Reader’s Digest has been running a series of articles about secrets that people who work in the professional, sales and service industry have been keeping from the public. Recent examples included food servers and ER Staff.
Some of the secrets were new to me and other information I’ve known for years.
I thought it only fair to come up with my own list which I have compiled for people who work in the sales and service industry
Readers… You have my permission to forward this column to Reader’s Digest.
Debi Drecksler’s Secrets For The Sales and Service Industry:
Food Industry
- Be a polite and attentive food server and it almost guarantees a big fat tip even if you are a bumbling klutz.
- If your bathrooms are disgusting, I will not eat in your restaurant because I will be worried what is going on in the kitchen. Employees…If you don’t wash your hands and I see this… I will report it to your manager.
- If the order comes out less than satisfactory, (ex: overcooked food ) correct the mistake without spending 5 minutes blaming it on the cooks. I don’t care who messed up the order, I am not angry…just fix it…I am hungry!
- Fast food workers..If I see you handling money and go back to preparing food without washing your hands or putting on a clean pair of gloves, I will not place an order. If your employees go on a break (many of them sit outside smoking in full view of customers) and they come back in without washing their hands, I will never eat there again.
Retail Sales
- If I come in to buy a product or appliance and give you my budget, do not ignore what I have told you and try to upgrade me to a more expensive model. It annoys me and I will most likely leave and go shop with your competition.
- If I walk into a store and you see me (or walk by me ) and choose not to acknowledge me, I will walk out and shop elsewhere.
- If you look like you rolled out of bed and came to work with greasy hair and/or dirty rumpled clothes, I will not approach you for help. I will walk over to the “clean and neat” salesperson. p.s. Notice I said clean, not pretty or handsome.
Debi’s Pet Peeves
- Dirty, scuffed shoes on a salesman wearing a suit.
- Filthy nails on a food server or salesperson.
- Salespeople chewing gum and cracking it in a customer’s face.
- Salespeople standing around talking to each other and ignoring customers.
- Food server with long hair not tied back. (Bring back hair nets!)
My Best Advice:
First impressions can make it or break it for a business. Don’t put a hostess up front in a restaurant who isn’t friendly, a greeter in a store who doesn’t smile or a receptionist in an office who is rude. Customers won’t always complain… They just don’t return!
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i use a combo of shea butter and aloe vera moisturizer. Works great. I use shea butter on my lips, around my eyes and nose (dry areas), My father swears by vasoline.
p.s. I dropped your name on Gina's post, Barb. ;)
Hi Debi,
You got it. Wish they did. I’m a little mixed about #1 on retail. Budgets are great and it’s important to have one. However, sometimes it’s not realistic. If you know you are going to spend 500 on a washer, then know what it is exactly when you go in. It’s not rocket science. Just about everything is listed on the Internet. Somethings here are grey areas. A wedding dress for example. It’s not just the dress, it’s everything that makes that dress. Each piece comes with a price tag. There are decisions to be made that make up the whole. So being realistic, who really knows what the end price is going to be? So, if I’m in the market, my consultant’s job is to give me all the info and let me make intelligent decisions. I can see right through an upgrade but get really pissed if they don’t give me all the info and I find out I could have had the BMW for a small amount more because of a special and my salesman didn’t tell me.
Happy shopping and eating!
MG
I agree with what you wrote about being annoyed if you are not told about specials. #1 under retail sales…Let me share a recent example. I found a dishwasher online…called the store…found out they had it in stock and went to purchase it. The saleslady knew what I came to buy but went on and on about models way out of my budget. I left and went to another store where I was able to purchase my dishwasher at the same price… and receive a rebate of $75!! It was a national rebate and the salesman was very surprised that the saleslady at the other store neglected to tell me about it. (She was too busy trying to upgrade me!)
That’s right, my example in the first sentence. My exception is when you may not know all the options. Options are an important part of any sale. The washer example I gave says that if you know what you want, then they should just stop there. When someone comes in a bridal store, everything down to the slip is important to the whole and people sometimes don’t realize that they have to consider all options. Some things don’t apply like others. I would ask if you were interested in seeing anything else when it comes to an appliance. If the answer is no, I wouldn’t pursue it any further. I would know instantly that it was a waste of my time and I wold understand that you know what you want.
In the defence of people who work on commission, it’s a hard way to make money. With the job shortage out there, it doesn’t hurt to be firm and polite at the same time. Everyone needs to eat. Business’s have set it up in a way that the person who sells, make the money or they’re gone. There is a nice way to sell and a pushy way. I like the soft sell. It’s more comfortable for everyone. Part of it is letting the person move that direction because they have been given neccessary info that helps them make educated decisions. That is the responsibility of the salesman. The consumer who comes into a business after doing all the research is a pleasure to work with. They come with an open mind and don’t feel like the salesperson is upselling. I personally think that commission sales is wrong on several levels worthy of talking about sometime.
Take care.
Commission only sales are a real challenge…especially these days!
One of your pet peeves is also one of mine. When my mother was alive, I used to go to a store near me to buy the expensive perfume she liked for birthdays, etc. It almost never failed that the trendy teen-aged salespersons ignored me and continued their very important chat while I stood at the counter, patiently waiting for one of them to get the product I wanted out of the case and let me buy it. I can only conclude that I wasn’t trendy or young enough. I dress up to go to the theatre or out to dinner, not to shop at the local mall. Anyway, that particular business is no longer in business and that mall is about to be taken over as a remote campus for the local junior college. I can’t imagine why.
With such a depressed economy, you would think businesses would be bending over backwards to provide outstanding customer service. Unfortunately, many businesses do not take the time to train their staff properly.
I have noticed a big difference in service as the unemployment rate increases. People want to hang onto their jobs. I also notice that the age increases. Not as many young people as I’m used to seeing. Now that I’m down in Florida, I see some different reference points. Friendlier people but I hear that the “Snow Birds” will be here in the fall/winter. I’ll be interested to see if there is a difference in service.
One of my peeves is the clerk who chats on the phone without acknowledging me and proceeds to ring up my transaction without breaking her conversation. I stop her and tell her “Forgive me for interrupting. I see that you’re busy, so I’ll just come back at another time” and leave. One gentleman informed me that he was “Talking to the boss.” I told him to “Tell the boss you’re talking to a customer who’s on her way out of his store.”
Be happy.
I agree with you 100%….