Had to run to the local grocery store at 7:30 this morning for a gallon of milk.  My wife has to have milk in her coffee and we were out.  I know, you’re thinking what a great husband I am for doing this, but the story is about an interesting customer service lapse that happened when I was ready to pay for my milk.  A simple sentence that was uttered by the cashier that had the potential to do great harm to her employer.

It’s obvious that the grocery store isn’t ready for customers at 7:30 on a Saturday morning.  They were busy stocking shelves and everything was a bit of a mess.  But that’s okay with me.  At least they were open and I could get the milk and get back home quickly.

When I approached the check out area, there was no one there.  Not a single cashier.  I stood there for a few minutes, looked around the store, and did not see anyone.  I saw the door to the office area up front was open with a light on, so I thought I would stick my head in the door and see if I could get someone to check me out.  It was empty too.

As I wandered back toward the 10 or so empty check out lanes, I saw an employee making her way towards me.  I began to walk towards her.  As I get within a few feet of where she was headed, she looked at me rather disturbed and barked out that the light was on at the cash register she was walking towards.

She did not say anything else.  She did not say I’m sorry you had to wait.  Or, I can help you over here.  Or how are you this morning.  She simply pointed out to me that there was a light on at a particular cash register.  Almost as if to say why are you walking around looking for someone to help you… why didn’t you wait patiently until I noticed you?

Now maybe I’m over-reacting a little.  Or maybe not.  If I felt as though I was being scolded by the cashier, maybe you would have had that same feeling were you greeted by this woman whose only communication to you was that a light was on at a certain cash register.  Especially if you heard the tone and saw the bothered look on her face.

She had a perfect opportunity to take a customer who may have been frustrated with having to wait and settle them down.  I was not the least bit frustrated by having to wait for a few minutes, but now I am frustrated by this internally focused employee who was apparently inconvenienced by having to stop whatever project she was working on and take money from a customer.

The point I’m trying to make with this story is that little things matter when trying to serve customers.  The tone of voice.  The expression on a face.  A friendly greeting.  An awareness of the customer experience and a sincere expression of wanting to make it as great as possible.  And of course what is said is very important too.

What is the great harm to her employer I spoke of in the opening paragreph?  If I had just moved to the area, and that had been the first time I visited this store, I may have considered taking any future business elsewhere.  I wonder how much business has been lost by companies who have great products and prices and are less than friendly to their customers?