In Service

How difficult is it for you to be in service to someone. I've worked in a number of service jobs from waiting tables to industrial sales positions. We serve our customers, clients and co-workers in a number of ways and often think of ourselves in that capacity. There are a number of characteristics that I find in common; some are exemplary and others are kind of off putting.

In the positive category is the joy of sharing special knowledge. It can be as simple as telling a customer that the special of the day is not as good as the menu is tauting and that something else might be better. Or it can be as complex as passing on new information to a client that has the potential of saving them money, time or effort. At Discovery World Museum, I get the privilege of showing our visitors things they will never see in the real world and how these things affect their lives daily. All in all, these examples are part of the job description, but can give the server a good feeling and the receiver a benefit

In the negative column, we can put the "we versus them" syndrome. Ask retail people how they feel about customer that show up ten minutes before closing, keep them in the store until after closing (most managers will not kick shopping customers out of the store allowing them to linger until they leave of their own accord) and then leave without buying anything.

Ask sales people how they feel about customers asking them for new idea's and products when they know that the buyer will take their idea's and shop them to the lowest bidder. The practice of shopping in retail stores and buying on-line is a growing tactic, which is obviously detrimental to local retailers. You will note that many large retailers are promoting their on-line outlets. Live people working in retail outlets never get the satisfaction of knowing if their help produces the sale.

When I was in sales, I had a buyer, will call him Greg, who was new to the profession. Greg was emulating someone in his organization who had the professional persona of an oaf. Greg and his mentor had to maintain an arms length from the sales people that called on them for fear, and this distinction is important, that he might get sold something. You see they are people out their that never, in their mind, get sold, they might buy, but they never get sold. They are in charge. They are the innovator's, the discovers and they make informed decisions.

Greg once asked me how I put up with the humiliation of the rejection and the general lack of respect that he felt my profession suffered from. I gave him an diplomatic answer because he was one of my contacts at a major customer, but it told me a lot about what Greg felt about sales people. The unfettered truth is that the slights I might have felt from him were far outweighed by knowledge that the service I and my team provided to his company that saved them hundreds of thousands of dollars. I knew he took credit for this accomplishment, but I also knew that his co-workers and other key people in the company knew otherwise.

Someone told me recently that if you dealt directly with the public you were doomed to a life of long hours and low pay. This seems to be true. But than most professions that are important to us are not compensated fairly. I don't know why we as a society tolerate this, but we do. I want to have police officers, firefighters, teachers, airline pilots and medical support personnel fairly paid for what they do for me. Instead, we pay more to people that don't benefit us as much. It's not that the doctor, CEO and professional athletic doesn't contribute to my enjoyment of life, but hardly in the difference their pay reflects. From these people, I feel the need to justify their status and worth. In contrast, their underlings are obvious in their value. Maybe it's because the overpaid people are not serving us well