For consideration
I ask all readers to consider this situation and think for yourselves about what you would do. Over the weekend, the team discussed customers' rudeness when greeted. The team makes eye contact, smiles, and clearly acknowledges customers, but their efforts go unnoticed. Customers either ignore the team outright or, worse, make eye contact but don't say hello back or smile. As an aggressive and outspoken person, I don't react kindly to this disrespectful, rude behavior. My reaction is to raise my voice or position myself where you have to acknowledge me. Not everyone is willing to take such action.
I understand that the typical greeting custom in the U.S. has become cliché and routine. Customers may feel that, in order to protect themselves from making purchases, it is best not to acknowledge the sales team. As if somehow being rude is a tactical move against the aggressive sales pitch. Why then walk into a store to look around? You don’t walk into a lion’s cage just to see the lion with the tactic of, if you ignore it, it won’t kill you. Also, if you just want to look at merchandise, that is completely acceptable, understood, and encouraged; what is not is being cautious.
In my previous post, I discussed the importance of making eye contact and smiling when greeting customers. I mentioned how this behavior usually promotes reciprocity from customers. I will always advocate this behavior and practice, but I will add a caveat: I will never excuse or dismiss boorish behavior from customers. There is no excuse, in my opinion, for being nasty toward anyone working in a service capacity. Even when the service person is rude to me. I have a way to deal with those situations: I discontinue doing business with the company. Cottage Inn Pizza has not seen me or received any money from me since the early 2000s; my children still remark about that.
How does one working in service address rude customers? Every situation is case by case. I live by the adage that behavior is behavior received. In some cases where a customer has ignored my greeting, even after I ruled out that they didn't see or hear me, I ignore them back and pass them on to another associate. I do caution others from doing what I have done. What works for me may not work for you. To stay on the safe side, for these incidents, I recommend the following:
continue to be of assistance to them and other customers - you never know what someone is going through or has experienced before walking into your place of business
be alert and mindful of their body language and facial expressions - customers are feeling overwhelmed about current consumerism (I know, why did they come into the store if they didn’t want to buy or be greeted) and be defensive- it’s okay
Be open to giving them another chance; some customers do not enter with the intention of being rude. Some are just focused on other things and mean no disrespect
If you feel strongly that you cannot assist the customer, allow teammates to assist the customer - I employ this practice often, as certain customers are not receptive to me but are toward my coworker, and there is no loss when this happens
Be patient, breathe, and carry on - sans someone being verbally/physically assaulting toward you, we are providing a service which is a business; it is not personal, it is a business
We as a society need to bring back manners, in my view. There is no reason not to have manners. Being rude serves no purpose.
