“Next!”
Have you ever been waiting in line when you heard that inviting call bellowed over the counter? Inevitably, when you finally are “next,” the person waiting on you is looking at you with disdain waiting to hear what problems you’re going to cause them. They might just as well be saying in a disgusted tone, “What do you want?!”
Many times jobs on the front-lines are repetitive. There’s no getting around it. We run the registers and check out our customers’ purchases or work the phones and answer the same questions over and over or serve food to our customers day after day after day after… Well, you get the point.
Why is it that some people love working on the front-lines and others can’t stand the monotony of it all?
The answer is simple – it’s all how you look at things. For example, if you’re a waiter or waitress, what is the purpose of what you do?
To some it might be to “deliver food to our customers’ tables in a timely fashion.” Now that doesn’t sound bad, but there’s no life in it. “Delivering food” can get boring pretty darn quickly.
But what if the purpose of a waiters’ job is to “treat our restaurant’s guests like friends, not customers and to serve them a meal that we’d be proud to serve to our own families.” Now there’s something you can get your teeth into – no pun intended. Of course, there are those that would scoff at that. “I’ll serve ‘em their food, but I ain’t treatin’ like no friend.” If that’s your attitude (I hope it isn’t) the front-lines may not be for you. At the heart of working the front-lines is a core enjoyment in working with people. It’s the human element of what you do that keeps it all fresh.
Find the human element in what you do. Every job has one. You’re not just “answering phones,” you’re solving your customers problems. You’re not just ringing up customers’ purchases, you’re reinforcing that they’re buying great things from your store.
Obviously you don’t have to take this attitude. But if you’re showing up for work anyway, why not find ways to enjoy it as much as possible. As always, the choice is always up to you.
About the Author
Scott Brown is an insightful and entertaining speaker on management and customer service and specializes in creating cultures of service excellence in organizations. He is also the author of “Who Cares? Managing To Creating a Culture of Service In Your Business.” You can subscribe to Scott’s FREE ezine by visiting www.SBServicePro.com.