Shifting Gears

Every little thing that we do can be done artistically, scientifically, and even haphazardly. Mechanically skilled technicians & owners may be missing the boat on the final one-minute of the customer’s transaction. After all of the speed, precision, care & professionalism exercised on a customer’s automobile, in the bay, the customer’s experience may turn into a bad experience, in the lobby. It can be extremely hard, for anyone, to SLOW DOWN for the final one minute of the customer’s transaction.

I have a little experience working a cash register, the day before Mother’s Day, in a Hallmark Card shop. For those that don’t know, Mother’s Day is the number one “Card Giving” day of the year (Father’s Day is way down the list). The average costs for a card, at the time, was seventy-five cents and we would sell over $8,000 in cards in one day! As you can imagine, the cash drawer really never had time to stay closed.

With twenty people standing in line, one might think that SLOWING DOWN, just for a few seconds, would cause one to “Drive Off”, not the case, it shows respect & appreciation. When you are busy, 10 seconds seems like an eternity, but for the paying customer, it is time they feel they deserve (and are paying for).

I have listened to cashiers in the Quick Lube business (and other businesses) rattle off everything that was done to the automobile and not take a breath until after stating how much the customer owes. After the payment has been processed, and while the customer is TRYING to return their credit card to it’s proper place, the cashier is already pushing them out the door by calling the name of the next lucky customer. What’s embarrassing is when the cashier calls the name again, only 2-3 seconds, after the first call! After you smile, say thank you, let the customer exercise his or her own exit strategy before calling the next customer.

If you have a door, leading from the shop to the lobby, I would hang a sign, saying, “Speed Bump”, “Slow Down”, or perhaps “Shifting Gears”. Life can be chaotic enough without having to pay for it.