Greeters and Cashiers

There is a grocery store here in town that I truly dislike.  My wife and I shop there occasionally when we only need an item or two and don't feel like driving 10 minutes to the nearest Walmart.  Last night my oldest son and I had a typical shopping experience at this local grocery store.

As we pull into our parking spot and get out of the car the wind was blowing so we quickly run up to the entrance to the store.  I put my son in the shopping cart and we bravely venture inside.  Once inside we work our way around picking up a tomato here, an onion there, some graham crackers, and the ever constant item on the shopping list: chocolate donuts (my wife is a big fan).  When we have found all of the items we were sent to retrieve we begin looking for the shortest check-out line.  We make a dash for it before another customer notices it too.  So far we've had a pretty good trip; we've found everything we were sent for, it's not too expensive, and we found a really short line.  Here is where the store can seal the deal and make us lifelong fans.  We unload the cart onto the conveyor belt and approach the checker.  I try to make eye contact and give her a friendly disarming smile (if this works I usually say something like "looks like it's been quite a day.  How are you holding up?"  They usually respond with "It hasn't been too bad, I just can't wait to get home" etc.).  She doesn't look up.  She doesn't acknowledge my presence.  She doesn't say a single word to me in the 90 seconds we are practically stuck together while I wait for her to ring up my purchase.  Then (because of the customer credit/debit card swipe terminal) I pay and walk away with my son and groceries without having said a word to her or her to me.  I then notice that all of the other checkers are acting the same way.  That the man that I presume to be the manager (because he is dressed slightly nicer than the rest) is flirting with another employee, or at least that's the way it looks.  My checker, on a scale of 1 to 10 (ten being best), is a 6 at best in the cleanliness department...in fact she may not have showered today.  As I walk the last 20 feet out of the store contemplating the experience I just had I also notice that the floors aren't clean.  While my son and I walk back to our car I am feeling greatful that is over and I won't have to go back there for a while.

What a sad experience that could have so easily been prevented with a little consideration for the customer and some training.  Now, I understand that maybe the checker was having a bad day and maybe the manager wasn't flirting, he's just the "friendly" type, but that doesn't change the feeling I left with.  The store was dirty, I was not welcome there, and I couldn't wait to be out.  In a perfect world this is how my visit would have gone:

As I walk in the store the manager greets me and welcomes me to the store (maybe even asks if he can help me find something).  I make my purchases and as I walk up to the checker she makes eye contact and says hello, then comments on what a cute son I have.  She rings my food up, asks me if there is anything else, and then informs me of the total and inquires how I would like to pay: cash, check, or credit.  I respond "debit" and she processes my payment.  As I pick up my groceries to leave she thanks me for shopping there and, with a smile, invites me come again soon.  I walk out of the store with a good feeling thinking to myself "I can't understand why other people don't like shopping here."  My son and I go home and don't think about it again.

See the difference?  Which store am I going to go to next time?

Lowe's

Yesterday I took a friend to Lowe's so that he could get a bolt for his car.  He and I aren't particularly familiar with the layout of the store as we rarely frequent there.  As we walked in we looked around a little lost looking for the bolt section.  We began to search.  Within one minute of being in the store an employee approached us and asked if he could help us find something.  My friend took the lead as he knew what he was looking for and began to work with this employee.  I hung back looking at all of the gizmos and taking in the situation.  I noticed after another minute or so that this employee was the service manager and that he had been on his way to do something when he stopped to help us.  He helped my friend find the correct bolt and then admitted that he knew very little about cars but one of his employees knew quite a bit and began to look for him.  During the sixty second search for this other employee twice he was asked for help/instructions by other employees.  Each time he informed them he was with a customer and would come back when he was finished.  After finding the car savvy employee it appeared that the service manager stayed for another minute or so to make sure that my friend was comfortable with this other employee and that his needs were going to be met.  Then he wished him luck and assured him once again that he was in capable hands before he departed.  He then hurried away.  The second employee, the car savvy one, stayed with us for another five or six minutes walking my friend through every scenario he could think of (everything that might go wrong with the automotive repair my friend was about to attempt) explaining how he could handle it and what the appropriate tools might be.  He did all of this in a very gentle manner, not pushy in the least.  We ended up leaving the store with a few ideas and a purchase or two but most importantly we left feeling we were important and my friend with confidence in the endeavor on which he was about to embark.

What a wonderful example of service at its best.  A busy, "important" employee took time to help a confused looking customer.  Another employee did the best he could to explain what might solve the customer's dilemma and went above and beyond what is required of the job.  We were in and out in less than 15 minutes.  What a brief period in which to make such an excellent impression on the customer.  Most customer service opportunities are similar.  The employee/business has just a few minutes to make whatever impression it can.  But, by following the cardinal rule of customer service, do unto others as you would have them do unto you, each of your customer's experiences can be the same as ours was at Lowe's last night.  It's common sense (which, in the end, equates to cents).

An hour and a half drive...one way

My wife and I are in the final steps of purchasing our first home.  The lender with whom we are working to secure a mortgage required us to participate in and complete a first-time homebuyers education class prior to closing on our home.  We were provided with a list of 5 or 6 different organizations that offer these classes located within reasonable distance to our home (about an hour away).  My wife attempted to contact all of them using the information our lender provided us and all of the email addresses were wrong and a majority of the phone numbers (first no-no, don't provide your customer with incorrect information...it makes you look stupid).  When she did finally get a hold of someone they were rude, abrubt, and in one case, exceptionally insulting.  She got off of the phone with the latter with tears in her eyes for how she had been treated (this of course irritated me to say the least.  I actually called and requested contact information for her supervisor).  There was only one organization on the list that returned her calls in any semblance of timeliness and treated her with respect, or as she put it, like a person.  Guess where we went to take the class?  Yep, the place where they were rude.  We felt like we needed to be abused that day.  Just kidding, of course we went to the place where they were respectful, even though it was an hour and a half away (40 minutes further than any of the other places that we could have gone).  Going to that organization, STEP, Inc in Rocky Mount, VA, took us an extra hour and a half of driving on a precious Saturday but we went because they treated us like people.  How difficult is it to show some respect (the golden rule)?  And guess who will be receiving the government allocation of funding for our attendance at this state sponsored class.  Yep, STEP, Inc.

Small and Simple Things

I was talking with my boss today about customer service and my recently acquired fascination with it.  He chuckled as he recalled several years ago when we began working together and I routinely expressed my desire to be away from the customers, that the customers were always interrupting me, and that I couldn't get anything done with them around (I obviously had the wrong perspective, without customers I wouldn't have a job).  I began to quickly explain from whence my fascination has arisen.  I told him something along the following lines:

I am not interested in customer service simply because I like people (though I generally do).  What really interests me is how small acts of customer service can and do impact the financial statements.  A quick smile, a wave, a spirited "Hello!  I'm glad you're here" can make a huge difference.  Maybe that customer was having a rotten day and because you took 15 to 30 seconds to acknowledge them (in a positive and friendly manner) the day ended much better.  A brief interaction can leave a lasting impression.  30 seconds can make all the difference.  One customer retained (especially in higher education) is worth thousands of seconds of friendliness.  That one customer equals thousands of dollars in revenue that year and in the years to come and saves the recruiting team thousands of dollars (not to mention hours) in finding and bringing a new body to campus.  This is what fascinates me, how the small and simple things make a HUGE difference in people's lives and on the financial statements.