The Customer is Always Right, Right? Wrong.

Everyone employee has dealt with that jerk customer on the phone or even in person. The one who is snappy and impolite.  No one likes to deal with rude people, but unfortunately, it happens all the time.  Before this past year, I used to greet the employee assisting me with a "hello" and then straight out ask my question.  If I was calling a store to ask a question or asking for assistance somewhere in person, I wouldn't go out of my way to be friendly to the people helping me.  Don't get me wrong. It wasn't that I was disrespectful when greeting these strangers  However, there are definitely  people who act this way towards people that they are asking for help from.  I've personally seen many instances where the customer thinks that they are better than the employee that is trying to help them.  They yell at them if there is a misunderstanding or they just start out yelling right when the employee answers the phone or greets them in person.  About a year ago, my brother pointed out to me that when you give a friendly greeting,  it really goes a long way.  You don't need to pretend like you're best friends with the person.  Just simply asking, "How are you today?" or "How have you been?" changes the person's impression of you a great deal.  Using common manners, such as saying "please" and "thank you" seems obvious, but its surprising how many people have forgotten these rules they learned in childhood.  He suggested I try it out and see if the person helping me reacted differently than when I had not used his trick.  Not to my brother's surprise,  the employee was much more helpful and kind.  He also used the same respect when talking with me.  Since this experience, I have continued my friendly ways, both on the phone and in person.  It has also helped me to open up to strangers and make new friends.  I have learned that people really appreciate the simple respectful greeting that every person deserves.  And plus! It's really not much work to add in a "How are you?" and throw in a "please" and "thank you" here and there.  Try it sometime.  You might be surprised to see how much more respect you will receive when you put in that little extra effort.