Customer Service is King

One of my most memorable moments in retail was when I realized I had gone above and beyond a frustrated customer’s expectations. The department store that I worked at was one of those that offered many door buster sales and night owl specials so the hours were crazy. I remember coming into the store at 4:30 AM and there was line of customers that exceeded the employee numbers!The incident that I remember happened right after the busy holiday season and I know that all the staff was a little relieved to see the crowds die down.

I was going about my regular duties and manning the registers when I noticed an employee that was helping several people at once, leave to check if an item that one customer wanted was in the back. The employee began helping the other people at the same time and it appeared that they were multi-tasking. As I continued ringing people up I noticed that the woman was in the same area of the department store and was trying to get other employees who were walking by to help her because the employee that was originally helping her never returned. Many of the employees told her that they did not work in that department and that they would find the person who did. The woman became more and more angry and was on the verge of walking out, threatening that she would not give us her business again.

As soon as I finished ringing up my line of customers I addressed the woman and apologized for the lack of service. I got information on the item that she wanted from the back and promised that I would return in ten minutes and begged her to trust me. I even walked her as far as the door to the stock room so that I could garner some sort of trust after several employees not attending to her. I was nervous about finding the item because I was a cashier and had never even operated the rack that contained the clothes. I just prayed that I would understand the system quickly. Fortunately, I found the garment within ten minutes.

What shocked me was her reaction when I returned with the item that she needed. I was expecting her to still be angry and walk away as soon as she got what she needed. I had barely caught her before she walked out. Not only did she thank me, she also gave me a hug and filled out a positive comment card about the way that I addressed her and the manner in which I had spoken to her.

This reminded me, once again,  about the value of going above and beyond. Not only does it make your job easier by developing yourself, but it also just might save an angry customer’s business. I was again shocked to hear the woman tell me that this was for and event and because of my service, she would still give us her business. Had I gave up on her and let her walk out because she was upset, she might have never returned. Although it might be easier to avoid irate customers, there are ways to politely handle them and salvage their patronage.

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