Proper Treatment of Customers
The Importance of Good Customer Service in the Consumer Market
Poor Customer Service Standards
Have you gone to your local espresso powerhouse lately? Do they ever get your order in the drive thru without having you repeat it three or four times, only to get it wrong when you get to the window?
It seems that when an employee asks "May I take your order?" they should actually be ready to do just that. Instead, they are usually either ill-prepared or distracted at the time of asking.
So, on the next trip, you decide to go inside in an effort to circumvent the problem of the drive thru. This time, you wait while the employees finish their non-work related chatter. Usually by the time you walk out, you feel as though you were an inconvenient interruption to their conversation.
Thinking that it is just not a good day for coffee, you move on to your next stop. You have a hard time finding what you are looking for, so you decide to ask an employee. The only problem with that is there are none to found.
After wandering almost completely around the store, you finally happen on someone. They attempt to keep walking like they don't see you, but you stop them to ask your question. At this point, the employee seems outwardly agitated that they are being bothered. The reply that you receive is bordering on hostility and seems to be more than a bit confrontational.
This trend seems to be getting increasingly worse. What happened to being greeted by smiling people who are more than happy to help? If you really dislike people that much, then perhaps you should not be working in an industry where you are required to work with people every day.
Some of the blame should also be placed on the employers. Training should include lessons in customer service.
Great Customer Service
There is at least one grocery store that expects its employees to be courteous and helpful. You will not pass an employee in this store without being greeted and asked whether or not you are finding everything that you need.
What a novel idea! Customers can actually go into a store knowing that they will be helped if they need it. It is a lot easier to keep customers if they have had a good experience in your establishment.
Speak your Mind
Do not hesitate to go directly to the manager of the establishment to either compliment an employee who provides exceptional service, or to complain about an employee who provides sub-standard service. Doing so helps the business understand where their strengths and weaknesses are so that they can make changes where they need them the most.
