Have you been asked this at the supermarket checkout recently? I have, just about every time in recent months. Either how’s your day been? or got much on for the day? if you are shopping early in the morning.
I don’t know these people. Okay I am a supermarket slut, I shop around and go to two or three different supermarkets each week.
These checkout people are not my friends. My day is my business. My plans for the rest of the day are none of their business.
How dare they think they can ask me personal questions so that they can tick off a KPI set by the managers at supermarket HQ.
But they are only doing their job so I guess it is not their fault.
Every time I am asked one of these scripted questions I am reminded of the opportunity we have in small business, the opportunity to be authentic, genuinely in the moment with our customers. We don’t run off scripts. We see our customers as people, friends often, rather than another number against which we are measured on how we are doing our job.
Occasionally I am shocked by an unscripted supermarket experience. It scares me actually because what if they do let their employees live like real people and have real conversations at the checkout with customers. We in small business would be in some trouble then.
I was in a Coles supermarket just before Easter looking for the chocolate-coated marshmallow hot cross buns they have had for years. Sadly I could not find them and went with a four pack of marshmallow eggs instead. At the checkout, with this as my only purchase, the Coles employee ignored the script completely. I guess you don’t need a bag she said with a smile. I agreed and blushed slightly having been caught out. They are my absolute Easter favourite she said looking side to side as if this was a forbidden conversation. Seriously. So I opened the packet and offered her one. She took it with pleasure – I still had three and that would get me home.
This was an unexpected experience from a Coles checkout person. Completely off script. I find myself thinking about it because it is the kind of natural and personal experience I want to see delivered from the counters and shop floors of my newsagencies.
While we compete with supermarkets and other big corporate businesses that can only mange through KPIs and scripts, we need to remember that being authentically personal is an important point of difference for us. We need to also understand that this only works if it is natural. Finding the balance between natural friendliness and remaining focused on work can be a challenge.
What we must avoid is controlling our employees. Them being themselves, if we hire and manage well, is a valuable asset for us.
I too hate being drawn into meaningless conversation while I am shopping. I am very aware to give polite, friendly greetings to our customers at the counter, but also be ready to return the chat if a customer instigates it. As we build regular customers, the chat is genuine and makes our job so enjoyable.
Go into 1st Choice and the person at the register even if they are serving somebody turns around and aks how are you. It is plain rude as there is no consideration for the person they are serving and we have stopped going there because of this false greeting they are told to do.
How’s your day been What the hell is wrong with that.What are your staff TOLD to do
“Got much on today?” Actually been asked that many times in different stores. What the heck has happened to cause this?… trendy yoof culture.
So tempting to blurt out my latest kinky fetish out loud in reply, just to put them off. Finish it off with, “Wanna join the club!”
Will that put them off? Nooooo.
I think asking “much going on today” is a bit out of the box and can be taken in different ways at least it is interaction. If the staff member is genuine then I have to applaud the effort by the staff member.
If it is done by rote, which I suspect it is judging by the number of identical comments I receive on the rare occasion I go into a supermarket then it is fairly transparant and loses credibility.
I have some young staff still at school working for us on weekends and it is real lottery in terms of getting them to come out of their shell and look customers in the face when dealing with them. I know it can be daunting for some and even when they are trying it is obvious they are a little uncomfortable sometimes. I have noticed that most of them come of out their shells somewhat the more they engage and come to enjoy the interaction as much as my customers do. If as a customer we choose to ignore them or not engage then all we are doing is making their job harder and underlining their discomfort.
jeez mark, get over it. Its not that bad.
We need to remember that being authentically personal is an important point of difference for us
I agree Mark, being genuine and knowing our customers is vital to our business, but sometimes the rote phrases pop out automatically.
Better to say something than to be seen as sullen and uninterested.
Teenage employees especially sometimes need to be given a stock of acceptable greetings and thank yous to enable them to engage at all, especially the shy ones.
Eventually they loosen up and become more genuine. Personally I find customer banter easy and natural, but not everyone is the same 😉
I am one of those who thinks this post is a little overboard. I once worked in a retail environment and always asked people how there day has been or what the plans were. Working at a checkout can be quite boring and I quite enjoyed an actual, genuine chat with the customer while I scanned and packed. Nothing I said was scripted… I guess it’s in the delivery of each assistant you meet. I don’t think its just newsagents that are able to give a personal service when it comes to sincerly asking how a persons day has beeen.
There are too may pitfalls in any opening question (unless you know the customer well). I find a simple “hello” is a good opener – with most customers, a smile and “hello” will lead to a pleasant conversation while you help them. You can then easily drop upsell into the conversation without sounding like you were trained to sell fries with everything!
Coles use mystery shoppers to check compliance with company initiatives such as welcome note, farewell, cleanliness of register area, dress standard, name badge, speed and efficiency, bag usage (multiple items per bag and cold with cold etc). As these can be at any stage of the day or night, it becomes drilled into them to follow the company line. This does not make them automatons or show a lack of a personality, they are merely following guidelines and procedures as set out by their employer. Coles staff are people too.
These checkout people are not my friends. My day is my business. My plans for the rest of the day are none of their business.wow got up on the wrong side today did we
hehe P, it does sound that way.
Sounds to me like you and supermarket personnel all do the same as I do, try to be polite and engaging. But as you know Mark, if the customer is not in the mood, saying nothing can be best!
P ,i have to say i agree with you , people would be winging if they didn’t get asked the question .
I suspect the people who think this post is over the top have not read what I wrote carefully. Here’s the core point I tried to make: big business retailers give their people scripts and measure them by them. We in small business can engage in genuine dialogue with customers. I prefer the latter.
I do catch myself now and again providing the same greeting to two or three customers in a row and hate it when I do this. It does sound a rote greeting even if it is not.
Genuine interaction is usually possible by noting things such as sports club colours, motorcycle gear (I ride so usually get a good chat with this one), large card purchases (wow, you,re in for a busy week) or any thing you can notice that will interest your customer and letting the customer take it from there.
One big no no though is to hold up following customers in a queue by chatting for the sake of it. Greet, interact while processing the transaction then thank the customer and keep things moving. Its pointless being one customers best friend and at the same time alienating the next 3 or 4 in the queue.