After being inspired by my fellow sister in Christ at
True Femininity, I have decided to share some of my experiences while working in retail.
Today, when my roommate came back to our apartment after visiting home for a few days, we got to talking about work (we both work at the same place). And she mentioned that when she's cashiering and customers are talking on their phone or on one of the bluetooth devices; sometimes you cannot tell whether they are talking to you or the person on the phone. So my roommate told me of a time when she asked politely whether the customer was talking to her or the person on the phone-and the customer got very upset. I have experienced this too, both when I worked on the floor and after I moved to Starbucks. Can people not wait for 5 minutes to talk on their phone? Or sometimes when couples come into Starbucks to get coffee and they are pawing all over one another; it disturbs me to see this. Can you just hold hands or link arms until you are done?
When I was on the floor, there would be times when a customer would ask me a question, and I had to say "no" because of the company policy (or so I was told); so then the customer would seek out a manager, who would then come back and say "yes", which makes me look like I'm dumb and/or rude.
But now that I'm in Starbucks, we get new paperwork and information frequently, so we have that to fall back on and double check if a customer has a question.
When I was training, the only training I had was in the clothing area of the store, but my first shift on my own, I was put in the grocery area. So I did not know where anything was or if we had an item or if it was any good.
In Starbucks, we have a whole "binder" to go through of just reading and writing-before we even get to come behind the counter to start making drinks and working with the machines.
To this day, communication in general is terrible: between corporate and managers, between managers and team members, and between team members and customers.
In Starbucks, we have a notebook just for our area-so we can leave notes and questions if we have them, and we have a record of these if we need to go back to them to follow up.
There were many times where I did not know much (if anything) about the products I was trying to sell.
But in Starbucks, we are required to try every drink and each new drink that comes out as well-this way we know exactly what we are talking about and can give an honest opinion. Like me, I don't like pumpkin anything-like pumpkin pie, bars, bread, or the pumpkin spice latte that we make. But I can say that and not feel bad because for people that do like pumpkin food, they love it. It's just not a flavor I enjoy.
I am generally a very nice, friendly person. I like to talk with our customers and ask them about their day. This is just the type of person I am, and I've had people compliment me on that several times. So that is one personal characteristic that I have not lost-despite the harshness of working sales floor retail for years. Although sometimes I have my moments; these times I simply need to breathe and pray for patience.
One thing I'm happy about is that since I no longer drink alcohol, I have learned healthy ways to cope with stress of all kinds-including rude people at work. One way is praying for patience, and simply being able to acknowledge that they were being rude, that there's nothing I can do now, and to let it go.
I also like to spend time with friends from work-we play board games/card games and watch movies. And they understand the frustration I sometimes feel.
Even with the "Midwest nice" that we do have most of the time, customers can still be rude. And I realize that sometimes they are having a bad day, and something that went wrong while shopping was simply the straw that broke the camel's back, I should not react negatively to them. I have my off days too-when my niceness is not really that genuine. But I sincerely try not to take it out on customers or if the role is reversed, I can simply choose to not say anything if I feel like lashing out.
But I am so thankful to the Lord that I have a job, and especially now, one that I enjoy much more than when I was on the floor. I really like the people I work with, we have lots of fun when we hang out outside of work.
Well time for me to go work on my quilt some more, I'm over halfway done with it! I will post more pictures soon!
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God always gives His best to those who leave the choice with him.
