Now This Is How to Greet a Customer

“How are you doing, sir? Are you having a good day?”

That, along with a handshake, was how I was greeted as I entered the Walmart in King of Prussia today.

I then proceeded to have a five-minute chat with John, the customer host/greeter.

Most of our conversation was centered around the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. John (not his real name) told me that when he left work he was planning to have his grandkids over and watch the History Channel special about the moon landing. Since we were about the same age, we recalled what it was like 50 years ago when Neil Armstrong stepped onto the surface of the moon.

As we parted ways, wishing each other a good day, I was struck by what a nice way it was to start my shopping trip.

It was obvious John loves his job and is skilled at creating a great first impression of Walmart as soon as a customer walks in the door.

As I walked around the store, I thought of other retail shopping experiences where you are often greeted with the typical “Is there anything I can help you find?” question. And most people typically answer, “I’m just looking.” It’s not that it leaves a bad impression, it’s just that it leaves no impression.

I’m not sure if Walmart offers training for its customer hosts (the new term for its greeters, along with added responsibility) so that they are all like John, but if not, they should certainly consider doing so. All it would take would be a 30-minute video of watching John in action to understand how to effectively perform such a role.

As we left the store with our purchases, John was there to ask us if we had gotten everything we were looking for, and then reminded me about the History Channel show about the te moon landing.

And that’s how you do customer service.

By the way, if you are curious what the image at the top of the post has to do with anything, that was the result of a challenge my wife had texted to my son and I as we walked around the store to “take a picture of the weirdest thing you can buy at Walmart.”

My wife was the one who found the InstaPod. Yes, it’s a little odd, but my first thought was that I want one of those. I’d love to set it up somewhere and think of it as my man cave. It looks like it would be a great place to read during a rainstorm.

My son took a picture of the following toy doghouse:

And I went for the grossest thing I could find:

I had a vague sense of what tripe was, and I recall it was not something pleasant. As it turns out, it’s the stomach of a cow.

So if you were ever curious what the Borden family does when it goes shopping, there you go.

And by the way, we all decided that my wife won with the InstaPod.