Customer Interaction

In the last two weeks, I worked over 126 hours. Dana sent me a link to a website called The Customer is Not Always Right. The last entry was focused on one particular customer. These three things have led to this particular entry.

I got a call several weeks ago from the District Manager asking me if I would be willing to work on my days off at a new, second store at Rockefeller Center in NYC. I, of course, said I would do it as long as I was needed. I also have been working at the first store in Rock Center. The 126 hours over the last two weeks was due to time put in at Newport Centre (my home store), Rockefeller Center and Rock II.

An Amazing Sale
We have a set of champagne flutes that we have been selling as a purchase-with-purchase deal. Buy two cards and get the set for $19.95. (Without cards, they cost $49.) They have not been moving well, so the company decided to sell them at $19.95 without the purchase of cards. This week they went to $14.99 without cards.

I was at Rock II on Thursday night, when a lady walked in. I approached her and told her about the card sale and the special price of the champagne flutes. One of the factors that makes it so difficult to sell the flutes at Rockefeller Center, is a lot of people are tourists. No one wants to lug a huge box of glasses all over the City. This is exactly what the lady said. I told her that I would ship them anywhere she wanted them. She began thinking out loud.

"I could give a set to Phyllis and her boyfriend of the month. Jo and her husband could use a set."

"What?" I asked, "Phyllis has a Flavor of the Week?"

"Yeah, actually, she does!" said the lady.

At just that time, her friend walked in to the store. My heart sank. I told the first lady, "I really wish your sensible friend hadn't come in just now."

She said, "Why do you think I'm not sensible?"

I said, "You were just about to buy 16 sets of champagne flutes. Everyone has that sensible friend who says, 'You don't need all those glasses.' I think you should get some anyway."

The two ladies discussed it a while and after assurances from me that I would ship them to Georgia, she said she would take six sets! As I began ringing her up, we chatted, and I explained that I was only helping out at this store, and that I usually work at an American Greetings store in New Jersey. She seemed to be thrilled with her purchase, and I seemed to thrilled that she was happy.

Her friend came to the register next, and said, "You should be happy that I'm buying this here, because I could get most of this sh!t in Chicago."

I said, "Ma'am, if we were at an American Greetings store in New Jersey, you could talk like that, but this is a Papyrus store in Manhattan. I'm going to have to ask you to keep that in mind." It was kind of exciting to challenge myself to sell some flutes, and then sell six sets in one pop.

I'm Cool, Too!
I had to take the trash out one night at Rock I. To do that, I had to go out on 6th Ave. and into 30 Rockefeller Center. Once inside the building, I waited with a maintenance guy for the service elevator. When the elevator doors opened, the maintenance man pushed his trash can onto the elevator and fist bumped the elevator operator. They presumably know each other, since they both work in the same building. It is amazing to me how quickly you begin to recognize people that work in the building, even if it is 30 Rockefeller Center. Anyway, when I saw the maintenance man and the elevator operator fist bump, I wanted in on that. When I pulled my cart onto the elevator, I raised my fist and it hung in the air. It took a couple of beats, but the elevator operator realized what I was doing and bumped! The maintenance guy just laughed as I explained, "I thought that was something I had to do to take a ride!"

The Time?
Papyrus, at least in my mind, is way more "buttoned up" than an American Greetings store. Papyrus stores are smaller, and time seems to run a little slower. People browse longer and spend more. With that short description in mind, a lady asked me at Rock I if I had the time time.

In American Greetings mode I gave what seemed to be a natural response. I asked her if she wanted the time in Eastern. I explained that I could quickly calculate the time in Central, Mountain or Pacific time if necessary. She chuckled and said she would prefer Eastern.

Oops, My Bad
This customer made me feel bad. I asked a gentleman if he would like a Precious Moments wind-up musical angel figurine. He said no, so I pushed a little more.

"It's only $9.95 since you have made some other purchases today."

"No, it reminds me of my first wife." oops! "She is dead." ouch!

Back Yard Syndrome
Two ladies walked into Rock II one evening, and one of them was almost shaking. She explained that she doesn't like heights, but had just come from the Top of the Rock. I asked her how it was, because I have never been up there.

"You sound just like me! We live 20 minutes from Alcatraz and I've never been there either!" she said.

"You go to Alcatraz and I'll go to the Top of the Rock. We can compare notes," I told her.

Directions?
A man walked into Rock II one afternoon. He asked if there was a bar in Rockefeller Center. I told him that I was sure there was, though I could not tell him where. I suggested that if there was no bar, there would be a restaurant on the Concourse level that should have alcohol. He thanked me and turned around to leave. He flipped back one more time and said, "It's probably pretty crowded right now, though, right?"

I wanted so badly to say, but didn't, that I could tell him if there was a bar in the area. I might even be able to tell you how to get there. But, there was just no way for me to tell him how many people were in the bar at this time.

I love my job for so many reasons, but the best part of my job is interacting with people who can appreciate my humor. It makes the day go by so much faster.

A Customer Called Carol

I was working on some paperwork behind the counter, but looked up as a lady made her way to the register. Squinting, she asked if we had any religious Christmas cards, "after all, Christ's birth is why we have Christmas in the first place. It would be nice if there were some cards that mentioned that."

