I was thrilled to see this sign in my local coffee shop on Monday this week. I am often on the phone when there ordering coffee. It works, I don’t disrespect them and they don’t disrespect me.
I think some retailers get too hung up on the mobile pone thing. As long as you can complete the transaction who cares if they are on the phone? Not me, I am happy there are there shopping with me.
What I love about this campaign is that its is positive and inviting. It turns what is often a negative situation in retail into a positive.
Good on the people who are behind it. My cafe owner got the sign from his local Snap Printing outlet so it may be a Snap thing.
Sure it can be frustrating if the conversation on the phone slows the sale. My experience is that it usually does not. The key is to look beyond the default position of being angry or frustrated that a shopper is on the phone. Suck it up, take their cash and appreciate having a customer to service. That’s good pragmatic customer service in my view.
the only problem is that they think they give use $50 note and we short change and they think they are very very sure.
Don’t agree Mark – it’s just bad manners. Especially if the customer interrupts the sale process so that they can answer their phone!
It is becoming more and more prevalent and some stores are creating the notion that this is now an acceptable social norm. Either you become negative and reject customers because of this ill mannered behaviour or you turn it into a positive. I realised that the only person who was stressing over it was me (certainly not the customer)! So now I serve the customer as I would any other and I do not get riled up anymore. Win for me! You do not realise but little things like this all add up to one hell of a lot of stress over time so it is best for you and your business, family etc etc to chill out. Just my opinion…
Spot on Bruce,
it is about courtesy and respect – just good manners which has gone out the door with the new generation.
Yes, there are some people who can carry on discussions with several people at the same time but unfortunately not many.
the problems arise with what the customer has ordered, what money they gave and what change they received.
if the customer wants your undivided attention then surely that is what they should give.
We’re fortunate that it seldom happens to us, but when it does, it is other customers who get upset.
Chris I agree, hence the post.
Just plain old rude if my kids did it they would get a clip under theirs ears Luckly they have manners
Handling phone users are a great asset to customer service. We never answer the shop phone if someone else is at the counter, we make sure the shop customer understands they are more important. We always prioritise customers not using a mobile before others, the latter do no notice, the former do. We offer courtesy and good service to mobile users but not the expense of all other customers. They are rude and they are annoying to other customers, we just do not convey that to them.
Malvern paper shop i find it annoying phoning another business and the phone rings out, we have two newsagents in our area that do this.
We always answer the phone, even when when busy serving, it only takes a few seconds to grab the phone and ask customer to please hold, customers outside my business are also very valuable as they too purchase.
There is no need nor excuse for a customer to continue a phone conversation while being served.
If the call is that important they should deal solely with the call then approach the counter.
Many customers ask the person on the other end to hold on because they are being served, I respect this. Others say “I’m being served I’ll call you back”, I respect this.
Some point and grunt and don’t acknowledge us at all because they are “too important”. This is rude and offensive and they are the ones who would least appreciate being treated in that manner. Manners are a two way street and its a shame standards are slipping just because of modern technology.
Jenny,
If a sales person answers a shop phone while serving me, I am apt to walk away. I never prioritise the phone over persons actually in the shop.