April 2013

A very frustrated letter to a principal at one of the larger vendors in the NY wine and liquor business detailing my frustration at the lack of communication and customer service at a very basic level. I honestly feel that small customer service issues can be the key to making lifelong loyal and happy customers. Sometimes it’s hard to see what goes on from the top. I will detail his response when we speak. He was quick to respond and I’m anxious to discuss this with him.

Is it annoying when a teller at the bank refers to you as a guest instead of a customer? Maybe; but there is a good reason they are doing that: Large companies are large. Well “duh” you may say but hear me out. As a company grows larger it invariably loses the ability to relate to it’s customers on the intimate level of a small business. As much as people crave convenience and low prices they also crave the familiarity of merchants that know them and understand what they like and how they shop. In a lame attempt to create this familiarity many stores and attractions have taken to calling their customers “guests”. I think this was pioneered by Disney at their theme parks which try to the point of distraction to seem like an extension of your comfy living room. Workers at Disney aren’t even called employees, they are “Team Members”, yay team! It all has to fall flat because no matter how many euphemisms you attempt to employ to replace the word customer at the end of the day that’s exactly what they are: customers. There is nothing wrong with that, it’s no secret that if someone walks into a Walmart they are there to buy something (usually socks or underwear but sometimes charcoal briquettes). I highly doubt that someone going to Walmart or Chase bank or any other huge retail presence truly notes if they are addressed as a customer or a guest or anything else as long as it’s a polite greeting. There will never ever be an intimacy between a Walmart cashier and a “guest”. It just won’t happen. Their job is to get you checked out quickly and efficiently. They can address you any way they like, it doesn’t matter, in the end they do and say what they’re told to by a corporate handbook and there is nothing wrong with that. It just won’t ever create a “real” experience nor should it.