On store help being courteous and helpful

[woodturner]

I said, Generational Poverty people communicate like the Japanese culture - indirect and in the passive voice when commands are to be understood! Works about every time. To Japanese - straight/direct talk is considered rude except when talking to those under you or unless you are a very close friend, i.e. and insider.

Interesting - can you explain a bit more, maybe give an example? I'm trying to understand what you mean but feel like I am not quite getting it.

[LCHIEN]

Not to an MBA

Seriously, someone checked off a bullet point, maybe "check customer satistfaction" or something, and met a goal without really addressing the issue.

Right. The MBA got a bonus for making his goals and I still don't have my wood.

[leehljp]

Interesting - can you explain a bit more, maybe give an example? I'm trying to understand what you mean but feel like I am not quite getting it.

OK, I hope this makes sense but here goes: There is a book called "Bridges out of Poverty" that deals with this very issue. (Chasing a rabbit - intellectuals read books and comment on how good the book is but fail to understand the practical issue involved - A friend recommended this book to me after he read it, but does not get the connection for actual communicating. ) Now back to the issue. You and I were raised as individuals, we think and act on direct talk. That also makes good business sense. However, Generational poverty do not communicate the way we do. You have to be an insider for them to trust you. The book was written for Department of Human Services and law enforcement people. DHS and Police are taught to be direct in their talk and they are generally authoritative in their dialog. Authoritive direct talk in general puts generational poverty people on guard. They hear every word but they are under tension and do not process the meaning.

Example 2: When I went to Japan and in a language school, Japanese were very polite and nice BUT the TEACHERS were very authoritative! When teaching, they would ask often ask a question, the adult students (aged 25 to 50) would answer (often correctly), the teacher would shout: "IS THAT SO?" The adult students would be taken aback, wonder about their answer and from that point on be on the defensive, be nervous and communication would all but stop. The teachers Liked this. They didn't care about communicative learning, they wanted rote memory learning. This was common in many language schools back in the '80s and '90s. When most people are under severe stress, their ability to process clear thoughts diminishes considerably to the point they appear totally incompetent. Communication ceases and every action is strictly and instinctive "reaction". And most of the time with generational poverty mindset, it is a terrible reaction.

When a person is under severe tension, direct talk is heard but not processed. Generational poverty do not trust authority and immediately go into a nervous, internally defensive demeanor. So for me, I understand this. So I intentionally go into a "Hey man, whats hapnnin?" mode which begins to puts the person at ease - at which TRUE communication can begin.

As to Japanese, Direct communication is RUDE in Japan in many circumstances. But, polite and proper grammar is indirect and also quite vague. Japanese use direct talk in negotiations when not in Japan but more or less passive language when negotiating in Japan. In formal settings, which I was in several times a week, I had to "meander" my talk to get them to listen. Then switch to direct talk for communicating. If I were "direct" at the beginning, they would be judging me for being rude and not listen to what I would have to say.

You have to read your people and adjust your demeanor and language in order to communicate. In some ways, you might equate this to a "bait and switch" in dialoging!

That is the short version.

[tfischer]

Playing devil's advocate. When you were selecting the pickets, did you seek out someone in lumber or go to the customer service desk to ask if there were more? Why expect the last, possibly the most disconnected person in the chain, whose job it is to get you out of the store the quickest to do something?

He didn't "expect" anything... they asked a question, but failed to do anything with the information. Not even "oh I'm sorry, we could check if another nearby store has them for you" (or even just "oh I'm sorry")

[capncarl]

I have to pick thru Lowes and HD wood racks, specifically their premium 1x2 x8' pine (at $6.22 a stick) to make face frames and doors for my cabinet project. The last time I picked up and inspected every board on stock at Lowes was 2 months ago. I removed and inspected every board on stock and purchased every board that was straight and not twisted (20 boards) I replaced every board I rejected back in the stand up, warp um all rack with the side out rather than flat side out before I left. Monday when I went back to buy another 25 boards I found that they had not replenished their inventory since I left. All that was in the shelves were the crooked and twisted $.77 a foot fit for only tomato stakes. Before I left I went to the front and asked to speak to the store manager. After a few minutes a nice lady came up and introduced herself as the manager. I explained the wood situation to her and told her that I knew how there inventory system worked, that as long as there was a specific amount of stock in the shelf it would not be re-ordered, regardless if the stock was unsalable didn't matter. No one is going to buy this expensive wood in this condition. She wrote herself a note to have someone cull out the bad wood, and I told her it was ALL bad wood. Anyone's guess what the outcome of this request will be! At least she seemed concerned!

