Serve the one you’re with!

Everyone has heard the expression ‘love the one you’re with’, but I think it is high time that retailers started to ‘serve the one you’re with’.

I am talking about the age old irritation of being put second when you are in a store or restaurant, by the person that WAS serving you.

It can be something as small as a phone call and sometimes (and in my opinion far more worryingly) a request from a senior manager – but each interruption is not just annoying, but incredibly rude!

The other day I had queued for some time in a well known fashion retailer. Arms filled with clothing, I waited patiently until I finally reached the front of the queue and then suddenly....the phone rang. I had expected the Sales Assistant to ignore it – but to my horror she picked it up! I then waited a further 5 minutes whilst she responded to what appeared to be a product search from another store in the chain. Whilst I appreciate the ‘other’ store was trying to help THEIR customer – it did not exactly ‘enhance’ my experience!

As I stood there – waiting and wanting to give my hard earned cash to this retailer and feeling more and more that maybe I should ditch my purchase and go elsewhere – it made me wonder why we, as consumers, put up with this kind of behaviour?

Why are so many people in the service industry so quick to forget the person actually standing in front of you? I was always taught that the person in front of you – who is actually waiting to give you money and is also known as the ‘Customer’ is the most important person that there is. I am not sure if it is today’s digital age, with the increases in technology and ‘now’ culture, that means everyone seems to forget the old fashioned style of ‘serving the one you’re with’ rather than chasing potential custom of the future.

Likewise on a recent trip to the Country’s biggest Supermarket, I was somewhat bemused to be unable to get to some fresh produce, as a group of suits (a swarm? a stampede?) talked to each other about the visual look of the stand and the best selling lines it contained. As a customer it continually frustrates me that I am ‘sidelined’ for a store walk through by the management team. I cannot be alone in feeling like this.

When I was an Area Manager, I remember, on a store visit, talking to one of my Managers at the Till Point. To my horror, as a customer approached and she started to ring through their purchases, she continued our conversation. I immediately cut her off and saying, “I will let you serve your customer”, I walked away. When I spoke to her about her behaviour after the customer had left, she seemed to think that OUR conversation had been more important?

So – it seems to me that putting the customer first, is an attitude and culture that NEEDS to come from the top. In other words, don’t answer the phone when you are serving, don’t talk to other staff and ensure that you ALWAYS make your customer feel that they are your Number One priority!

If more retailers can remember that the customer is the person who pays their wages and is the reason for their job and if Management can create a business where they train their teams to maximise face-to face sales – we may just get there!

So remember – If you don’t ‘serve the one you’re with’ – they may choose to be ‘served’ by someone else...