It’s well documented that helping others, smiling, giving the best possible service we can to others increases our positive mental health.
This is easy when we feel valued by our employers. It’s a natural reaction when a customer asks for help or raises an issue which could impact the business/other customers. But what about if we don’t feel valued or empowered by our employers? We’re already in a negative outlook situation. Can we automatically switch on the positivity and charm to help others?
Clearly for the two floor assistants in a reputed high end retail chain of grocers I encountered over the weekend, they proved that some people can’t automatically be positive/helpful when they don’t feel valued….
I noticed a smashed bottle of whiskey in the drinks area. Broken glass was spread across the floor. Being a busy Saturday morning, there were many children out with their families – a nasty accident was clearly likely as was a law suit for the shop. I saw two assistants talking nearby and raised the issue – neither said thank you for the ‘heads-up’ even when the customer who had knocked it over came back after failing to find someone to tell and apologised, the two were uninterested.
I wonder if their day might have gone better had they exercised good customer service with a smile? After all ‘It’s not things in themselves that upsets us, but how we look at those things’ Epictetus – Greek Slave circa 55AD – still true today, don’t you agree?
Jane James's Consultancy Limited 