As a supervisor in the retail industry, we had managers who were so detail oriented that I could not believe they didn’t have a stroke when they walked in the doors each day. I remember them walking through an aisle and adjusting signs so that they were perfectly straight, adjusting product so that you couldn’t slide a knife between them and checking for dust.
Sure, in retail, you have to have everything perfect for the customer. Even though within minutes after the doors open for business, the place becomes a wreck because those same customers don’t care if they just unfolded every T-Shirt on the table just to find that they like the T-Shirts on the other table better.
Customers want everything their way, they will complain about the way you put something in their cart if they are in a mood. As a business person now, I have learned that I want my customers to feel special, but just because I work hard to make their experience special, does not mean I have to lose my cool when it does not happen the way it was supposed to happen.
The problem is not the customer, but me. I should do my job and trust that everyone else is going to do their job, too. If I spend my waking hours wondering about a potential problem, then I am being non-productive and probably harming my health. It is called sweating the small stuff. If a customer did not receive an email when their shipment left, I should find out why, and correct the problem – while also easing my customer’s mind by sending him an email apologizing for not getting them an email right away, and addressing what we are doing to fix this going forward.
But when this happens to you, what is the course of action you should take?
Sometimes, remembering to breathe is the hardest part.
Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff–and it’s all small stuff by Richard Carlson.