This morning in the hotel gift shop where I’m a cashier, a guy was buying AA batteries. He was a little taken aback by the price of hotel gift shop batteries, but recovered by telling a little story about batteries:
“You know, I saw a thing on TV the other day, where they took apart a regular 6-volt battery – and there were about 32 of these little AA batteries inside it.”
“Wow.” (“What? What’s a 6-volt battery? It feels like once upon a time I knew. Why is he telling me this?”)
“So, a 6-volt battery costs about $8 – and it has about 32 of these inside.”
“32?!” (“Oh, he really still is complaining about the cost of these batteries.”)
(As he walks towards the door.) “Yeah, it’s got me wanting to take one of those 6-volt batteries apart and see what really is in there.”
“Yeah, now you’ve got me curious.” (“What’s a 6-volt battery? This guy obviously has too much time on his hands.”)
So, was my little conversation with this customer “authentic”? On one level – the content level – obviously not. On the content level, my few words to this guy were about as full of B.S. as you can get.
But on another level I was completely authentic: I wanted him to go out the door of my shop feeling good – good about the little conversation he just had, and good about himself. There were a variety of things I could have said that would not have had the desired effect of him walking out feeling good (not including ones that would probably have gotten me fired).
Or I could have just stared at him blankly – a response I have experienced many times from cashiers when I have tried to make small talk.
In the world of comedy improv, they talk about the “Yes, and…” principle: you take what the other person hands you and try to do something with it. If the other person, with no prop in their hands but thin air, makes the gesture of literally handing you something and says,
“Man, this coffee pot is hot – ouch!”, you might say things like:
“Oh, man, this is hot – think I’ll put it on this
“Yeah
You could say clever things that might get a quick laugh, like “That’s not a coffee pot, it’s a beaver - he’s cute” or “What? You don’t have anything in your hands” – either of which leaves the scene with no place to go and your fellow scene-player feeling completely helpless (and betrayed).
So, what does all this have to do with good customer service? If you want to offer exceptional customer service (and make your own day go faster and be more fun), you learn how to take whatever the customer hands you and do something with it – preferably something that leaves them feeling listened to, valued, interesting. You don’t want to give them some awkward or disinterested response that leaves them feeling awkward or stupid or irrelevant or boring.
While I enjoy making my own little jokes, I value much more highly cracking up over my customers’ jokes. Most customers love it if you play with them. I want them to feel funny, clever, witty – which they often are.
To do this requires being flexible and on your toes. Even if you have (in a store that is not real busy) been completely daydreaming or pouring your attention into your laptop computer (one of the perks of working for peanuts in this hotel gift shop is that I actually get to do this), you need to jump to and not only give your total attention to this customer, but be ready to really engage with them.
“What kind of response would I want in this kind of situation?” And, generally, interested is the baseline.
One day at my cashier job in a gift shop at the Biltmore estate, this old farmer guy – there on a tour and looking hopelessly awkward and out-classed by the lavish surroundings – started telling me about his farm. I know at least as little about farming as about 6-volt batteries and did not understand most of what he was saying. But I kept paying really good attention and responding as if what he was saying had real importance and dignity – which it did. When he reached his huge hand over the counter to shake mine and to so-sincerely thank me for listening, I imagined that his weather-beaten eyes were almost moist. Mine were.
If the customer has, for whatever reason, begun to pour out some story about how frustrating their trip was – or about their dying mother that they have come to visit (I actually got one like this), then jocular or simply attending won’t work and you have to go to empathetic – even if semi-sincere is the best you can muster:
“Oh, I’m sorry.” (“Why the hell are you telling this to a cashier?”)
Either of these requires that you be quick on your feet – and paying really good attention to whatever that customer presents.
Or you can look at them like you are simply waiting for them to get the hell out of your store, so you can go back to telling your co-worker what happened on American Idol last night, or back to your daydreaming or solitaire on your laptop.
