One reader wrote me and suggested that instead of measuring "wait time in line," that we should score offices on "friendliness."
"In an age where everything is getting so impersonal, lets put some personality back," she writes. "We are not the only mailing service in town anymore."
What do you think? Should we be friendlier?
Comment here.
28 comments:
Yes, friendliness is a very important part of our business....but doubt it would be measured because HQ would have no set hard rules on how to do it. I think that if a person had to wait in line for 10 minutes...and then was greated with a friendly disposition...the wait in line would be forgotten. I have customers who travel away from their home town post offices because they find me friendly and refreshing. :)
We need to kill the whole mystery shopper project. It's costs far out way any benefit we receive from it. Local managers who attempt to properly staff the lobbies are constantly mointered by a level or two of management and hounded to cut hours....yet get slapped if the wait times are too high. Let the local postmaster run the show....and big brother needs to worry about things at each of THEIR levels and not what we are doing.
Have written comment cards available again. Then customers can check off if they had a good experience.
Most customers will not write to express appreciation, but will call the toll-free number or go to the website and complain.
I have many customers who come to my office because I offer friendly service and a variety of stamps.
So what you're saying is that an anonymous shopper should offer a score on a completely subjective basis. A score which, if not good enough, causes all sorts of headache for the retail associates even though contracturaly no reprocussions are supposed to come from it.
Are you out of your ever loving mind? April Fools Day was a few months ago.
A smile, a friendly greeting and assistance to the customer will reap many rewards. Because clerks have the Wait in line time to be aware of does not negate the afore mentioned items. I've seen to many clerks that are grumpy and give only what is necessary to complete the transaction. Smiles and a friendly demeanor offset the wait but frowns and whose next do not.
Yes we do need to be friendly. My daughter came to our home for vacation. She sells small items like ink refills on Ebay. One day we took about 30 small packages to the local PO. Got to the window and started to hand each to the window clerk. He screams I AIN'T GOT TIME FOR THIS I HAVE OTHER CUSTOMERS TO WAIT ON. Excuse me are you not in business to make money on my mail. That was just one instance. Even in my daughters home town. She stopped going to her home town Post Office because the window clerks were nasty even tho she gave them lots of business with her sales. She now goes to the town next to hers to mail the sales. So one office loses business the other gains. Which Post Office will close if it comes to that.
I am so freaking friendly when I'm at the window, but it all goes out the window due to circumstances beyond my control.
I have a lot of customers come to my office because they don't want to go to the bigger office in the next town. They tell me that they have to wait, then they are greeted with nastiness and bad attitude. We are in a service business!! There is no excuse for greeting our customers with scowls instead of smiles!! Even if I am in a bad mood, my customers never know it...they are always greeted with a friendly smile.
I agree with getting rid of the mystery shopper program; the cost far outweighs the benefit. Instead, we need to be emphasizing customer service and monitoring (retraining?) those clerks who are less than pleasant at the window.
I am a former window clerk and was amazed when I observed how many other window clerks really didn't like/want to work the window. Selecting front line retail employees via a bid system does not result in the best possible customer experience. Window clerks should be selected based on being best qualified, not meeting the minimum bid qualifications. We also need to adopt the best practice of alot of other businesses: when 4 people are waiting in line, put another clerk out there.
Wait in line is very important--in the day and when i sometimes still go to the bank and everyone is gone at lunch and there is only one teller open and we are all waiting--well, i would really like to tell the bank of my unhappiness.
even if i get a smile once i am at the front, i am still unhappy for waiting so long.
I don't mind waiting in line if it is because there are many customers but more often than not when I go to the post office it is because of a the turtle at the counter. Not only are they not friendly, a telephone pole moves faster than they do. I agree with the above that people shouldn't get the job because they meet the minimum bid qualifications. Get them off the counter. I don't mind waiting if I can be greeted and given service by a person who cares about me and my mailing needs while there. Pay attention window clerks....is it really so hard to put on a smile and be pleasant? If so, go find a job working somewhere else. You aren't a service to this business.
I went into a Post Office in Alaska to mail packages home. There was a line which wasn't a problem for me--I was on vacation. However, the clerk was rude to everyone and made the experience very unpleasant. I left that Post Office not wanting to mail anymore packages there. If she would have greeted everyone with a smile, a pleasant attitude and a thank you I would venture to say that she would have had a much happier day, too.
I take it as a HUGE compliment when customers tell me that they would rather drive 7 miles to my office to mail a package because the PM in their town in so rude and I am always friendly and smiling. I get the same compliments about my PMR. The other offices loss is my gain not only financially but friends wise too! But the real shocker was when I met the PM and told her of the customers complaints she told me she was "to busy doing more important things so I don't have time to stroke my customers egos!" Well guess what your customers ARE YOUR MORE IMPORTANT THINGS.
