Customer Service Is Key

As a people person I love going to stores or other public places where the people are just damn friendly. Currently the best place to go to get treated like you're awesome is Whole Foods. I love that the consumer world is realizing out important customer service is and trying to bring everybody back to basics. It's a much more difficult task that one might think. As someone who works in retail it's a constant struggle to maintain that happy, friendly atittude with people, especially when they come in with their game faces on. Today, however, was a lot of fun. I'm thinking it was a combination of good Karma and the fact that I probably never stopped smiling. It was all genuine too. It's hard to keep that facade up all the time, but when you do it often enough it really does become real. Smiling is infectious. Being nice is infectious. That phrase, "kill 'em with kindness" is completely true. When a customer comes into the bookstore and is rude or mean right off the bat, the easiest way to diffuse their fire is by being as nice as possible. I still don't understand peoples' need to come to a retail store to yell. What's the appeal in being mean to someone when you come in with no information about a book you're looking for? What's the point of getting angry when the book is not in stock and that person has waited until the day before to start looking for it? Books aren't necessities, they're luxuries, so saying you "need" it right then or that day is kind of perverse. Why not be congenial towards one another? It just makes you feel better when you smile. I know, people probably think I can be too upbeat, but there's no use in trying to think badly about everything. It's all going to work out. Basically be the customer you would want to serve. If you're going to be an asshole to someone whose job is to serve you, then expect them to help you as little as possible.