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Where I work we HAVE to greet every customer and ask them how they are and if we can help them with anything. We get some strange answers every now and then. Usually if someone says they're doing awful we'll ask why though and try to carry out a conversation.
It has to do with being friendly and trying to connect with each and every customer so that we make more sales.
While it does give mixed messages and most of us really don't personally care how each and every person is doing, we still have to ask. At my place of employment if we don't greet every customer in a friendly manner and ask if they need help with anything and we get caught by management we get in trouble. We also have to have at least two employees greet and ask people basically the same thing during their visit to our store. On top of that, the companies send spies (that's what I call them anyways, but they're really called "secret shoppers") every now and then to rate our store based mostly on the employees and their services/friendlyness/helpfulness/ect. :/
So don't blame the employees, blame the companies and management. Personally, I hate asking how everyone is. When I go into other stores I get the same thing and it annoys me being asked the same thing by every person.
While I don't get paid commision or anything, I'd still rather be annoying and fake to try to make sales than lose my job. It's also better than being rude and unhelpful. I get the feeling that the OP has never worked in retail before.
Well, it's not ridiculous at all. In just about every part of the country, "How's it going?" or "How do you do?" or "How are you?" are perfectly legitimate greetings. In fact, "How do you do?" can be construed as somewhat formal in nature.
Being common doesn't make anything any less ridiculous. It's pretty common today to "hook up" or tweet, but you don't do either one, do you?!
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What you're doing is trying to impose a single cultural norm.
I don't try to impose anything. That's more your forte. Besides, I've enough common sense to know I can't even if I wanted to.
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Heck, in Germany, people greet each other with "Wie gehts?" In Russian, there's a similar greeting, but I don't have the patience to type it out in Cyrillic letters.
Obviously, the equivalent phrase of "how are you?" exists in any language. The difference is in the rest of the world it's used by people who actually care how you are, not by store clerks.
I've never heard this question in stores in Germany. Even though I was pretty sure that's hardly the case in Russia, since I haven't been there, today I asked a Russian coworker. Of course, in the pre-Gorbachev era you'd be lucky to even be acknowledged when you walk into a store (not my words). Now they say "hello," "good day," and only in some upscale stores in Moscow catering to foreigners you might hear the equivalent of "how are you?" due to the influence. I don't recall being "how are you?"d in Canada, either. We have a member from Canada. Perhaps she can throw more light on it. In Mexico you hear either the more formal "Buenos tardes" or "hola."
Just out of curiosity, cpg... I'm pretty sure that even you can't be perky 24/7/365. What's your response in these cases?
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Originally Posted by Puru
So don't blame the employees, blame the companies and management. Personally, I hate asking how everyone is. When I go into other stores I get the same thing and it annoys me being asked the same thing by every person.
Oh, I do understand that! It's only normal to greet the customers. Do you really have no choice of a greeting, though?
Just out of curiosity, cpg... I'm pretty sure that even you can't be perky 24/7/365. What's your response in these cases?
Actually, I'm very polite--almost to a fault, according to my wife. I am polite when I've had a 104-degree temperature, I've been polite when I had food poisoning, and I am polite on the very rare occasion when I've had a little too much to drink. I am polite when mad, disappointed, bored or uncomfortable. In 18 years of marriage, my wife has seen me lose my temper precisely once, and that was when someone was out and out dishonest with me. I believe that failure to be polite is making someone else suffer for something they didn't do. I also believe in please, thank you, you're welcome, opening doors for others, standing when a lady enters a room, sending thank-you notes the next day, RSVPing upon receiving the invitation, and saying "Hi, how's it going?" to people I meet. How's that?
Actually, I'm very polite--almost to a fault, according to my wife. I am polite when I've had a 104-degree temperature, I've been polite when I had food poisoning, and I am polite on the very rare occasion when I've had a little too much to drink. I am polite when mad, disappointed, bored or uncomfortable. In 18 years of marriage, my wife has seen me lose my temper precisely once, and that was when someone was out and out dishonest with me. I believe that failure to be polite is making someone else suffer for something they didn't do. I also believe in please, thank you, you're welcome, opening doors for others, standing when a lady enters a room, sending thank-you notes the next day, RSVPing upon receiving the invitation, and saying "Hi, how's it going?" to people I meet.
So, you respond to a question with a question, neither one of them makes sense or gets an answer, and you're telling me this is not ridiculous!
So, you respond to a question with a question, neither one of them makes sense or gets an answer, and you're telling me this is not ridiculous!
I simply don't understand why you take this literally. Don't you have more important things to worry about in life? I mean, in the great questions of life, this should occupy #4,814 in the rankings, somewhere between "Aren't Ecru and Bone really the same color?" and "Why do hot dogs come in packages of ten and hot dog buns in packages of eight?" For somebody I normally regard as sensible, the fact that this even crosses your radar screen is just a bit of a head scratcher.
I simply don't understand why you take this literally. Don't you have more important things to worry about in life? I mean, in the great questions of life, this should occupy #4,814 in the rankings, somewhere between "Aren't Ecru and Bone really the same color?" and "Why do hot dogs come in packages of ten and hot dog buns in packages of eight?" For somebody I normally regard as sensible, the fact that this even crosses your radar screen is just a bit of a head scratcher.
Nope. I might think of Ecru and Bone once every 5 years and I don't eat soggy buns at all, while I'm being irritated by these stupid questions numerous times a day every friggin' day!
When did the greeting of choice become, "how are you?" I like Hello, Hi, Good Morning, How can I help you?
They really do not want to know how I am. I watched a clerk at the grocery store say in a formal tone to every customer, "how are you? How are you? How are you? How are you? I got tired of hearing it. No one said anything other than fine. So when it was my turn I said, "not so good!" and the man looked at me funny. I went on, "you asked how I was didn't you?" He still looked at me funny. As I left he took care of the next customer and said, "how are you?" !!!!!!
I didn't tell you to wear the Halloween mask out in public,
Just to visit the crazy relatives....Sheesh!
Oh, I do understand that! It's only normal to greet the customers. Do you really have no choice of a greeting, though?
I have no choice. We also have certain push items every few weeks that we have to mention and each employee has to sell a certain number of those push items. The whole push item thing really annoys me, especially since you can push and push and mention and converse your butt off and no one wants these stupid items. On top of that, management wants to start cutting the hours of anyone who doesn't meet their goal for the push items.
Most of the time we just get annoyed customers who get sick of us trying to talk to them and sell them things. :/
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