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Having owned and maintained both a ‘brick and mortar’ and a ‘click and mortar’ store for several years, I tried to look approach this question from an unbiased perspective. I wanted to capture the sense of fairness from both the customer’s point of view as well as that of a proprietor.

I’ve faced this gray area of customer service / customer disservice on more than one occasion over the years from both sides of the cash wrap. Enough times that I believe I can form an authoritative position on the subject and create a policy for our business that feel is fair and just, and can proudly stand behind. However, being the strong headed (some may call it stubborn, well phooey on them, hmmph!) person that I am, I wanted to hear other people’s perspective.

The interesting thing about this small business management subject matter is that anyone can have a say so. In fact, it would actually be more important to hear from the consumers as opposed to the folks behind the counter, whether they be managers, owners, or sales personnel. So, this is what I did. I belong to several different discussion groups of various subject matters as well as some small business network groups both online and off. I posed this question to those who cared to answer and was surprised by the variety of responses. Some I thought hit the nail on the head, while others, in my professional expert opinion, were somewhat less than inspiring.

Here’s the scenario, now read carefully because some of the respondents seemed to have missed a detail somewhere and appeared to have provided an answer to a question that wasn’t asked, okay here we go; You’re working alone at the front counter in your store. You may have coworkers or employees, but they’re on break or otherwise unavailable. Your business phone rings, you answer it and begin a business conversation with a customer (this is not a personal call from a friend). A moment later, a customer from within your store approaches your front counter. How do you handle this situation?

Again, I’ve received about as many different answers as there were respondents. However, there were several that had common answers. Fortunately, I don’t have to compile the results for a final thesis for a business degree! Without pointing fingers, I’d like to share some of the philosophies that are out there and you can agree or disagree as you wish, for now (Of course, ultimately, you have to agree with me. That’s the rule!). Keep in mind, however, that although you are a business owner or manager, you are also a consumer. As such, you may walk into this scenario and wonder who’s store you’ll walk into; the one where the owner/manager feels the way you do, or the one who doesn’t?

Respondent 1:

“I feel that the person in the shop has their money there to spend. The person on the phone might not bring theirs in. I’d politely say “May I call you back?” or “I have a customer ready to check-out, if you can hold on I’ll be right back to help you!” Most customers both in the store and on the phone can understand the need to take care of all customers. And, to be honest, if they aren’t understanding about this, it is probably a customer I’d wish on my competition anyway!”

Critique 1:

This answer was provided when I first introduced the scenario in which the in store customer had merchandise in hand. I wondered if this might elicit a “bird in hand” response. This is an unfortunate philosophy in business. All things considered, we don’t know if that customer simply brought the merchandise to the counter simply to ask if this item “comes in blue?” Now, having hung up on the phone customer, you may have lost that one too. As interesting as that was, it wasn’t what I was looking for (perhaps another article). What I wanted was to make both customers equal. As a phone customer in this scenario, I probably wouldn’t be very happy about being cast aside for someone who came after me. I thought this respondent started back on the right track with, “Most customers both in the store and on the phone can understand the need to take care of all customers.” Unfortunately, I don’t agree with the heirarchy is fair. And then, “And, to be honest, if they aren’t understanding about this, it is probably a customer I’d wish on my competition anyway!” Whoa! This is the attitude I get simply because I used the phone to conduct business, not to mention being first in “line”? As a customer, it looks like I’ll be shopping with his/her competition!

Respondent 2:

“I will assume that the caller is a paying customer who is ready with her credit card for a mail order - and for some weird reason I am alone … I would ask her if she would mind waiting a minute while I finished up with my counter sale .. if she did, I would say, I understand your time in valuable, could I give you a call back as soon as I finish up here … fine? not fine. If not fine, I would tell the counter customer that I have started taking a phone order, would she mind waiting just a minute or two while I finished up … sure to see the problem and not mind .. I’d finish up and then probably give the in store customer a 5% discount for her time and a freebie (we always have freebies) If they were both be-otches, guess I’d accidently hang up and continue with the in store customer ha haha ”

Critique 2:

