Greetings Are Grating.

Enter just about any store these days and you're likely to hear someone posted at the door say, "Hello, how are you?" On the surface it seems friendly, but we all know that, just like the Mall Santa, this is simply this person's job. Is anyone fooled into thinking these people actually care how we are? 

Try telling them about one of your health problems sometime. They might even try to feign listening for a minute, that is of course, until someone else walks in behind you. Then they have to say "Hello, how are you?" to the person walking in. It's their job. And it's just as annoying as the stewardess telling each person leaving the plane, "goodby, goodbye, goodbye, now" To me, it's just an in-person form of spam. Thousands of people all get the same unsolicited message. 

The more jaded of us know that the ONLY reason for the "greeter" is that studies have shown that if each person is greeted at the door, shoplifting at that store drops.  Something to do with the psychology of shoplifting -- the shoplifter thinks that someone is always watching them if they are greeted at the door.

I for one would like to return to the good old days when someone who asked how you are, was someone who actually knew you, and was someone who actually cared. We could save the money spent on the greeter and put it into training for the salespeople. Even more annoying than the "greeter" is the uniformed salesperson. Ask them a question about a product and they read the box --the same box you've just read that didn't have the answer you needed -- which is why you asked them in the first place.

Maybe this is why online retailing is increasing every year by leaps and bounds: No annoying greeter, and the same level of help (none) that you get in stores.

Comments

[Greg Roy]

Do have her phone number by any chance?

[Gene Brady]

Hi, Greg, how are you?

A lot of these greeters during the holiday shopping season. Be careful out there...

This is why a company that does have great, genuine customer service, still a rarefied business trait, stands head and toes above their competition.

Companies that let their front-line people make customer-friendly decisions truly stand out. I had an experience like that with a waitress at Sweet Lorraine's restaurant in Livonia, Michigan. The food was good, but this waitress's service was superb. She went beyond waitressing, her customer service was transformative. Still talking about her two weeks later.