Like many people, I have been in the customer service field in one way or another my entire life. My first job was at the age of 13 when I worked at Wendy's and I know sometimes my "customer skills" were not all that refined at that time. I then went on to my second job at Food City. Remember Food City? I think I'm dating myself here. lol. Being a teenage/young adult cashier who was full of piss n' vinegar I'm sure it didn't get much better. I was never one to turn the other cheek and bite my tongue when it came to an abusive customer, and yes, there were plenty of them. As I matured I learned to become more "political", bite my tongue more often and find a way to smile through an unpleasant experience dealing with a not so amiable customer. Don't get me wrong, I still find a way to speak my mind, I've just honed some new skills on how to make it less abrasive. lol.
Over the years many managers and supervisors would remind me that "the customer was always right" and every time I would hear it the hairs on the back of my neck would stand up. It drove me crazy to "lose" to a customer who was clearly in the wrong, or have to apologize for something that was not my fault. It's funny that now that I'm all grown up I have pretty high expectations for the service that I receive. I am certainly not unreasonable by any means, but I expect a cashiers attention when checking through my groceries, I expect her to NOT be smacking on her gum (gum was a BIG no-no when I was a cashier), I expect exceptional service when dining out, I expect the prices to be right and if something scans wrong I expect the store to understand their "Scanning Code of Ethics" policy and not make me "remind" them, I expect a business email to be responded to in a timely manner, I expect my phone call to be returned. I expect to be treated with respect and common decency.
In the world of social media there are far more outlets to express yourself these days than when I was a snot-nosed teenager. I can only imagine the things I may have posted to my facebook status if it was around back then. But what amazes these days is that there are mature adults some of whom are business owners who still think they are teenagers airing their dirty laundry all over the internet. And not only do they air their dirty laundry but they post complaints about customers. It dumbfounds me that grown adults can be so oblivious to the detrimental effects that may have. Negativity breeds negativity and if your posts are negative, argumentative and down right nasty, that is what will surround you. Even if you think this information is "private" someone, somewhere is reading it and it certainly won't breed positivity. Furthermore, it says an awful lot about a person if everything they post is adverse and antagonistic.
As a business owner I am very conscious about what I post through social media. I certainly don't want someone to google "Kerri-Lyn Cuppage" (come on - you know you want to google it now lol)and stumble across a bunch of derogatory and tasteless comments I have made. I don't think it would bode well for business. lol. But then, I have never been one to air my dirty laundry on facebook. I have written other personal blogs about our struggle with infertility and allowed people a glimpse into what life with infertility is like, and I am proud of those blogs, although I no longer write there (I should though), and wouldn't change any of that.
To sum it all up, to all the managers out there who told me to bite my tongue and the customer was always right... I get it...you were right... without our customers (even the nasty ones) we wouldn't be in business. There are many colourful people in this world and through life experiences and maturity I have found a way to manoeuvre my way around the varying personalities and I am able to appreciate my customers in all their shapes and forms.
Over the years many managers and supervisors would remind me that "the customer was always right" and every time I would hear it the hairs on the back of my neck would stand up. It drove me crazy to "lose" to a customer who was clearly in the wrong, or have to apologize for something that was not my fault. It's funny that now that I'm all grown up I have pretty high expectations for the service that I receive. I am certainly not unreasonable by any means, but I expect a cashiers attention when checking through my groceries, I expect her to NOT be smacking on her gum (gum was a BIG no-no when I was a cashier), I expect exceptional service when dining out, I expect the prices to be right and if something scans wrong I expect the store to understand their "Scanning Code of Ethics" policy and not make me "remind" them, I expect a business email to be responded to in a timely manner, I expect my phone call to be returned. I expect to be treated with respect and common decency.
In the world of social media there are far more outlets to express yourself these days than when I was a snot-nosed teenager. I can only imagine the things I may have posted to my facebook status if it was around back then. But what amazes these days is that there are mature adults some of whom are business owners who still think they are teenagers airing their dirty laundry all over the internet. And not only do they air their dirty laundry but they post complaints about customers. It dumbfounds me that grown adults can be so oblivious to the detrimental effects that may have. Negativity breeds negativity and if your posts are negative, argumentative and down right nasty, that is what will surround you. Even if you think this information is "private" someone, somewhere is reading it and it certainly won't breed positivity. Furthermore, it says an awful lot about a person if everything they post is adverse and antagonistic.
As a business owner I am very conscious about what I post through social media. I certainly don't want someone to google "Kerri-Lyn Cuppage" (come on - you know you want to google it now lol)and stumble across a bunch of derogatory and tasteless comments I have made. I don't think it would bode well for business. lol. But then, I have never been one to air my dirty laundry on facebook. I have written other personal blogs about our struggle with infertility and allowed people a glimpse into what life with infertility is like, and I am proud of those blogs, although I no longer write there (I should though), and wouldn't change any of that.
To sum it all up, to all the managers out there who told me to bite my tongue and the customer was always right... I get it...you were right... without our customers (even the nasty ones) we wouldn't be in business. There are many colourful people in this world and through life experiences and maturity I have found a way to manoeuvre my way around the varying personalities and I am able to appreciate my customers in all their shapes and forms.
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