Um, you wanna but some stuff from me?

Forgive Them Boss, For They Know Not What They Sell
By Joseph Walther


Now that we are full swing into the holiday buying season, I thought it appropriate to comment on a few things that bug the daylights out of me. These are general customer service complaints running the gamut from fast food restaurants to major retail department stores. While some retailers provide outstanding customer service, it is not the norm. Today, tolerable customer service seems outstanding simply because the general trend throughout the retail world is just plain dreadful. It has become prevalent to the point the many people assume that we have to put up with it. We don’t! But, as long as we do, we’ll continue to get it.

In 1958, at the wise old age of sixteen, I began a part time job as a cashier/clerk in a grocery store called ACME Markets. I was an outgoing, likeable little twerp who could talk anyone into or out of anything. I was an “A” student at an academically strict Catholic high school. Other than a slight whiff of cockiness caused by my belief that I new all there was to know about life, people seemed to like me and I liked them. Since I wanted to buy a car, I decided to let ACME hire me.

I arrived for my interview with the store manager, a man named Ashman. I thought that Mr. Ashman was a bit on the old side. Try to understand. I was sixteen and I considered thirty as almost dead. Mr. Ashman, in my estimation, had to be close to fifty! Anyway, I filled out the application and completed the short math test attached to it. I aced the math part. I also came to the interview already knowing how to operate a cash register. In fact, in my heart of hearts, I saw no reason why Mr. Ashman should not hire me on the spot.

A woman came over to me and told me that Mr. Ashman was ready for me. She led me into his office. He stood, extended his hand to shake mine, and said, “Hi, I’m Harold Ashman. May I call you Joe?” I said yes. He asked me to sit down. I did so, literally beaming with a sense of self-confidence on knowing that this man could not possibly not want to hire me.

He began the interview by complimenting me on acing the math test attached to the application. He explained that while many people passed it, I was only the third applicant to get all the problems right. I grinned and took the opportunity to let him know that I already knew how to work a cash register. He just smiled and asked me about my grades in school and if Father Gambit was still the Prefect of Discipline at Salesianum. He than asked me why I wanted a job. I told him that I wanted to buy a car and that my mother wouldn’t buy it for me, nor would she pay for the insurance.

He leaned forward and said, “I like you, Joe, you’re outgoing and intelligent. Only time will tell, but I think you’d be a good fit here.” I beamed and said thank you and that I would not disappoint him. Still smiling, he said that he wanted to make sure that I understood something before he agreed to give me the job. I asked him what it was.

“Joe”, he said, “I’m not looking for someone who knows how to operate a cash register or stock shelves. I’m not even looking for someone who can ace a math test. That stuff is all nice to have, but it’s nothing I can’t teach you as long as you have the ability to learn it. You’ve already convinced me that you have the ability to learn the mechanics.” I thanked him again and promised that I’d do my best.

“Joe”, he continued, “I am looking for someone who knows how to treat my customers as welcome and important. I’m looking for someone who can make people want to come back to my grocery store repeatedly.” He continued. “There are five other major food chain stores within four miles of this one. We all sell the same things at virtually the same prices. The only prices that differ are the sale items. The question I have for you, Joe, is why should a customer come to this store instead of one of the others?”

I said, “Good service.” He asked, “What do you mean by good service?” I replied, “Knowing all of the prices by heart, making sure there’s stuff on the shelves to buy, and making sure the people working the cash registers are fast.” “Joe”, he said, you’re right about these things, but the other stores have them too. So what would make a person want to come here to shop instead of one of the other stores?” His question stumped me and I admitted it.

He laughed one of those understanding laughs. “That’s a great sign, Joe! It tells me that you’re not ashamed to admit you don’t know something. You are sixteen and you bring a sixteen-year old’s perspective to this meeting.”

He continued, “When you arrived here for this interview, how did Mrs. Kratzer make you feel? She is the woman who talked to you when you arrived here and brought you into my office.” “She made me feel at ease about this whole thing”, I said. “I was a little nervous when I got here but she helped me not to worry too much.” He then asked, “How did you feel about me after we met?” “You, also, made me feel comfortable about talking to you”, I said.

“I expect everyone who works here to make the customers feel the same way, Joe. That takes a lot more than fast cash registers, memorizing the prices, and fully stocked shelves. Every time that a customer has a good experience shopping here, they will come back. You do this by knowing who the customer is and what makes them feel good about themselves. Do you think you can do this?” I told him that I would do my best. He told me that we had a deal. As long as I stayed customer focused, I’d have a job.

While I did not realize it then, I have come to realize it over the years. Harold Ashman was a genius. There are too few Ashmans around the retail world today. His breed understood their customers. He and those like him never put much stock in target customers. He understood that every customer who walked into his store had a circle of influence consisting of friends, family members, co-workers, associates, and neighbors. He understood that customers do not make decisions in a vacuum and that the only relevant question to answer is “Why would any customer choose to do business in my store at all?”

The next time you are in a fast food restaurant and some teenybopper clerk treats you like you’re an imposition, blame the manager for being clueless. The next time you go into a major electronics store and have to search all over for some help, aim your scorn at the store manager for having no clue.

Of course, owners understand bottom lines. When this starts to diminish, they make changes. Operating managers know this and when customer numbers begin to diminish, they make changes. If you want a return to the Harold Ashman type of customer service, you have to start demanding it. I don’t know where Mr. Ashman is today. I just know that we need more of him. He made a lot of sense. Of course, I am not a marketing or employee training genius. If I owned a retail store, I’d sure try it, though.

Have a great week.

Joseph Walther is a freelance writer and publisher of The True Facts. Send email to: publisher@thetruefacts.com