One thousand words on Customer Service

I have been in the customer service industry for over 15 years now, true I took a year off, but even that job required some people skills. In that time I have developed a crucial set of people skills. My current role as supervisor has caused me to re-evaluate how I formed these skills, so that I may train my people better.

The one thing that I have noticed is that customer service people in the present day, on the whole, are part time employee’s where they are but more than likely have two, three, and in some cases four jobs. This makes for very cantankerous employees. For these people I have one word.

TOUGH.

The basis of customer service jobs is to be friendly and courteous to all the people, regardless of how you feel that particular day. The owners are paying you, however little you may think that pay is, to be the friendly face of their business, the least you could do is fake it.

While the focus of my customer service career has been in high-end grocery stores, the tips that lay ahead have been common observations in places that I frequent as a customer as well. And while I respect the hard times that car salesmen and shop clerks in these hard economic times are going through, I do pose one comparison. Grocery clerks sell a base necessity. People NEED food. True they do not need Filet Mignon every night, but they do need food. And when you work for a high-end market, you are basically selling the luxury version of this necessity. It puts the buyer in an unfair mindset when it comes to trading their cash for an item they need but not at that level.

So how do you deal with a person that is willing to pay extra for an item that he or she needs to live?

One would think that was a question that could be answered by common sense. Sadly, that is not the case. The old axiom “treat people the way you would want to be treated” should no longer be considered the gold standard. Either there is a high concentration of sadists in the San Francisco area, or years of customer servitude has beaten the self worth out of the people that man our checkstands. I have witnessed clerks star blankly at a person who willing forking over $155 for one bag of groceries. There was no thank you and no friendly warm smile. And while I do not feel that every person coming through my store is deserving of a smile and a thank you, right now we are talking about the art of being a clerk. Customers, you will get yours later.

The key to good customer service is rhetoric. It is not just what you say, but how you say it. People don’t want to feel like a burden to a store. So questions should be asked of the customer in a way that conveys the desire to please. Never say “Do you need…” As in, “Do you need a bag?” It is a basically saying that you do not want to have to finish the job.

Instead, use the wording like “Can I get you…” “Can I get you a bag?” And every transaction should contain two questions. 1) Did you find everything you needed?” and 2) Can I get you anything else? Those questions are two reasons you are there. You are there to make sure the customer gets what they need. Asking them these questions will make sure you did everything you could to help them.

Occasionally, you get a question. This is not a time to panic. Simply give an answer. If you do not know an answer, offer to find someone that does. Logic aside, customers assume that every clerks knows everything about every product in the store. And while this is obviously not true, they don’t care. Once a question is asked, it needs to be answered. And “I don’t know” is not an answer. With technology available today, there are ways to finding the answer. If you are stumped, call in your supervisor, that’s what we get paid for.

Greetings are the customer services first impression. How you greet someone is the key to the success of the next minute to five minutes. And the secret weapon in the greeting of a customer is the smile.

The art of a smile is a tricky thing. There is a huge difference in the way your grandma smiled at you as kid and the way Charles Manson smiled in the now famous photo. While you are not required to provide the sense of security and warmth that the grandma- smile gives, you are forbidden to smile in a creepy or unsettling way, like Charlie does. The smile should welcome them to the point that you will hold there interests for the immediate future. Nothing more, nothing less. Just let the customer know that you appreciate them without giving them the willies.

And if you think that I am blowing this out of proportion, it would be wise to point out that fielded many complaints about cashiers not smiling and I have actually heard a customer complain about the way a checker smiled at them. That was a very awkward conversation.

In the event that a customer decides to take there bad day out on you. Either let them, or call one of the supervisors. We actually get paid to take the abuse.

It seems weird that I have to tell adults that they need to be friendly. It is not enough to say that you need to treat people with the respect that you would want to be treated. It is the simple every day things that go unnoticed that make all the difference. Smile and be helpful.

And if anyone ever asks you to “Smell this.” You just say no.