Picture this: I am wandering around the gigantic wal-mart store trying to find one silly little item -a bag of wrapped caramels for making the most amazing dessert- and I can’t find them. I wander in the baking isle, to no avail. So I walk all the way over to the other side of the store to look in the candy isle, again no luck. So, I decide to walk all the way back to the backing isle to look closer, sure that I missed them! Nope! Ok, by now I have reached half of my daily step goal. It is time to look for a wal-mart associate in the cute blue vest.
There is no one working in this store. I am searching…seriously, no one! I found one person that I thought could help me, but they looked at me and ran in the other direction. Argh!! I did eventually find the candy, in a separate seasonal isle, with NO help from any associate. Why is this so hard?
What happened to customer service? Remember when you walked into a store and someone asked how they could help you? I can’t remember the last time someone asked me that – and the wal-mart greeter does not count because they only say hello and not how can I help you? It is harder and harder to find companies with great customer service standards.
There are some organizations that have customer service down. The first one that I think of is chick-fil-a. I love going there because I feel like they actually care about me. Isn’t that strange? I have been told that any employee who does not meet their customer service standards is let go. I don’t know if that is true, but they are doing something right!!
There was a time that I could go into the big box home improvement stores and employees would be stopping me every few minutes to see if I need anything. Recently, I go in and I can hear crickets chirping! What happened?
When did we become so focused on everything BUT helping each other? Is it the electronic age of handheld devices that has caused this disconnect? Remember when we used to talk to our neighbors? Do you know everyone in your neighborhood? I did when I grew up! Not anymore. We have become so impersonal, both with customer service and daily life.
I challenge us all to connect with one new person each day. Ask a retail employee how their day is going, or ask a neighbor how their kids are doing. Reach out! Maybe together we can bring back customer service and help each of us who need to connect with others Maybe we can be the Next Greatest Generation!