There are several places in Bucharest where I like to go shopping from time to time, on weekends. One store is with niche perfumes, the other is with clothes. Beyond the quality of the products, I appreciate the way the people there behave. They always ask me if I want coffee, plain water, mineral water, tonic water, champagne. A glass of tonic water always comes with some very good chocolate.
The conversation always shows that people are interested in the customer, that they care. Of course, you will say, they went to some classes and learned to behave like that, maybe it’s not an authentic concern for the client. Authentic or not, this attitude makes the customer feel good and that makes them want to come back and buy.
Coincidentally, last weekend I went to a concept store supermarket. There I had to hold of each product I bought three times: when I took it off the shelf and put it in the basket; when I took it out of the basket and put it on the belt; when I took it from the cash register and put it in my bag. At this store, the cashiers scan a full cart and put the products on the other side of the cash register, so that you can put them in your own bag. It doesn’t matter that there are others in a row, that you are busy taking all the products out of the basket and put them on the belt. Everything is done with disinterest, neglect, indifference. I wanted to tell the cashier to go home if she didn’t feel like it.
But I kept quiet and I’m not sure I did well. A former client of mine, who ran the customer service department of a large company, used to tell me that she appreciates when a customer tells her that they are dissatisfied, that this way she knows what to change, she knows that something is not working. If they shut up and leave their company, it’s a great loss. And yet, I chose in this case personal comfort, avoiding a confrontation. We often do this to not complicate things upbut in this way, we perpetuate inappropriate behavior.
There was a time when the cashier scanned the products at this supermarket chain and put them directly in the bag. Thus, the time spent with a client was much reduced, and they left satisfied, smiling at the lady.
I know, there is the self-checkout system where you can scan the products yourself, I use them when I don’t have many groceries.
But I am dreaming of the day when we will pay as we take the products off the shelf when the total amount will be debited from your card when you leave the store, without a cashier, without maneuvers with the products.
Beyond this not too close future in Romania, I would like people to better take on their jobs, whatever they may be. Whether you are a salesperson, a cashier, a sales consultant, or you are anything in a company, your job is a business card.
The way you behave there is about you, not just about managers, company culture, colleagues, etc. After all, we work with people, whether they are clients or colleagues, it is good to treat them with respect, as we would like to be treated.