[capncarl]

Talk about a store getting complacent, we picked up a infrared temp gun at Lowes, mfg by General. I should have know better because this mfg is not known to produce much quality in their tools. I checked it against several things at home that I thought I knew the temp, like a pot on the stove, my wife, glass of tea etc and doubted it's accuracy. It came with a card showing it had been calibrated. Later the service technician checking my AC was using his Fluke infrared temp gun checking the air temp of my registers. There was a 10-15 degree difference in the Fluke and the General. He said that they have to test and recalibrate their instruments often.
I carried it back to Lowes for a refund and the clerk didn't even ask for a reason to return it. How are they going to know when they are selling defective merchandise when they don't keep up with what's wrong? This kind of management is what got Sears in the situation it is in now.

[tfischer]

I checked it against several things at home that I thought I knew the temp, like... my wife

Hahaha I'm not touching that one!

[Tom Slick]

At your Lowes does the cashier automatically push the "proceed" button on the credit card machine after you've swiped your card? It drives me crazy, they shouldn't touch it.

[LCHIEN]

At your Lowes does the cashier automatically push the "proceed" button on the credit card machine after you've swiped your card? It drives me crazy, they shouldn't touch it.

They're tired of having to prompt the user to do it and its faster if they just reach over and do it them selves. In a way I don't blame them, I shop there often and forget, there's no audible prompt and when they tell you verbally you have to wake up and then look and understand what they're telling you. - there should probably be a better UI - user interface where it blinks and beeps and the button is large and flashing and obvious instead of tiny.

[leehljp]

Loring, you are right about the incessant prompting. I got tired of it quick, but finally figured out what was happening. Tom probably adapted immediately. It is a "safety" feature, which of course is being over-ridden by the cashier. We are so used to sliding our card and signing. But now probably, because of a lawsuit or complaints of over charges to the CC companies, the new system is a multi step process started about a year or so ago in some places. 1. Slide/insert CC, 2. Question1 IS this a debit or CC? (If Debit, Question 2A. PIN number; Question; 3. Is this amount correct? 4. Sign.

In the past, it just showed us the amount, and we signed; now we have to verify the amount and type of card. If there is an overcharge, they are not liable for it.

The CC companies are trying to reduce their liabilities by making us be active in the process, but each step has a 2 to 3 second delay before moving to the next step. What used to be a 10 second check out AFTER Total is shown - is now a 20 to 30 second check out and it can be more if the buyer is talking or not paying attention to the process. Really affects the the customer experience when it is crowded and we are not attentive in the checkout process.

[capncarl]

Yes, it really affects the customer experience, the single cash register that is open has a line backed up to the carpet department, and the other 20 cash registers are setting vacant. Our Lowes does not have any of the self service registers but HD has several. I feel uneasy using them but have gotten to nowhere I like them, at least don't ask me if I have a My Lowes card!

[Tom Slick]

My issue is what if the POS said "do you want donate to..." or some similar. I wouldn't know because the cashier already pushed a button that I'm supposed to acknowledge.

Its a dumb setup, Lowes is the only one I've seen that has the extra step.

[LCHIEN]

My issue is what if the POS said "do you want donate to..." or some similar. I wouldn't know because the cashier already pushed a button that I'm supposed to acknowledge.

Its a dumb setup, Lowes is the only one I've seen that has the extra step.

Before the user input pad days, you handed the cashier your card and the cashier put in everything where you couldn't see, just the same essentially. Do you feel better now or before? At least the card is always in your hand now, I think this security improvement was the main objective.

[jussi]

I can't even find someone working in their department. Honestly every time I need help at a specific department I can never find one. I go and ask them to page someone and it takes 5-10 minutes for someone to show up.

[Tom Slick]

Before the user input pad days, you handed the cashier your card and the cashier put in everything where you couldn't see, just the same essentially. Do you feel better now or before? At least the card is always in your hand now, I think this security improvement was the main objective.

Maybe it's the engineer in me but that extra step is designed and intended for the customer and should be at the customer's discretion to push proceed as the designer intended. It's an unnecessary step, and Lowes is the only store I've noticed that has it, but it wasn't put there so the cashier could help push buttons on the POS.