I have friends who work in the larger offices, and I understand that they are under pressure from their MPOOs who are under pressure from their District Managers,etc. to get more done with less help. Maybe the friendliness needs to start at the TOP and it will trickle down to everyone else.
I guess every window clerk and customer facing associate at counter or phone should get mandatory training to treat the customer friendly and not lose track of solving the problem as not my problem. I thought on a tax day my quick pickup of mail containing stamp and verified mail at the counter accepted at the line was a good customer friendly only to know that both were lost. I tried hard to find why my receiver didn't get their mail and why I didn't get it returned either. My trust is totally lost. If I want to do it again do you think I will trust to use this service. Fix these broken links. If they can't solve this they can't solve anything. I am sure this may not be posted but this is critical and comments from a loyal postal customer. FA,PMP
Every customer whether they have monetory transaction or not should get a identifiable ID reference receipt with a link to provide their feedback. Most customer friendly organizations like Home Depot,Walgreens, Walmart etc. do that and that is best way to rate the customer friendliness.
Courtesy and efficiency are NOT mutually exclusive. Attitude is everything. Smaller offices have the luxury of time to provide extra attentive service that larger offices do not. That said, if I'm waiting in line I do not appreciate any retail worker flapping their gums chitchatting with the person ahead of me in line. Stick to the task at hand, with a smile, and treat every customer with respect and courtesy. If you can't do that, get a job as far away from our customers as possible. You're hurting us all.
It depends on how you define friendliness. I dislike going to the bank because the 20 year old tellers seem to be trained to ask personal questions such as "What are you up to this weekend?" I really don't want to let somebody 20 years younger than me that I only see occassionally at the bank know what my weekend plans are nor do I think that they really care. It's annoying and makes me not want to go to the bank. If, however, friendliness is defined as being polite and courteous without being rude, then I am all for it. We must keep in mind that not everyone has a "friedly" personality. As long as a clerk is courteous and professional, along with being knowledgeable, they are doing their job. Once we start grading employees based upon personality factors, we are crossing over a line. "Friendliness" is not a job requirement; courtesy, dignity, and respect for others are.
I agree with the post above me, you can be friendly without being nosey. It is more of a state of mind than anything else. Please, thank you, have a good day, good morning, and just a basic sense of common courtesy. Manners and a smile go a long way. Unfortunately with our system the "best" canidate is not always awarded the job.
Seems like a very odd question to me. I am amazed that we have the need to ask "Do we need to be friendlier?" Really? What is happening to us that we must ask this?
Thank you and Have a great day!
I was in line at my Post Office and there were about 10 people waiting and two Window Jerks working. Then one of them says.."Oh...it's break time" puts up his little placard saying he is closed and leaves.
I know it can be rough having to deal with the public and most of our people are good about it. Given the Post Office's negative image I think most would try to be as polite as they could in order to help change that.
If they can remember to push other products at you when you do not ask then they should be able to remember to be polite.
For all those "unfriendly" clerks: maybe FedEx or UPS is hiring.
I agree w/Grannybunny (above). Choosing window clrks from a "bid" system is not (always) the best choice. Window Clerks ARE our front line employees and SHOULD HAVE some level of personality. We have clerks in our office that (literally) wait for customers to come to them,never engage in any friendly conversation AND if the customer is not familiar w/all of our services, they act as tho the cust. is just "stupid". With ALL of the changes that the Postal Service is going thru, NOW would be the time to revamp our criteria for "being" a window clerk. NOT everybody can be a "Good & Friendly" window clerk. I'm a lot like others here. There are people in this community that will let others pass them in line just so that they can be "my" next customer.
Any postal clerk who bids on an SSA position has to know that it involves dealing with the public!! And, given that, whether the customer is mailing one package or 20, the importance of courtesy and politeness is paramount and should be emphasized during their training and then reinforced during weekly stand-up talks.
I also agree with doing away with the mystery shoppers and the script that our SSA's have to follow. I mean, really, if a regular customer comes in to buy a book of stamps, is it really necessary to ask them if they would like to rent a Post Office box today?? Train the SSA's to be friendly without having to get personal and to remember that every customer is paying their wages!!
I totally agree!
EVERYONE at USPS needs to remember the customer is the reason we have our jobs!
So smile, even when you or the customer are having a bad day.
YES we should be friendier! Greet your customers with a smile and hello how are you today! What can I help you with? I know its not always easy but customer service is out job! Remember that the customer is somone we need right now if we want to keep our jobs so treat them right and keep them coming back! Sometimes we can't do anything about wait times but we can give the friendly service when they make it to the window.
heck yes we should be friendlier. i have been in several different post offices. i was treated badly at one post office.like my needs really didn't matter to this person becuase at the end of the day it all pays the same. i was really upset becuase i am a postal employee and would never ever treat a customer badly nor would i let any staff member treat anyone like i was treated that day. we are the face of the postal service, if you don't like your job and you are unhappy with it then find another one but don't take it out on the customer's we need them, just as much as they need us.
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