Yes, I’m still alive and well! Yes, I suppose I have a lot of catching up to do. Briefly, I have returned to full-time employment. I have a new (old) routine to get used to. I am just making that coffee earlier now (again). It’s a good thing!
For this post, I am asking for your interaction! I am doing a little market research.
What makes you feel great about walking in to a business?
What do you hate about walking in to some businesses?
I don’t want names of people or businesses ^^…
but I am very interested in what good great customer service means to you.
Smiles are great, right? But, what about if someone walks past you with their nose in the air!? Do you assume they are just too busy? Preoccupied? Or that customer service isn’t in their job description?
What behavior makes you feel like an
??
Actually, he’s pretty darn lovable…. so let me ask, What makes you feel like a business or company is a good part of your life? Is it a personal touch? Great service? Reliability? Good value for the money? You feel like they will go above and beyond to help?
Thank you in advance for your thoughts! I’ll catch up more, soon.
Just Make the Coffee 
Marla – For me, a very knowledgeable greeter at the door. The larger the store, the more important this becomes. I am NOT a shopper and I want to find what I’m after, pay for it and get out of the store. I do not want to wander up and down aisles looking for it or for someone to ask. The price had better not be outrageous, either.
Thank you! Great input.
Congrats on your new venture. I’ve missed your posts, and I was on the cusp of emailing you to make sure you were ok!
Onto your question…it’s a bit intangible. What I look for is a bit of freedom, and friendly interest. I want it to be about me, without it being too smarmy.
It should be sincere and genuine interest, not overly clingy, but genuine enough to ask what I need, want , or might be interested in.
I heard a great commentary on sales and the sales experience the other day. A person looking for a sale looks to be led, they send out clues. The right sales person can read the signs to lead them to the sale.
People want to be understood, heard, and they will be more willing to buy when they know someone is interested in them,not the sale.
Genuine interest is uncommon, isn’t it? I work for an electric cooperative, so we aren’t selling, but instead providing a service. But, what you are saying definitely can translate. Thank YOU for your genuine interest in me. 🙂
My husband works for a major electric provider/servicer. He models all the outages for ERCOT, and works with industrial customers. He’s worked all phases in the industry from substation operations to transmission, distribution, engineering, etc.
Maybe we can talk offline and see if I can get you some info to help you?
We are a distribution cooperative. Do you still have my email? evermarla at Yahoo dot com?
Oh, I’ve missed the pictures of the goats, and everyone else.
My main job role is custom service advisor and I have found smiling and being open is the way forward, and the job title says it all advise
I work for a small company and we all find ourselves helping other departments customers, and I always go out of my to help where I can, after 26 in the same company I have customers who I have been looking after for 26 years 🙂
You have lucky customers! Thank you.
I think we should all treat others like we want to be treated ourselves 🙂
Hi Marla. I feel welcomed when someone says hello when I come into the store. And, I like if they say something like, “I’m here if you’d like a hand with anything.” I feel uncomfortable if they follow me around or keep the conversation going if I’m just looking and getting used to the store. Good luck with your endeavor!
Acknowledgement goes a long way, doesn’t it?
I’ve missed you! Best wishes with your employment. I’m immediately put at ease when an employee says hello and smiles, then offers to help if I need it. I’m put off by someone who looks or acts snobbish in any way, or acts as though they’re better than me. I am SO annoyed by any employee who doesn’t say thank-you when I make a purchase – or even when I leave the business. I’ve worked in retail quite a bit through the years, and I was taught to smile and be pleasant, and that includes saying thank you!
Look forward to more of your pictures from the farm – and if you’d like to share how your job is going, we’re good with that, too!
Thank you, Dianna. Life is a constant balancing act … lean too far one way and something else gets off-kilter. You hit on one of my pet peeves, except I think it is even bigger than a pet peeve, “someone who looks or acts snobbish in any way, or acts as though they’re better than me.”
Where working?
Sent from my iPhone
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Back at Shelby Electric Cooperative.
I like to be acknowledged, but then left alone to make my decisions, unless I hate a question. I hate pressure sales. I don’t like to be ignored while in the checkout line,
I’m like you, HATE high pressure sales. Luckily, the company I work for isn’t sales! Being acknowledged is key to many people, regardless of the business type.
I’m not the world’s best shopper .. And I too like to be left alone until I’m ready. But nothing beats a smile, caring assistance by someone that knows😊
Smiling, caring, knowledge … great combo!! Thanks!
HI …. I love your blog and have for a long time, or your words and comments….they always make me happy. I am from ouside of Chicago in Lombard and we left after we ran our dental business in the fifties in Elmhurst. We were the number one dental techs in teh area and then we came up here to become the number one resort in the Ely Minnesota area after we bought an old mom and pop resort here and ran it 58 years…. So here is my take on what I feel a good business is like.
First is is set upon Priniciple and ethics and is run honestly and sincerely with the owners putting in theri 1000 percent of Love. They have to love what they do. Then, the business buildings will reflect it as soon as you walk in, as if there are folks working for the business, they will be trained to love their customers and the product that is being sold…or service.
