I visited my mom this past weekend. To celebrate National Chocolate Day (it was Saturday; did you celebrate?) we went to Ice and Vice, a gourmet ice cream shop, with the intention of getting chocolate ice cream. Instead, we received a valuable business lesson.
There were about five people waiting when we arrived, and because Ice and Vice has a lot of funky flavors, everyone wanted to try a few before making their final decision. There were only two guys behind the counter, so it took a while to get to the front of the line.
Shane served us. He had a huge smile on his face. Made suggestions. Laughed with us, and made the buying experience truly enjoyable. We ate our ice cream, which was delicious, and told Shane how much we liked it. He thanked us for letting him know, told us how happy he was that we came in and that he hoped to see us again soon.
Ice and Vice’s ice cream is much more money than I usually spend on ice cream; I can’t wait to go back.
My husband went to Home Depot the other day to pick up some things for a project he is working on. He brought the items to the register to check out, and the cashier was having a personal conversation with another employee. My husband was ignored. Finally, Paul managed to get the cashier’s attention and was told, “I’m in the middle of a conversation; wait.”
Paul isn’t overly sensitive to the people who he interacts with in a store like Home Depot, and yet he came home and told me all about it. He was in a hurry, or he would have gone to the manager of the store and reported the cashier.
Paul also said that now that he thinks about it, he never gets good service at Home Depot and is hesitant about going back, even though they have most of what he needs at a reasonable price.
If you think about it, all Shane did for my mom and me was smile and talk with us as he was handling our order. It didn’t add any time to our transaction. If the cashier at Home Depot had continued his conversation as he rang up Paul’s order, Paul may have thought the cashier was rude but would have been okay with it. It took longer to process the order and kept customers waiting, because of the conversation.
I can’t wait to go back to the expensive ice cream store; Paul is hesitant to go back to a store that has everything he needs at a reasonable price.
My question to you is: how do you interact with your customers?
Let me know what can you do to put a smile on their face by posting your thoughts in the comments section below.
I live in London, UK and work in Primark, Oxford Street as a cashier. I enjoy having a chat with the customers. If they come from the USA, I will make a joke about the name of their State or ask them a simple question like: “Which State has a capital city that contains a consonant which has a fruit in it?” I allow them time to think of an answer, by which time I may have finished scanning their items. Do you know the answer? It’s INDIANAPOLIS – In ‘D’ an apple is. Easy? If they come from Massachusetts then it’s a riddle: ‘A group of red setters were chewing a bone in a park. Where is the park?’ Ans: A mass of chewing setters. The Arabs are fun and friendly, finding the bar codes and handing me the items ready to scan. I have honest, fun and friendly customers for the most part.
Love this! The more fun you have with your customers the more fun they have with you & the higher the likelihood that they’ll be back.
Thanks for sharing!