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NOTE TO SUPERMARKET CHECKOUT EMPLOYEES

When at the end of the transaction the customer says, “Thank you,” “No problem” is not an appropriate response.

Of course it was no problem.

“No problem” implies you did the customer a favor.

You’re not being thanked for doing the customer a favor.

The customer is thanking you for the service you just provided them.

Your words probably are the last the customer will hear before leaving the store. As such, they play a significant role in defining their shopping experience.

I’m just sayin’….

Comments on this entry are closed.

  • Johnspaul September 25, 2012, 10:04 am

    Actually, shouldn’t THEY be thanking YOU?

    My GM had us try this experiment a few years ago. He asked us to go 1 week without saying “Thank you” when we were checking out, be it at a restaurant, a store, a roadside vegetable stand, whatever, until THEY had thanked US for our business.

    The number of transactions I made that week WITHOUT being told “Thank you” was astounding. The spread wasn’t even close: something in the neighborhood of 75/25. It made the places where I DID get a “Thank you” stand out even more. That’s why we try to always thank our clients & our listeners for choosing us.

  • Jack September 25, 2012, 10:06 am

    I’ve thought about this… So, when the customer gets in the first ‘thank you’, what do you prefer in response?
    a) You’re welcome.
    b) Thank YOU!

  • Bruce September 25, 2012, 10:48 am

    I’d prefer “no problem” to the “Here ‘ya go” I get at the conclusion of most retail & service transactions.

  • Dennis Hennessey September 29, 2012, 11:30 am

    It was a pleasure!

  • Sreethi September 30, 2012, 11:23 pm

    After I had bought a pair of shoes at this Puma store, the salesman walked me and my friend to the door…as we left, saying “Thank you”…he replied “Good decision with the shoes”

    That remains for me the No.1 memorable response for a ‘Thank You’ from a Sales Guy… I had left the store feeling great!…thinking I had made the right choice…that my money was well-spent!

  • Sreethi September 30, 2012, 11:32 pm

    After I had bought a pair of shoes from this Puma store, the salesman walked me and my friend to the door. As we left saying ‘Thank you’, he replied with a smile, “Good decision on the shoes”!

    That remains, for me, the No.1 memorable response to a Thank You from a Sales person! I left the store feeling great…feeling that I had made the right purchase… that my money was well-spent!

    That was a creative response…something more than the usual…and it made a huge difference!