Most consumer-facing businesses recognise the importance of good customer service. Especially in highly competitive markets it's good service that can keep customers coming back.
I get what I'd call bad service at the drive through Starbucks in Membury services, the girls there are clearly miserable and lazy, and just not that bothered!
However, what is good service? Personally I think it's maybe only 'good' if it's organic, when the people serving me are genuinely happy and genuinely competent, but increasingly companies are treating 'good customer service' as something that can be taught, and the whole thing becomes formulaic, or basically fake!
One example of the formulaic approach to customer service is Target's 10-4 rule - at ten feet, you're supposed to smile, wave, and make eye contact. Then, at four feet, you greet them, smile again, and start a conversation.
This is a sure-fire way to make both staff and customers feel awkward when most shoppers just want to grab what they need and go. Being constantly acknowledged, waved at, and spoken to can actually feel a bit pushy instead of welcoming, especially when it’s so clearly on a script.
But the bigger issue might be how these kinds of policies affect the people who work there. Retail employees are already super busy with stocking shelves, handling online orders, working the tills, and answering customer questions.
Adding this extra demand of emotional labor – like smiling on cue, pretending to be warm, and following those distance-based rules – just adds more pressure to their already packed day.
This sort of mandatory happiness can be extremely draining on staff and radically disempowering... personally I'd much rather have real staff, the honest truth is that most people aren't that happy at work, fair enough, we all get that!
And of course any time spent doing those mandatory greetings is time not spent filling shelves or getting online orders ready. It's kind of ironic, but policies meant to make customers happier can actually make things worse in other ways. We're talking empty shelves, slower service, and staff who look clearly stressed out – none of that makes for a pleasant shopping experience.
Please give me natural staff, even if they are a little pissed off, but at the same time someone PLEASE have a word with those Starbucks girls!
