Hello!
Probably the most stringent self-imposed boundary for this blog is vowing to never talk about my work either with the school district or now selling appliances. I intend to stick to that although, trust me, some of the characters that walk through the door are certainly worth writing about!
But since the stock room is filling up with Christmas lights (which we are placing across the aisle from Grim Reaper) I am reminded that "Black Friday" isn't far off (though far enough we shouldn't be putting out Christmas lights--I like to have Halloween and Thanksgiving first.)
That said...
I just want to make a blanket apology to any clerk to whom I may have been less than patient and kind during my entire life. I am sure there are at least one or two. (Sometimes my voice inflections sound angrier than I am, but that's no excuse.)
Nobody goes to work (I hope) and intends to purposely "!@#$ up" your day. However, many things beyond one's control can and do happen. That's life. Sometimes you have just cause to be annoyed, but really, in the scheme of life it's minor. As they say, "we aren't curing cancer." If I make a mistake, I need to own it and take care of the problem. I can deal with that as I have had plenty of practice.
But when someone comes walking in and is rude/obnoxious right off the bat, they might think clerks are at a disadvantage because we have to be helpful and friendly. Don't view that as a weakness. Folks that have chips on their shoulders or poor manners will be treated honestly and fairly (possibly out of fear), but let me assure you that if you are friendly and patient, we will go through hoops to try to help (even in out-of-the-box circumstances.)
Believe it or not all of us don't know everything there is to know about everything in the store. For instance, I am a sales specialist in appliances, not plumbing. I will do my best to help or get you someone who can if at all possible. However, that doesn't make me a moron (though I do other things that do) so comments to that effect aren't necessary. Specialists specialize... It's no different then thinking a brain surgeon can fix your car!
Shopping costs money. Expensive items cost more money. That is life. Yelling at the clerk about prices is a dumb as yelling at a gas station attendant (basically a sales clerk) about the cost of gas. Like they can do anything about it?? The store has to keep the lights on, pay their employees and show a little profit to their shareholders in order to be able to provide you with the goods, services and conveniences you want. I get tired of customers who want something for nothing. If that's the case, I want that too!!!
So please be kind to us and we will return the favor. Do your homework, have concrete ideas of what you want, have a budget and focused questions. (and for Pete's sake if you are buying an item that needs to fit certain measurements, HAVE THE MEASUREMENTS!) Think about the clerk when you hold up the line because you want to pay with 20 gift cards. (That just happened to me!) There were some mad people behind her as all those pin numbers take time to scratch and type in. Did that person get the dirty looks??? Nope, just me. That's what I get for jumping on a register to try and help...
Now that I think about it, "Be Kind To Sales Clerk's Week" should never end!
Until next time,
Gale
Probably the most stringent self-imposed boundary for this blog is vowing to never talk about my work either with the school district or now selling appliances. I intend to stick to that although, trust me, some of the characters that walk through the door are certainly worth writing about!
But since the stock room is filling up with Christmas lights (which we are placing across the aisle from Grim Reaper) I am reminded that "Black Friday" isn't far off (though far enough we shouldn't be putting out Christmas lights--I like to have Halloween and Thanksgiving first.)
I just want to make a blanket apology to any clerk to whom I may have been less than patient and kind during my entire life. I am sure there are at least one or two. (Sometimes my voice inflections sound angrier than I am, but that's no excuse.)
Nobody goes to work (I hope) and intends to purposely "!@#$ up" your day. However, many things beyond one's control can and do happen. That's life. Sometimes you have just cause to be annoyed, but really, in the scheme of life it's minor. As they say, "we aren't curing cancer." If I make a mistake, I need to own it and take care of the problem. I can deal with that as I have had plenty of practice.
But when someone comes walking in and is rude/obnoxious right off the bat, they might think clerks are at a disadvantage because we have to be helpful and friendly. Don't view that as a weakness. Folks that have chips on their shoulders or poor manners will be treated honestly and fairly (possibly out of fear), but let me assure you that if you are friendly and patient, we will go through hoops to try to help (even in out-of-the-box circumstances.)
Believe it or not all of us don't know everything there is to know about everything in the store. For instance, I am a sales specialist in appliances, not plumbing. I will do my best to help or get you someone who can if at all possible. However, that doesn't make me a moron (though I do other things that do) so comments to that effect aren't necessary. Specialists specialize... It's no different then thinking a brain surgeon can fix your car!
Shopping costs money. Expensive items cost more money. That is life. Yelling at the clerk about prices is a dumb as yelling at a gas station attendant (basically a sales clerk) about the cost of gas. Like they can do anything about it?? The store has to keep the lights on, pay their employees and show a little profit to their shareholders in order to be able to provide you with the goods, services and conveniences you want. I get tired of customers who want something for nothing. If that's the case, I want that too!!!
So please be kind to us and we will return the favor. Do your homework, have concrete ideas of what you want, have a budget and focused questions. (and for Pete's sake if you are buying an item that needs to fit certain measurements, HAVE THE MEASUREMENTS!) Think about the clerk when you hold up the line because you want to pay with 20 gift cards. (That just happened to me!) There were some mad people behind her as all those pin numbers take time to scratch and type in. Did that person get the dirty looks??? Nope, just me. That's what I get for jumping on a register to try and help...
Now that I think about it, "Be Kind To Sales Clerk's Week" should never end!
Until next time,
Gale
Yes did customer service too many years and know what it's like. No matter what though, some people like to be mean and will no matter what or how hard you try.
ReplyDeleteCher Sunray Gardens
Goldenray Yorkies
You hit it right on the head. Thanks Gale!!!
ReplyDeleteIt was really good!
ReplyDeleteMiami Jeep
My comment is about these lines:
ReplyDelete"I get tired of customers who want something for nothing. If that's the case, I want that too!!!
So please be kind to us and we will return the favor. Do your homework, have concrete ideas of what you want, have a budget and focused questions. (and for Pete's sake if you are buying an item that needs to fit certain measurements, HAVE THE MEASUREMENTS!)"
This is one of the major cause of customer's anger toward you, and it's not their fault.
From a customer's perspective, one will expect that it's your job to patiently guide a customer who has little to no clues about the stuff they try to buy and to help them make the purchase or provide information with the best of your knowledge.
In a simple way, your main job is to make them happy.
If you can't tolerant customer approaching you like that, it's either your fault for not being patient or the company's fault for not paying/training you enough to help a customer this much. But nonetheless, it's not the customer's fault for asking a question "without doing his/her homework". Customers are here to buy stuff/service not to pay for your lecture about how little they know about the stuff/service they are paying money for.