A warm smile is the universal language of kindness.
Be Kind
I just wanted to share some words that my friend Heather wrote. Heather writes at www.thenheathersaid.com and the original post she wrote was about how to deal with mishaps while traveling. What to do when you miss your connecting flight, your flight is delayed, etc. Making the best of a bad situation is always hard, but she has some great tips to get you through without having more than a 90 second freak out. Things like planning for the worst and expecting the best, and not being mean to people are things that some may think of as obvious. But the last thing she mentions is to be kind. Even though her advice is based on experiences at an airport, I find that it is relevant in any situation where you are dealing with a customer service issue. Like retail.
retail: (noun) the sale of goods to ultimate consumers, usually in small quantities (opposed to wholesale).
Since I have a retail based job, and happened to have recently heard about a really rude customer that was in over the weekend, I thought I would share this. Here is what Heather wrote:
BE KIND. Have you ever worked a job in customer service? Remember those days where every single customer is a complete jerk. Go ahead and assume that whomever you are approaching for help has just trumped your worst day working at The Gap or Applebees. While a $40 sweeter or $8 burger and fries would make Scrooge flip his lid if they weren’t exactly what he wanted, please imagine what goes on when people are spending hundreds of dollars on travel arrangements.
The people who hold the “getting to your destination magic” have probably been screamed at, cursed at, threatened, overheard mumbles of name calling, and still had to go about their work without strangling anyone. Being kind helps- and it doesn’t just help you to get to where you want to be, it helps them to do their best, to improve their day, to carry on in their life with out wanting to hit someone in the face with a clip board.
Remember the last time a stranger asked you a genuine question and took the 90 seconds to really listen to the answer. Ask questions. Be genuine. Listen with sincerity. Compliment. Encourage. Smile. Change the world.
Please take Heather’s advice and show some love to your customer service representative. The last paragraph is my favorite. A smile, compliment, or any other genuinely kind action really can turn around a bad day - yours or mine.
Oh, and go check out the rest of Heather’s post here. :)
