Part Five. Technically this represents the last in this series. I hope to have a final chat with the owner. We will see. This part is thanks to Emily, three years or so as a barista at Moxie Java. She is a local from here in Fort Collins. When we first sat down, I had to ask about her work history. She seems so very young. A position at Famous Footwear was her first job, followed up by a stint at Orange Julius. Coincidentally, my wife worked at Orange Julius as one of her first jobs and she is also from this area. Is anyone sensing a trend?
I wanted to start with a question about what makes a good customer service person, but I think that has been tackled with the others in the previous parts in the series, so I decided to take another direction. I asked “What would you say to someone new to customer service?” Her first and perhaps most emphatic response was about the importance of attitude. OK, I have to stop for just a second. I train retail managers all over North America (not bragging, it is what it is) and I have always taught you cannot coach attitude, only behavior. Attitude is linked to motivation and is ultimately decided by the individual – certainly not to be forced or contrived by a manager. Then I stopped and looked at the notes. She said “The attitude you give will be what you get back.” She is 21 and stated perhaps one of the most truly documented statements in our human history. It is the Golden Rule. She said it with conviction. She went on to say “If you have a customer who hits you the wrong way or is just not happy, let it roll off you. The key is for you to help the customer have a good time.” Dissect these statements. You get back what you give. If you do not get what you want, don’t take it personally. And your job is to make sure the customer has a good time.
Let the potential arguments begin. “Well, she knows her statements would be shared, of course, she will say what she said – her boss may read it”. Yep, if that is the extent of the context. It isn’t. Emily is a very kind soul. There is no lying in her. If you were to walk up tomorrow and saw her smile and ordered a coffee, the smile is genuine. I am 46. I am part of Generation X with some Baby Boomer tendencies because my birth year is very close the boundaries between both. I am cynical. I train sales and service and have seen the worst and the best. I can tell when someone is disingenuous. This is a person who manifests it every single time; every one.
What now may need to be explored is how do you find this type of person or is it possible to train this mindset? First, good luck finding an Emily. They represent a minority. They (Emily for sure) are who and what they are based on how they have been influenced in their life. As an owner or manager, you cannot depend on that. Therefore, you must rely on some type of influence on the second part – training for it or at least a version of it.
The next question indirectly looked at that very perspective. I asked “If you could change anything about your job, what would it be?” The question is intended to look at where she might feel something could be provided to help her be better at her job. She did not have an answer right away. She thought about it then offered “Maybe more practicing, like latte art or foam art. Really anything that allows the barista to bring something new to the customer.” The simple take-away, practice at the craft. By the way, some of you might be thinking foam art. This is the manipulation of the foam to represent some type of image. If you are a coffee-aficionado, you probably know one or two places where the latte or cappuccino has a flower or duck or whatever it ends up looking like. You usually say or think “cool”.
The last question was also designed to get at what might fuel her customer service attitude or mindset. I asked “What sustains you?” Quickly, she said “Co-workers and the regulars. Even though it is a brief encounter, it still helps the day go by.” I bet you want to call her a people-person. By the way she is. How do you train that? Consider her following statements. Her next one alluded to the fact the job has not been made overly complex. The job is pretty simple. It still gets busy and hectic, but she doesn’t have to worry about taking the job home. Her follow up statement was about her joy in working with and around other baristas. “We all trade secrets.” Again, do you train that? NO. That is thing missed by many employers. They are looking for attitude. They are trying so hard to find their “Emily” and not investing in an environment where the employees feel appreciated, collaborative and part of the team. That the job is not made more complex than it needs to be.
I believe the essence of what makes up Emily is in all of us (certainly more in some than others, no doubt). We need to stop beating our heads against the wall for not finding the customer service employee with the best attitude and begin looking at what stimulates and influences attitude in the workplace. And by the way, it is not always money.
Then Emily said “part of it is just for me to do better.” Can you say clone? If you currently are unable to clone given your retail technology, let’s chat. Thanks.