Whether you work at a restaurant for a summer waitress position or have consistently worked as a sales associate in a large mall store, retail jobs can be some of the most demanding work you could find for less than average pay. It can be either the best or the worst experience any employee could have.
Always on your feet and catering to the needs of customers, making the sale is of the utmost importance to the company. And anyone who has had at least one retail experience knows that it can be both challenging and rewarding.
1. We truly want to help you.
As an employee, it can be hard to meet the demands of every customer. Sometimes it's out of our power to give the customer what they want and no one wants to go unhappy. We want you to have a good experience at our establishment so it will create less problems for all of us and allow our company to make money.
2. When it's time to close, please be considerate and leave the store.
It's late at night by then and although you may have money to give to us, it can also keep us from properly closing up shop. We'll never say it to you directly but when a employee goes up and asks "The store is closing soon but take your time" it's really code for "Please leave".
3. The details hide behind the bigger picture.
Working at a big place means time is money. Oftentimes we'll make do with the way the store or restaurant works even though there is so much more that needs to be done. And it's always in a way that most people would never notice. What goes on behind the scenes will remain a mystery to the average customer.
4. "Hi, do you work here?"
Please don't ever ask this. It is one of the biggest retail pet peeves in the book. Sure you probably said it to get our attention or keep things from being awkward, but all does is wear away patience. I mean of course we just have this tag that says "employee" or this ridiculous worker outfit on for fun, right?
5. There are always two types of people.
This can apply to both customers and employees and well...life in general. You will either have workers who are run down and don't approve of their job or are always energized and love what they do. There will be rude or quiet customers just like their will be funny and nice ones. It always varies.
