Hey all—
This is something I’ve thought about for a while, and it bothers me. I’m just curious what you think of shops that are concerned about what sort of “personal connection” the employee makes with you, particularly as it relates to transactional retail, fast food, groceries etc.
I personally feel uncomfortable when an employee tries to get “too friendly” — and I’d mark this down as a negative if I could. To me, excellent service for transactional purchases is someone who looks like they halfway want to be there (at least washes their clothes, doesn’t look angry), quickly checks out my order without messing anything up, and gives me the correct change if cash is involved. Maybe a “thanks for coming in” or “have a nice day!”. That is it. I don’t need small talk, I don’t need to be pried to talk about my day. I don’t need employees trying to “connect with me” in any way — every single time they try, it comes off forced, and let’s be honest — we both have our own lives on our minds. You want to get off work, I want to get where I’m going.
But it’s just so obvious to me that so many companies “want this” because a number of retail shops I’ve been doing has specifically asked about it... I usually put down that they were polite and friendly and do what I can to give them the point since I don’t want them to be marked down for something I’m sure they are forced to do. If someone is trying to “be extra concerned”, I just want to look at them and say “hey just relax... it’s all good... you don’t need to score any points with me... just check out my s*** and we’re cool”.
As far as luxury cars and high-end retail goes, that’s a different game — sales people should try to connect with their client and understand their needs. But the checker at the grocery store? Nah... just try not to break my eggs or crush my bread and that’s been enough of a personal connection for me...
I honestly feel bad for people who work for companies who actually take this into account... it just seems like it should be much simpler: “Was the employee rude or seem like they otherwise didn’t want to be at work?” If the answer is “no” then no further questions lol
Am I in the minority here or does this “fake connection” stuff actually work on people?