Introduction

Perspectives are like a**holes - everyone has one. My wife thinks that while I might agree with this nugget of wisdom, she also suspects that the only one I really care about is my own.

Perspective that is.

Not true, of course. I also care about the opinions of those who agree with me.

This is my first entry so I feel obligated to let you know what this blog is all about so that your comments are relevant. Later, I'll either just delete the irrelevant or deride you unmercifully for sending it in. Depends upon my mood.

I am a sales and marketing professional who loves to talk about sales, selling techniques, sales books, sales gurus, etc. I also like to analyze marketing strategies and tactics. If you like that stuff, then you'll like this blog. Here's how I am going to contribute: I am going to write narratives about whatever strikes me. You may contribute by any of the following: 1) post comments agreeing with my keen observation skills, 2) ask my opinion about specific sales and marketing issues, 3) recommend books or articles that illustrate the points that I have been making or which seem to agree with me and 4) pass along the link to this blog so that our little community grows into a great big community.

Not too long ago, I was grocery shopping. This is something that I like to do and I do it quite often. Our family needs groceries frequently and I am just not capable of going once per week and buying $600 worth of stuff. Instead, I go three or four times per week and buy whatever strikes my fancy. Sometimes I go to the grocery store just to look - kind of the way that folks go to the mall. While I don't go to the mall to look, I feel a kinship with those who derive pleasure from doing so. So, I am checking out and the cashier says something cheerful to me like, "How are you today?"

I am fine so I say so. The cashier then begins scanning my items and sliding them down to the bagger. Inexplicably, the bagger says something to me. Perhaps, the bagger doesn't understand that I don't have a relationship with him. My relationship is with the cashier and we have already consumated with a banal greeting. Later, we'll terminate with a "thank you" and a "hurry back". Not only wasn't I expecting the bagger to say something but I was a bit taken aback by his boldness in assuming that I have an interest in developing a second relationship while paying for my groceries. Having not expected any remarks from the bagger, I didn't hear what he said, so I said, "Excuse me?"

When I told my wife this story, it must be noted that she interrupted me at this point to ask me in which tone I said the "excuse me".

"Did you say it as if you were some superior being whose deep and meaningful existence had been interrupted by some street peasant?"

Now, I ask you, is this any way to ask a question? At this point, I should have suspended the story and waited to tell it to a more favorable audience.

"No, I just said it as if I hadn't heard what he said."

"Umph."

Anyway, the bagger then says to me, "Refrigerated calzone, what will they think of next?" So, I smiled at him as if in agreement that a refrigerated calzone was, in fact, as amazing an invention as, say, a flour sifter or self-clumping kitty litter. But, this did not serve to mollify him and he went on, "Have you tried this cereal without the raisins?"

At this point in the story, my wife says to me, "He was just trying to be nice and you were probably mean to him."

Just for the record, trusted reader, I was not mean to the bagger. However, I will confess that my thoughts were mean - which any reasonable person will agree is not the same thing.

"Look, I don't want the bagger to talk to me about my choice in groceries. In fact, I don't want the bagger to talk to me at all. I have a relationship with the cashier and I am not looking for a threesome at the checkout counter."

"You're a jerk."

Knowing when I have lost my audience, I quit speaking to my wife - for the next week. Not that it would have mattered because she quit speaking to me, too.

Now, trusted reader, here is what I want to say about this incident. When I am checking out of the grocery store, I have limited patience for banter. In my view, the cashier and bagger are not my friends any more than the TruGreen guy or the mechanic at the Audi dealership. I have professional relationships with these people and I like to keep it that way.

To wit, my recommendations for how grocery store cashiers should interact with customers:

1) Say "hi" or some other comfortable greeting. While I find "how are you?" somewhat intrusive, since it is the 21st century version of "hello", I can live with it.

2) Ask a question that has something to do with improving your business. Cashiers are in a unique position to do a mini-survey of every single customer. Think about it. Every customer stands in front of the cashier for at least a couple of minutes every time they come to the store. This is critically important time but I have never been to a grocery store that uses this power to their advantage. For instance, the answer to "Did you find everything you wanted to buy?" would be powerful information for the store manager. The problem with this question, though, is it is too generic. The few times I have been asked this question, my answer has always been "yes" even when I couldn't find the unsweetened corn syrup that my wife needed. A better way to ask this question: "Was there anything you intended to buy that you are leaving without?" In addition to jogging the memory, this question might produce some interesting answers that will allow the grocery store to improve its selection or operation.

3) Recommend that regular shoppers provide their feedback to management. If a cashier recognizes someone because they shop frequently, they could say, "Have you given any thought to becoming a member of our focus group?" What, your grocery store doesn't have a customer focus group that meets every week to review the good, bad and indifferent nature of your selection and service?

4) Thank me for shopping there.

Recommendations for baggers:

1) Ask if I need help taking my groceries to the car.

Many people shop multiple grocery stores these days because they either can't get everything they want from one or they think they can't get everything they want from one. Smart grocers will use the time they have in front of each and every customer to increase the percentage of shopping that the customer does with them.

Not so smart ones will have the baggers comment on the miracles of refrigerated calzones.