Column: Hey, can I get a little service here? Anyone? Hello?

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, January 29, 2002

&t;I&gt&uot;Motivate them, train them, care about them and make winners out of them .

Tuesday, January 29, 2002

&uot;Motivate them, train them, care about them and make winners out of them … we know that if we treat our employees correctly, they’ll treat the customers right. And if the customers are treated right, they’ll come back.&uot; – J. Marriot Jr.

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Have you ever gone into a place of business and felt like its employees had better things to do than to assist you? I’ve felt that way increasingly frequently lately.

A few weeks ago, my wife and I went into a major discount store to pick up a few things. We found what we needed and made our way to the cash register. The cashier was talking to someone, apparently a friend, as we approached – and continued her conversation the entire time she was ringing up our purchase. She never even greeted us. She was, however, polite enough to take a break from her discussion long enough to tell us what the total was and point out where to sign the credit card slip. Then she returned to her conversation. We were never even thanked for our purchase when we left. I guess the discussion demanded her full attention.

The irony of this was that the cashier and her friend were discussing recent layoffs within that store. The cashier indicated that she was glad that although business was currently slow, she had so far managed to keep her job. The only explanation for this must have been that the store kept the employees with higher seniority. I doubt the layoffs were based on performance. If that had been the case, I would hate to imagine the level of customer service offered by the employees who had been let go.

Sunday afternoon, I had a similar experience in a music store. There were some CDs and DVDs I had planned to buy, depending on what titles were available. The employees were all gathered around the counter, having a discussion amongst themselves. Again, I was not even greeted. They never said a single word to me – or to any other customers – the whole time I was in the store. Not wanting to interrupt their symposium, I left and made my purchase somewhere else.

The unfortunate part of this story is that the employees in both cases probably never even realized that what they were doing was impolite. Why is good service so rare these days? These were just two incidents, but I see this kind of thing all the time. Are new employees no longer being trained in the importance of good customer service, or do they just no longer care? Either way, their employers are sorely in need of auditing their customer service.

Here is an interesting concept for anyone whose job includes interaction with customers: politeness toward customers extends far beyond simply not being rude. If we are spending our money in your place of business, we want – and deserve – to feel welcome there. When you ignore us to talk with a friend or a co-worker, you are telling us that your friends are a higher priority than we are. Although this offends us, we usually won’t say anything about it – but maybe we will choose to spend our money somewhere else the next time. Even a store with the widest variety and the best prices in town will never survive without good customer service. When the customers start to thin out, so will the employees. How secure is your job?

I am not some crackpot &uot;problem customer.&uot; I don’t go into stores expecting the employees to roll out the red carpet just for me. I don’t want anyone to be fired. I don’t want anyone to be &uot;written up.&uot; I do, however, expect to be your priority – not secondary to some conversation with your friends. I expect to be acknowledged and treated with respect in the places where I spend my money – or I will gladly spend it somewhere else.

Good customer service is everyone’s responsibility. Not just the customer service manager. Not just the cashiers. Everyone. If you can provide that, we, the customers, will furnish the sales to keep you employed. If you can’t provide that, maybe you should step aside and make room for someone who can.

Dustin Petersen is an Albert Lea resident. His column appears Tuesdays.