This past weekend my son got another opportunity to see firsthand what customer service is like. A six-hour shift bagging groceries at Hy-Vee to raise money for his baseball team. It’s simple – the money our program raises with tips from customers is the fundraising money we walk away with. Better learn how to put on that charm 😃.
In six hours at a grocery store you tend to see a lot, including customers of all different personalities. You have some that clearly say from their facial expression, hurry up and bag my groceries so I can get out of here. Some are smiling the entire time enjoying seeing a 10-year-old work hard to try to determine whether he could fit another canned food item in an already heavy bag (good lesson of double bagging). Others wanted to chat the entire time and provided an opportunity for us to talk about our baseball team, what position he plays, when the season starts, etc.
This type of customer service experience can be so valuable at such a young age. No matter the industry we’re in, in a client facing role or more back office, or what our client profile looks like, there are some customer service best practices that apply across the board. Here’s a few best practices we noticed this weekend in our game of Tetris with groceries:
People want to be engaged in different ways: some people simply want you to put their groceries in bags, set them in the cart, and let them be on their way without talking while others want as much engagement at the register as possible. Being able to read others and gather intel on what they want out of the interaction can be key to respecting the customer’s wants. The ability to read cues off others to pick up on how they want to engage takes a lot of practice and shows the importance of building on the skill of attentiveness.
Tone matters: when the energy was low (I get it 6 hours is a good amount of time for a 10-year-old) the thank you didn’t quite land the same way. Others can feed off your energy and while the words may be the right words, if the tone doesn’t match the intent of the words, most is lost. Simple comments of hi and thank you deserve a smile and some energy to bring more to the experience. Word of advice, if you’re like my son and you feel the thank you getting flat, grab some food.
Work ethic always plays a part: work ethic needs to show up consistently because when it doesn’t, it’s noticeable. Whether we think it’s fair or not, there will continue to be an elevation of expectations from customers on how fast and how well something is done. There’s a wide range of tools and resources to help evolve speed and effectiveness but no matter if you’re bagging groceries or implementing an AI solution, the need for a good work ethic will never go away.
Lean on a team mindset: customer service has an element of dependency. For my son part of his dependency was how good the cashier was or how well I helped when the line got busy. For others it may be a reliance on tech teams, behind the scenes number crunchers, communication specialists, etc. that are all a part of the client experience. You can’t control everything, but you can help foster a team environment. This team environment can help every person that has something to do with the customer to feel accountable and engaged in the overall success. The team mindset lets each of our unique specialties show but also shines a light on how much better we can be together.
I’m grateful to his baseball organization and Hy Vee for these fundraising experiences. These experiences provide a different opportunity to grab perspective on what customer service looks like. Customer service is an art form, and it takes a long time and a lot of experience to craft your unique way to make an impact on customers whoever they may be. What would be your top 3 customer service best practices?