Lately I’ve been paying a lot of attention to retail salespeople and cashiers and, I’m amazed at just how many are Drones. You know the type – unwilling be part of a conversation or to be more blunt – totally ignoring what you say. They just stare and go through the motions of their job. They offer the minimum answers and provide very little information all the while being basically useless to US the consumer.

Recently, at my local gas station/mini mart, the cashier asked if I had a rewards card and I replied no. I asked her for one and as she handed it to me, told me that I could fill it out online. That was all she told me. By the way she was middle aged not a teenager. I assumed that the card worked just like supermarket cards – as you purchased store products you build points for gas discounts. About a month later I’m filling up at another location for the same store but, this time I wanted a soda and opted to “Pay Inside”. When I went to the cashier, who asked if I had a rewards card, she informed me that “No purchases were neccessary to receive a 3 cents a gallon discount, just swipe the card.” Our conversation lasted a couple of minutes and I gained some valuable information.

That began my paying attention to those that were “helping” me and I started noticing that too many “could care less”. They provide the very basic in customer service without ANY other interaction whatsoever. They may hate what they are doing but, the real downside is that they are developing a negative skill level rather than taking advantage of the learning experience and being able to apply it later at something they actually enjoy.

From my perspective the lesson learned is… Don’t hire this type of person to represent your company. They will be bad for business as customers (when they want to) enjoy a fast conversation while checing out or asking for help – it’s called personal service. The flipside, as my post mentions, makes the customer feel like an unwanted bother to their day.