A Letter to Consumers

Everyone is human, yes even your favorite coffee shop barista, are humans have emotions. Whoa, concept I know! And from these emotions come good and bad days, smiles and frowns and even the occasional rude comment under the breath. Now as a consumer, you expect the apron wearing robot behind the counter to be completely and utterly perfect no matter your mood or how you treat them. Wait! How is that fair? More times than not, I have lost sales because the consumer comes into the store in a completely sour mood, and because I don't move fast enough or because I cannot offer the exact 'whatchamagizlleged' in 30 seconds that they are looking for then *I* am the bad guy, and I receive the complaints to *my* boss for doing exactly what my boss pays me to do!

Rewind

Try again.

If you, the consumer, are shopping, and the day is going down hill, pretend like you are at work. Smile, nod and above all BREATHE!!! Then ask for assistance, politely. I guarantee that you will receive better customer service and the smile you receive back will make your day just a bit brighter. If that store doesn't have the newest, shiniest 'whatchamiglezeleted' in stock, it is not the fault of the customer service person in front of you. Take another deep breath and move on. Somewhere I bet there is a study on stress that says this deep breathing will help you live longer too!

Woot! Now that you were not rude to that person in an apron, they will, in turn, be nice to the next customer that steps before them and it will continue to pay its self forward. Now you may ask why take the time to be nice, well because if they did have that 'whaztislete' and you were nice and friendly, they will move quicker to help you, be more responsive to your questions and concerns and may even let you know what has been said about it. If you were rude, they may say they don't have it at all, because they don't want to take the time out of their day to deal with your rudeness.

Make sense now?

This a complaint from across the board!

Really? Really? If you take a DVD out in your own home, then decide you don't want to watch it, would you toss it on the ground or put it back on the shelf? I would assume on the shelf, even if it isn't straight. Am I right? Well, treat others...? What I am trying to say is this: I understand that as a store clerk one of my paid duties is to keep my work area clean, however: We are not at home, you do not own anything until you pay for it so PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GREATNESS treat the store's things with a bit of respect.

AHEM, I am sorry about the rant. Yet, you know, I am right. I work to keep my store clean, to keep consumers smiling and to get my pay check, but walking around the store and finding a pile of things from ALL OVER THE STORE really gets my knickers in a bunch, and makes it hard to make consumers smile. Because I am no longer smiling. So I take a deep breath and grumble then play maid service. Now, back to section One, remember if the consumer treats the clerk with respect and a smile they get more? Well this is included. Majorly included.

ON THE SAME NOTE:

If you don't own it DON'T OPEN IT. No one wants to buy something someone else has manhandled. Opening and fiddling with merchandise is just as bad as stealing it. Really it is, ask any one that has worked retail. If you have kids, please teach by example! If you would like to see something in more detail, ask, normally it can be done or the clerk can and will answer any question you have (if you ask nicely). And if it cannot be opened then you're next option is the INTERNET. Oh wow, I bet that most of you have a smart phone and can 'google' it right then and there to get wonderful reviews and maybe even a demo video too!

Again I mean no offense, but so much money is wasted yearly by business (especially the smaller ones) because of unruly consumers who think it is their right to rip open packages, 'test' the product then NOT buy it. Now it's not salable and has to be dealt with by the business. Hmm, again just like stealing. Not salable, yet has to be dealt with.

We are all the same, we are all people. People whom have lives, who work, play, get mad and happy. We interact with each other on a daily basis, across the world, and more often than not your kind smile can make a whole world of difference in a persons day, and it can get you the results you need a lot faster than yelling or belittling. A polite word or question can also save you tons of headaches when dealing with your daily life problems, whether they are life altering or minor, especially when all you want is a swift response.

So I sign this letter to Consumers, with a warm ado, a smile and an apology for raising my voice, but sometimes attentions need to be grabbed and held.