Devoted to customer service and the principles of exceptional customer services

Although I consider myself to be a very patient person, sometimes I lose that patience.  There’s a grocery chain that I know of that only keeps three of it’s 10+ lanes open.  Never, ever have I seen all lanes open - even on the busiest days.  What’s the point of building all those lanes if you’re only going to have 3 open...ever?   And sometimes when there’s only one lane open during late nights, you can’t even find the cashier to ring you up!

Ok, well, enough ranting... I came across this article about a study on the effects of long checkout lines on sales and customer satisfaction.  Most shoppers are willing to wait 1-3 minutes to checkout, but after 4-5 minutes, they start to get ansy.  Boy, are we an impatient bunch! Haven’t you heard of reading Martha Stewart Magazine while waiting in line at the grocery store?   

If you work in customer service, here’s a tip from the Trainer’s Blog on how to deal with customers waiting in long lines:  

Acknowledge the customer who is waiting. We all want to be noticed. A smile and a sincere greeting, or “I’ll be with you in just a moment” to the person who has just joined the line goes a long way. Explain to your employees that as long as they don’t engage the second customer at the expense of the person in front of them, they have the opportunity to make both customers feel valued. And, if there was a wait, employees should acknowledge it by saying something like, “thanks for your patience.”

I used to do this when I worked at Nordstrom.  You'd be surprised at how much it eases the stress of a customer!  Many customers would say "Thank you" simply because I acknowledged them.