Ambience is important in design of the interior..warmth and furnishings or design of layout ot make the person feel really at HOME as soon as they open the door…no matter what kind of business it is.
Then the owner has to appear morning, noon and night…no matter how briefly as that makes the people who come in feel he loves what he does and he is not better than they are. He is right with them…..When my mother passed on ten years into our running the resrot, we were booked five years solid ahead…..fice summers and maybe more. That was from the love of our customers, mom and her non stop listening to what they needed….giving them personal attention ….putting on the coffee for them ….sitting with them, finding out of they were satisfied..and happy, and if not…making them so.
So ..it is. I feel it is the same values I placed on teaching..when I taught school. I loved the cihdlren, their parents and my purpose to help them all was clear. They felt comfortable with me, and really liked me becuase of that. SO things flowed smoothly with no surprises….
I wish you well and hope you share your findings. If you need more thoughts I can come up with some, just wanted to give you this now, after finding it…Have a wonderful week at your job..You will be fab at it…Merri
Thank you, Merri! I appreciate the thoughtfulness that went into your comments. People need to feel cared for is how I would summarize your points. I love that you mentioned “putting on coffee for them.” That made me smile! Your students and parents were lucky to have you.
A smile and greeting with eye contact is nice. I don’t like being bombarded with loud, irritating music.
Irritating music – so true! We don’t play any in our office, but it is true for on-hold music, as well. A smile is worth a thousand words. :). Thank you.
A smile and a welcome to the store and an offer for any assistance that might be needed. Then you can leave me alone. I don’t like it when the sales staff hovers. I like to be able to shop freely without feeling that someone is trailing me everywhere I go. I agree with Patti about the loud music—I love music but I don’t like to be assaulted by it while I shop. Nice background music works but not if it dominates the store or business. The stores I love to frequent have friendly and knowledgeable sales staff who engage you in conversation during check out and who make me feel like I am the most important person there even if I am only buying a $5 item. Kindness wins every time.
“Kindness wins every time.” That should be in all customer service trainings! Great points, thank you.
We are small business owners of a repair shop and we have never advertised, yet have a wonderfully successful business. How? When someone calls, we smile on the phone and ask how we can help, and genuinely care about their issues and how we can assist them. When a customer arrives, they are greeted with a smile and sometimes even a handshake, and we listen to their concerns and the problems they are experiencing with full attention. We help them to unload/load their items, we ALWAYS thank them for their business, and they leave knowing that if there is an issue down the road, that we are there to help. If something we have done doesn’t work, we fix it, no questions asked. Our business has been built 100% on word-of-mouth “advertising”. Great customer service is finding out what THEY need/want, helping to fulfill that need/want, and letting them know that you are there to help when they need it. 🙂
As far as a sales-based business, when I walk in to such a place, I need to be acknowledged. Nothing is more irritating than someone sitting there, playing on their phone or talking to another employee and me being ignored. I want them to ask me how they can help. If you’ve been around people for a while, you will be able to ‘read’ them as far as knowing whether to make suggestions or leave them to look around for themselves. I don’t like helicopter salespeople…it makes you feel like they are watching you for shoplifting. I have had that unpleasant experience a few times, and I refuse to go back to those stores. As others have said, soft music is nice, loud is not. Also, no matter if you are buying something for a dollar or a thousand, you should be treated equally. A buyer is your paycheck, after all! I will not tolerate rudeness, bad language, or laziness, and yes, I have called and reported things like this. At the end of the transaction, I need to be thanked. After all, I’m their paycheck! It is SO irritating for someone to look at you at the end of the transaction like a cow in a pasture and not say a word. Don’t expect me to return.
Great testimonial for great business! The “cow in a pasture” comment made me laugh – and you are SO right! Thank you.
Great question and have enjoyed reading the other comments. As for me, I like to be greeted when I enter. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy or parroted “sales-speak”. Just give me a genuine indication that I am welcome and not an interruption to your day. If it is a sales environment, let me know that you are there to help me, but don’t hover! If my arms are getting full, you may offer to take my items to free me to browse further. If it is a non-sales environment, please make me aware by clear signage or, better yet, a welcome so I will know what is expected. Do I take a number? Do I wait in line? If you are busy, especially if no one is at your counter, please acknowledge me to let me know you (or someone) will be with me shortly. When it is my “turn”, thank me for waiting. Whether sales or not, always thank me for my purchase, loyalty, whatever, and (if appropriate) invite me to return. Sights, sounds, and smells make a difference! Keep your place clean and your displays neat and interesting. Use inviting colors in customer waiting areas. If music is played, make it appropriate in volume and content. (Please do not play “Flight of the Bumble Bee” in a doctor’s waiting room. Tension is already high enough.) And by all means, don’t forget about the smell! Being an essential oils enthusiast, I am very sensitive to the smell of things. I have walked into so many businesses, particularly in older building, that just smelled old and musty. I could hardly wait to leave.
I hope this helps. I actually enjoyed this little exercise. It gave me food for thought!
Great input! Any business owner &/or employee(s) could really benefit from the comments that have been made. Guess what – it’s all almost entirely free or inexpensive, too!!