>>stripped of natural charm

The more I travel this road called Life the more I realize how much the things that I used to do get on my nerves when done by others.

Case in point: talking amongst employees while dealing with customers. We all know how annoying it is when two associates are talking to each other instead of paying attention to us, a patron of the store. We could just have easily gone to somewhere else; we probably passed two grocery stores on the way to the particular one we’re standing in, and the cashiers don’t seem to appreciate our business. They seem more concerned with the innerworkings of their own social circle than ringing up our groceries. Gets on the nerves, right? So why do we, as employees, think that it’s alright to have private conversations instead of focusing on the customer? Especially when the number one thing in our mission statement is “passionately focused on customer value.” I think it devalues the customer when we chit-chat in front of them: we don’t include them in our conversation, they get alienated and annoyed and more irritated. Then they stop shopping there.

It’s perfectly acceptable to have a conversation and include the customer. Customers like to shop at places that are friendly, and if there is absolutely no conversation going on the place gets that concentration camp-type of feel. The easiest way to do include the customers, I’ve found, is talk about what they’re buying. If you see a vegetable that you’ve never seen before, ask them how they cook it. If they buy eighty pounds of dog food, ask about their pets. It’s pretty easy to include the customer in the conversation, and if they feel welcome and at ease, the chances are quite high that they’ll continue to shop at the store, thus ensuring you a job.

Early today I was with a customer and the girl next to me started talking about something completely unrelated to anything. It happend a lot, and I either didn’t answer her, or gave her very soft and short answers, trying to make her get the point that maybe, just maybe she should just hush for two seconds. When I’m done helping whoever it is with whatever they need, I was more than happy to talk to her; she’s nice! Why not talk? But there is a time and a place to have a conversation; in front of a customer isn’t one of those times.

I’m not saying that I’m the most work-ethically sound girl in the world. Sometimes I talk to people standing around me when I’m dealing with people. But the more I start to care about people (have I been brainwashed? I think it’s a subtle sort of thing, because over the past 6 or 7 months I’ve noticed that by God, I actually do give a crap), the more I realize how I’m treating them and how I would like to be treated if I was in their situation. It’s called empathy; do it every once in a while and you’ll find that no one complains about you anymore. Or they complain about you less. You can’t please everyone, but I think that’s a post for another time.