Customer at the counter

[thepumpguysc]

I had this discussion today.. Lets say you get paged for a customer at the front counter and before you can get to him, you get paged for a customer on the phone..
Who do you help first?? The guy standing infront of you or a "potential" customer on the phone??
MY THINKING IS>> Acknowledge the customer at the counter, "I'll be right with you sir, I have to take this "quick" call"... and try to reel in the one on the phone..
at the VERY LEAST the guy at the counter feels like he's important enough to be acknowledged.. and not left standing there with his hands in his pockets, while YOU did something else..
BUT.. that's not how it was handled..
The person got the phone call.. left the customer standing there.. hung up the phone after a 10 minute conversation.. didn't sell a dam thing and FORGOT ABOUT THE GUY AT THE COUNTER!!!
How would you handle that situation??
And they wonder why I don't have "their" company name on my work uniform..

 

[AllDodge]

The way you described the encounter is the way I've seen most do it. There are some exceptions and I like those places more. If I'm at the counter, I get serviced first with the slight interruption of "one second please", while they answer and say "will you hold please", and then there right back to me. In the same issue if I call into a place that answers as previously mentioned I'll wait for them to come back on line.

 

[lantraxco]

That's what the person answering the phone is for, if it's not you. They need to think that they just paged you, and take a message for the phone call, or ask the caller to hold. It ain't all on you.

 

[Nige]

It's a bit like the old story "If the dog is at the back door barking to be let in, and the wife is at the front door knocking to be let in, which door do you answer first?"

The answer of course is that you go to the back door first because you know the dog will stop barking as soon as you let him in .............

 

[Trashman]

:falldownlaugh

 

[AllDodge]

It's a bit like the old story "If the dog is at the back door barking to be let in, and the wife is at the front door knocking to be let in, which door do you answer first?"

The answer of course is that you go to the back door first because you know the dog will stop barking as soon as you let him in .............

Good one:falldownlaugh

 

[Impact]

It's a bit like the old story "If the dog is at the back door barking to be let in, and the wife is at the front door knocking to be let in, which door do you answer first?"

The answer of course is that you go to the back door first because you know the dog will stop barking as soon as you let him in .............

Who loves you more? Your wife or your dog? Your dog of course. If you don't believeme, lock them both in the trunk for an hour, and see which one is happy when you open it.

 

[thepumpguysc]

Lantraxco.. I'm with you.. the company even had meeting about the EXACT same thing and it doesn't get done..
This is the ONLY PLACE I'v ever worked where you have to "page" the receptionist/phone operator to the phone .. [personal call]

 

[pburress]

I say wait on the customer standing in front of you first, they are there to spend money, the person on the phone may or may not spend money. Why **** off the person standing in front of you??? That's how I feel when I'm brushed aside for the phone customers

 

[thepumpguysc]

I'm with you too PB.. The customer took TIME out of his busy day to DRIVE to YOUR store, and you blow him off..??? for a "maybe" sale..
The response I got was>> "HEY, you "got" the guy at the counter, he isn't going anywhere.."
My response was>> "you "HAD" the guy at the counter, ONCE.. there probably WONT be a second.. and BTW, how much money did you make off the phone call??"
The art of customer service is lost.. IMO.. but its refreshing when you do find it and it USUALLY turns into repeat business..
I know in my personal life, if I find it, weather it be a restaurant, chain store or service dept., I'm more likely to go back there..

Here's another one..
Customer calls in and says.. "hey, you guys just rebuilt my pump and the engine wont start."
{The pump has a keyed drive shaft and was completely rebuilt and run on a 100k $ machine to set and check all deliveries before it was sent out**
Fella answering the phone tells him, "if you want to pull it back off, we'll recheck it.." Now what the H*** could have gone wrong from the time it was pulled off the test bench till the time the customer installed it???
I heard this and called the customer back.. [not my job] I informed him that it had an electric shut-off on it, and asked if he re-installed the wire?? OR MAYBE he forgot to turn the fuel back on??
There was DEAD AIR on the other end... all I heard was, "I'll call you right back"..
10 minutes later I get a call.. "Its running"... "Thank you"... "I sure didn't want to pull that pump off again"...
I never asked him what he found.. just said "your welcome and have a nice weekend".. {no sense in pouring salt in the wound**..

 

[tuney443]

I'm with you all the way on this pumpguy.To go one step furthur,it bothers me to no end when the reply back from ''THANK YOU'' is ''NO PROBLEM'',instead of ''YOU'RE WELCOME''.Why or how would it become any type of problem in the first place???? It's STUPID,plain and simple.Then there's the kids and even some adults who move directly in front of you without saying ''EXCUSE ME''. Sometimes,if I catch their intention of cutting in front of me fast enough,I'll close the distance to whoever/whatever to see what they'll do.When I make my first million and retire from the lucrative excavating biz I'm going to start a ''MADE IN USA ONLY store,selling everything from bikinis to hydraulic valves.Anybody who says ''NO PROBLEM'' gets the axe.Rant over.

 

[lantraxco]

Lantraxco.. I'm with you.. the company even had meeting about the EXACT same thing and it doesn't get done..
This is the ONLY PLACE I'v ever worked where you have to "page" the receptionist/phone operator to the phone .. [personal call]

Hope she's got a nice (fuel) rack....

 

[mitch504]

Tuney, not differing with you, just giving you another way of looking at it, maybe:beatsme

I am one of those people that **** you off, though I never thought it might.

I sometimes say "no problem". I just think of it as a less formal alternative to saying "You're welcome" every time. To me, it's roughly equal to the spanish, :"de nada" or "it's nothing". In other words, shorthand for: "no thanks necessary, it was no problem"

You've made me think though; I wonder how many people it irritates? I personally hate meaingless slang, and sloppy, impolite speech, I just never thought of this as an example of it.

Mitch

 

[ScottAR]

The company I work for reports to the drones (us worker bee types) that the customer on the phone spends xx% more money than the guy at the counter.
I dunno that I believe that entirely but they instruct us to handle the situation similarly. (juggle both of em as above) I find it doesn't usually work well and usually just work the guy at the counter. Since we have 7 lines and usually several folks working, I have em take a message. I am lucky in the fact that our staff is fairly equal in ability and we often change out on customers to the one best at the particular task.

Sometimes your getting overrun and there isn't a good choice to make. My only advice in that situation is just keep paddling.

 

[thepumpguysc]

Lol, Lan.. She came with the building 35 years ago.. lets just say she's a permanent fixture.. she aint goin' no where..
Scott.. PADDLING?? LOL.. My arms are so tired from paddling after 21 years all I can do now is, keep bailing..
Theres a running joke with me and some former employees that come in to buy parts..
They say, Hey, hows it going??
I say, Just standing here watching the ship sink..
My dad was a career sea-man and used to say all the time.. "even the RATS KNOW when the ships sinkin"..