by Amanda Morrissey (Customer Impact Editing manager)
It is officially the post-holiday season. Folks are returning to their regular schedules, taking down the holiday decorations, switching off the Christmas tunes, and in some cases, still sorting through all of the gifts they and their families received. Life is going back to “normal,” and all of the spirit and cheer of the holidays is being replaced by a return to the regular old daily grind. People are pushing the holidays out of their minds again for another 10 or 11 months. However, I think that one group of people deserves a special little pat on the back for all of their hard work during the holiday season, and that group is the retail employees. Since I have close family who works in retail, and also worked in retail myself for a time, I feel for these folks every year. I know the stress the holidays bring to their lives, and I know how it affects their families as well. Long hours, cranky customers in a hurry, messy stores…the list goes on and on for them.
Of course, not all retail employees can put on a cheerful face and provide “service with a smile” during those crazy days, but those who do really stand out. I encountered one such employee at my local Target just before Christmas. I was worn out from a day of shopping and looking for one last very particular gift for my parents, which I knew that the store carried. However, I couldn’t manage to find it on the shelves anywhere. I stopped a female employee to ask for her help, and she brushed me off and told me she didn’t think they had it. It was clear she was busy, but I was disappointed at the lack of concern. A few minutes later, I found another employee and asked him the same question. In contrast to the first employee, he was fantastic! He tried looking the item up on his scanner, but could not find it. He asked another employee, then volunteered to go to their computer at the front and look up the item for me, which he did while I waited. The employee came back to me and said they had them, but they were not on the shelves. He went out of his way to go into the back, find a box, bring it out to me, cut it open and hand me the product I wanted. And all of this while also being stopped by at least three other customers and answering questions for them as well. I could not thank that young man enough! I was truly amazed at how happy he was to help his customers, and I am certain that if I ever need anything at that store again, I will look for him specifically. His helpful attitude definitely changed my day for the better.
Have you ever had a customer service experience so positive that you wanted to let everyone know about it immediately? If so, where?
Featured Image by: FreeDigitalPhotos
