GOLDEN service! It wasn't the fact that I got a great deal on the gear I was buying, it was that the manager talked to my toddler and offered her a free shaker egg. It's only $3.50 to him, but to me it meant that my kids are welcome in his store.
Brilliant customer service, and it seemed totally selfless - although it has definitely encouraged me to shop there more often.
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