column: Simple tips for the service industry
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It’s an automatic response.
Somebody says “thank you,” and we reply the only way we know how.
“You’re welcome.”
It’s instinctive, it’s second nature, it’s – dare I suggest – expected. Here. In Canada.
Not so much down in the U.S., from where I returned recently after a family vacation in the happiest place on Earth. There, when we say “thank you,” the only reply seems to be “uh huh.” Sometimes grunted. Sometimes upturned at the end and posed like a question.
Now, lest you think this is one of those columns bashing those uncultured Americans for not being more like us enlightened intellectuals, please don’t judge so quickly.
Indeed, I consider myself a patriotic Canadian. But while I’m not big on the “uh huh” response, I’m a huge fan of what I was thanking the Americans for.
You see, everywhere my family went, we were thanking the U.S. workforce – whether walking through a five-star hotel, grabbing a cab, queuing up at It’s A Small World, or staying at a three-star hotel.
These people – servers, custodians, tenants and clerks – were working hard to keep me, and therefore their own bosses, satisfied.
And, most importantly, they seemed to be content. I even noticed one whistle while he worked.
Up here, based solely on my own experience, job satisfaction in the service industry often seems to be a thing reserved for fantasyland. Even those who operate on tip-fuelled paycheques seem often to view the customer as an inconvenient part of their employment.
It’s almost as if there is an informal agreement between employee and customer that the worker is only doing a job:
“Sure, I’ll serve you your food, but only because they pay me. I’m really a performer/teacher/writer/rocket scientist.”
Are there exceptions? Plenty, on both sides of the border.
In fact, I’ve had great service at local businesses that make their profits based on return customers. And, I do plan to return.
But overall, I think the Americans are onto something fairly basic in the world of business. Service with a smile.
The workers, I assume, aren’t smiling because they’re making a fortune at their service-industry jobs. And they’re not smiling because they hope one day to take over the company.
They’re smiling and congenial and helpful because that is what is demanded of them, and what they demand of themselves.
Here, we seem to have let our guards down. The customer might always be right – at least on paper – but usually only after a manager is called in.
For my money, I’d sooner spend it where it seems to be appreciated, even if it means biting the bullet and spending my good Canadian money beyond our own borders.
As for local service-industry employers and workers – particularly those who make a portion of their income on gratuities – here’s a tip: learn from the Americans’ success; maybe a few more of us Canadians will decide to spend our vacation money at home.
You don’t have to thank me.
Lance Peverley is editor of the Peace Arch News.
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