Thursday, March 29, 2012Can You Say "Thank You"?
Is "thank you" a lost phrase?
Has this happened to you recently? You were passing through the door of a public building and in a gesture of kindness you held the door for the next person behind you. And that person marched through without saying “Thank You”? Not only did they not say anything but you didn’t even receive a smile, a nod or acknowledgement of any kind. In fact they acted as if they were entitled to your servitude. If you felt annoyed you would be normal.
We want to be appreciated – especially when we go out of our way to show kindness to someone else. Often all it takes is a simple “thank you”. A “thank you” costs nothing yet it is given so seldom in earnest.
The best thing that you can do to improve your customer service is to say “thank you” to your clients. The cost is nothing. The return is huge. Consider that everyone wants to be acknowledged. Everyone wants to feel good about themselves. Saying thank you is the simplest way to do that. Yet many customer service people do not say thank you.
It seems strange yet many customer service people seem to expect to be thanked for doing their job – even when they snarl at you. They give you back your change and expect a thank you. Hey, that was my money that I gave you.
They seemed to miss the fact that the customer should be thanked for visiting their shop and spending money.
I believe that this is the result of entitlement mentality and poor customer service training.
The first might be the result of over indulgent parents and the second the fault of untrained retail managers.
It seems that rotten customer service has trained customers to expect lousy service and be overly polite to the servers.
What’s wrong with this scenario?
I’m all for treating people with respect. I believe that I do. And I expect to be treated as a valued customer when I’m spending my money.
How does your staff react when a customer walks in the door?
Damm! Another annoying customer.
Wonderful! Welcome to our shop, and thank you for your business.
George Torok Keynote Marketing Speaker Co-author of Secrets of Power Marketing Get your free copy of "50 Power Marketing Ideas" Power Marketing on FaceB
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