I was in a coffee shop in downtown Boston the other day and was shocked by the attitude of the person behind the counter to the customer in front of me. The customer in front had her small child with her – the little girl was maybe 5 or 6 years old. The customer asked her daughter what she wanted. The daughter replied and, just as the counter person was reaching for the pastry, she changed her mind and asked for something else. The response from the counter person behind the counter was a huge sigh. The mother apologized for her daughter (which was not necessary in my opinion). She confirmed her daughter was sure about what she wanted and repeated the revised order to the counter person. Before she could even ask for anything else, the counter person began to finalize the order in the cash register. The woman said she wanted a coffee and a hot chocolate for her daughter. The next statement from the counter person – “Geez lady, just make up your mind. I don’t have all day to deal with you and your little brat.” I’m not joking. That was the statement out of the counter person’s mouth. Now maybe the counter person was having a bad day – we all do. Or maybe the person before wasn’t polite to the counter person. But it doesn’t really matter. What a poor impression of that establishment!
The woman walked out with her daughter (no, she did not make the purchase), and I walked out right behind her as did the two customers behind me. I probably would have called the manager over if it was me, this woman did not. Probably felt it wasn’t worth the effort. Guess what – it is unlikely any of us are going back to that establishment anytime soon. The parting shot by the individual behind me to the counter person – “I hope the next place you go to you get treated the same way you treated that woman and her little girl.”
What’s wrong with customer service today? It seems that the littlest things set people off. I rarely hear a “good morning,” “good day,” “how are you,” or “how may I help you” anymore. Oh there are still some places that have great customer service – and you can bet that is who gets my hard earned money! Unfortunately, too often those taking care of the customer have no sense of pride in their job or respect for others.
If you aren’t happy in your job – move on to another one. If you are having a bad day – take a break, a deep breath and don’t take it out on your customers. I have news for you – customer service is, frankly, important in any job – it doesn’t matter what you do. Customers may be internal or external – but they are customers nonetheless. Given the amount of competition nearly every single business faces – you can distinguish yourself by the customer service you provide and you can just as easily destroy the business by not being customer-service oriented.
Share your customer service experiences in the Comments field below. Thanks for listening!