I told her that I would have to go to the back room to get a couple of religious cards, and that I would be right back. As I walked to the back of the store, I thought about my beliefs about Christmas, and while I agreed with her, I felt myself being slightly irritated. I was irritated that she couldn't find a card among the ones we had out-that I had to stop what I was doing to find more. Surely, one of the cards we had would work for this lady. Why couldn't she find one?

I love my job-a big part of why, is that often I get to really make someone's day. We might have just the right figurine that means something special to someone. Or, the perfect card is just waiting for me to introduce it to a special customer. But, not today. I just wanted to point out to this customer that we had several other cards, and she should pick one of those. I didn't, though-I went to the back room, climbed the ladder, and pulled four or five designs of "religious" Christmas cards.

"Here are a couple of designs. Take a look at these and see if any of them work for you," I said.

"I really like this one," she said. "I like that it says 'Peace' on it."

"Not gonna happen," I sniped. "I don't think we ever will have real peace."

"It depends on what kind of peace you mean," she replied. "I don't think we will have world peace, but I believe we can have a kind of personal, inner peace."

I could not argue with this. It was exactly what I meant in my own snarky way. I can't explain why I wasn't in the mood to help her when she walked in, or why my attitude changed after talking to her for a couple minutes.

"I'm sure you're tired of hearing stories from people my age," she said.

This was just the opening I needed-charm time! I looked at her and said, "I don't know what you mean by, 'people your age,' but I love to hear stories. I would never ask your age, but I would guess you at fifty-two."

"Fifty-two! Why, young man, I am seventy-four! I am one of seventeen children. I am from Virginia. We didn't have a lot, but every year each of us was permitted to pick one thing we wanted for Christmas. We would spend weeks flipping through the Sears and Speigel catalogs. It was the biggest decision we had to make all year. Sure, we would get small stuff, but we each only got one big present. My parents made sure that the thing we picked from the catalog was under the tree, so you can understand how big of a decision this was."

I nodded as she continued, "One year, I asked for a satin blouse and a taffeta skirt. My mother asked me where I would wear such an outfit. I told her I didn't know, but that was the one thing I wanted more than anything that year. I tried that outfit on every day after school. I would try it on, look at myself in the mirror, take it off and put it away. I had that outfit long after I grew out of it. I even hung it on the wall, so I could see it and remember the love and sacrifice that my parents made each year."

She told me about how each of her siblings would make things for each other. She told me she still had some of those presents-a bag knitted by her sister, and a trinket whittled by her brother. By this time, I had told her about a card promotion in the store, partly because I wanted to sell a couple more cards, but mostly because I wanted to hear more stories. It was, after all, 8:00 AM on Black Friday, and people weren't exactly knocking down our doors to buy greeting cards.

She took me up on my offer to pick out a few more cards, and I showed her to the sympathy section. She explained why she needed a sympathy card, and then continued with another story.

"I was a teacher in Newark for years. The principal of the school became a very close friend. Several years ago, he was diagnosed with cancer. Eventually, the doctors told him he needed to go into hospice. Since he had no family, or anyone left, I went and sat with him every day. We talked, and he would tell me to go out and have a life-that I had better things to do than sit and watch him die. I told him that he had given so much to me, and this was the least I could do. I asked him as a mentor and a friend, 'If you could give me one piece of advice, what would it be?' He answered almost immediately: 'Do as much good to as many people as you possibly can.' I have tried to do that every day. If someone is a few cents short at the grocery store, or if someone needs something that I can help with, I do. As much as possible."

I told her that I still had contact with a junior high school guidance counselor, and speaking from my personal perspective, teachers and counselors have a huge impact on students' lives, even if they are never told. I can remember almost all of the teachers I ever had, and that was twenty years ago.

I walked with the customer toward the front of the store, as she told me another story. Her neighbors above her, a man, woman, and two kids are loud, she said. Sometimes, they just really irritate her. She decided she would try to "kill them with kindness." She began talking to the boy, who is about ten years old. She asked him about school and sports. She asked about things going on in his life, mostly as she walked across the yard from the street to the front door. One day, just last week, she had several bags, and just as she got to the door, the little boy held the door for her and helped her with her packages. His father saw that and was shocked. She told the boy's father that he was a little gentleman, and his father should be proud of him. She mentioned to me that she hoped some of this kindness would rub off on the father. She also said that she was trying this kindness thing in the hopes that maybe this family would realize how loud they had been and maybe they would quiet down a bit.

I asked her if they had quieted down after the door -holding incident, and she said, "Well, they have a house upstate, and they sometimes go there for the weekend. They are there now."

I gently pointed out to her that it worked. She looked at me and realized just as I began to say that if the family was gone, even for just the weekend, they were quieter, and she got her wish!

As I rang up her order, she continued with the stories. Her sister, who has dementia, is being cared for by a neice. Her brother, who is now deceased, was her idol. The stories would have continued all day, but there were other people who needed cards. As we wrapped up our conversation, she looked at me, extended her hand, and said, "My name is Carol." I sure hope Carol comes back soon. It was such a pleasure to meet someone who has such an inner, personal peace.