If companies want to create
atmospheres where customers can feel like complete human beings, people need to
be welcomed, not merely tolerated.
Because there’s nothing more demoralizing than being treated like an
inconvenient interruption. As if the person’s presence was interfering with the
receptionist’s ability to do their job.
And yet, it happens every day.
Employees treat customers like objects.
They get annoyed with our inability to
telepathically mind read their bullshit language and rituals. And as a result,
we’re made to feel guilty.
Like when we walk in the door five minutes before
closing, or when we use a coupon on the last possible day, or when we return a
faulty product, or when we request to stay within a certain budget.
The cashier
stares at us like we have two heads. Like we’ve accidentally mistaken them for
someone who cares.
Friends, the time has come to get more sophisticated about
human relationships. The business focus needs to be on truly serving people,
instead of merely doing a job for them.
I spent two years working in guest
service at a luxury hotel, and I’m infinitely grateful for that experience.
Because it schooled me in compassion.
It helped me accept that seriously bad
things happen to everybody, through no fault of their own, and that each
customer rests at the nexus of a vast number of interwoven causes and
conditions that influence their behavior, most of which are out of their
control.
And so, the last thing people need in that moment is guilt, contempt
or condescension.
They want care. They want people to say yes to them. They
want to be seen and heard and felt. And they want to be treated liked adults.
That’s sophistication. It’s not complicated, it’s merely calorie intensive.
LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Are you so wrapped up with your own tasks that you treat customers as obstacles?
LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For the list called, “99 Ways to Think Like an Entrepreneur, Even If You Aren’t One,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!
* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.
Never the same speech twice. Customized for your audience. Impossible to walk away uninspired.
Now booking for 2017-2018.
Email to inquire about fees and availability. Watch clips of
The Nametag Guy in action here!