He politely said they did, walked me over to a grab and go case and pointed to some small cashew milks then gasped and said, “Oh wait that’s cashew milk who would pay that price; let me show you the almond milk quarts.”
I didn’t buy either. The cashew milk because I just could not overcome feeling stupid if I bought something so statedly “overpriced.” (which, honestly, I didn’t think it was) in front of this very nice young man. And the almond milk because I only needed a small container due to traveling.
Another time in a different co-op I overheard a cashier tell the person in front of me, “It is so great that you want to become a member. You can pay for the whole membership all at once, but you don’t want to do that. Or you can pay for it in smaller payments over five years.”
I think you probably see where I’m going with this.
These employees were warm, friendly, and we’re trying to serve their customers with very good intentions.
And at the same time an important context was missing.
Let’s not assume that staff know what we mean by friendly and helpful. There are a lot of staff in co-ops who are able to be friendly and helpful and yet they still need some guidelines on how to make this work in a business environment.
We need to outline what being professional means and help them keep in mind how our words and demeanor impact the co-op.
Let’s help staff by coaching and role playing in our trainings what professional customer service looks like. Let’s give them a more highly defined picture.
We certainly don’t want to dampen anybody’s enthusiasm let’s just be willing to shape and direct it bit more.
After all we certainly don’t want anybody walking out without their cashew milk.