First, I’d rather not have any assumptions made in the scenario, but okay, let’s go with it. You’re assuming “that the caller is a paying customer who is ready with her credit card for a mail order…” Cool. Money in hand. A sure thing. A paying customer now will likely be a paying customer again, if treated right. So, you interupt your paying customer, whom you began your transaction prior to Jenny Comelately’s approach, and you ask if she would mind waiting so you can tend to Mrs. Comelately. Apparently, she minds and you tactfully understand that “her time is valuable”, good, and yet you insist on putting her off by asking if you could call her back as soon as your finished with Mrs. Comelately? It appears that she insists to be taken care of immediately (I admire her patience at this point). As if this scenario couldn’t get any worse, “sure to see the problem and not mind”, we are now reducing the paying customer who steadfastly believes in “First Come, First Served”, to a “problem”. Further, just because Mrs. Comelately did not approach your counter two moments earlier, she receives not only a discount on her order, but also a freebie? And finally, “If they were both [be-otches], guess I’d accidently hang up and continue with the in store customer ha haha” Okay, let me get this straight, the phone customer is in progress of purchasing goods from your store with her credit card in hand; she’d rather continue and complete her transaction rather than be put on hold or called back; for this, she’s diminished to being a “problem”; referred to as a (’b’ word); “accidently” hung up on; and the in store customer, also potentially a (’b’ word), gets priority service, a discount, and a freebie? Suddenly I feel like I have fewer places to shop.

Respondent 3:

“This is what I would do, as the person walked up to the front desk I would ask the person on the phone to hold for a minute, I would then say to the person at the front desk that I was on a call and would be with them in a moment… I would then handle the telephone call first and then move on to the customer at the front desk second.

By doing it this way… both customers should be happy as the first one (on the phone) is dealt with first whilst the second one has been acknowledged (I’ll be with you in a moment) and will be dealt with as soon as you have finished helping the person on the phone.”

Critique 3:

Bingo! Although I couldn’t have said it better myself, I’m going add my two cents anyway. What interested me most about this response was that this sentiment was rare amongst the many responses received in my survey. Yes, there were many responses overall, but for the sake of ever completing this article, I think three responses and critiques should bring forward the point.

Respondent 3 mentioned an excellent strategy that I hope will help you with your customer service skills. “…I would ask the person on the phone to hold for a minute, I would then say to the person at the front desk that I was on a call and would be with them in a moment…” By doing this, without pushing the ‘hold’ button so as the phone customer can hear, it puts the phone customer on notice that you have other business to tend to and it would be kind if they refrained from small talk for the remainder of the conversation. I realize that some customers can be somewhat chatty, but this one simple step acknowledges your in store customer while at the same time expedites your phone customer.

This response was perfect in an ideal world. However, unfortunately, we don’t lve in an ideal world. With that in mind, our store employees are given this customer service philosophy as a ‘guideline’ more than a “policy”. We realize that some people are less patient than others and our employees are empowered to handle each situation with as much tact as possible with as much sense of fairness as can be. Yes, most customers are understanding to a busy employee attempting to please everyone at once. However, they are very well aware of who was first to get your attention and if left feeling neglected or given the sense that they’re less important, they will let you know. Either they will walk out empty handed, or complete their transaction and never return.

Personally when I am a consumer supporting someone else’s business, this scenario is something I take notice of. If I am in someone’s shop talking with a shopkeeper and the phone rings, I encourage them to answer it. Even if it’s only to answer a quick “What time do you close?” or to at least allow them to acknowledge the phone customer and offer them to hold while he/she tends to a previous customer. I also watch for this scenario as a phone customer. In fact, even more so. Personally, I would much rather a real person answer my phone call and ask me to hold on, than to have to endure a voice mail prompt. Even if I only want to know what time a business closes, I’d rather wait my turn and ask a real person.

I also understand the differences in various sizes of businesses and their available resources. Some depend heavily on telephone business while having very little foot traffic. Again, all the more reason to find a way to personally acknowledge everyone possible. If you’re that busy that one person can’t do it, then it’s likely time to hire additional personnel. Some may consider that an unreasonable expense versus just retrieving voice mail messages at your leisure. On the other hand, I can assure you that I’m not the only consumer with an aversion to leaving a voice mail during normal business hours when I should reasonbly expect someone to answer the phone. Now, am I a total stickler about this to the point where I won’t call back? No. Generally, I will call back once or twice, and depending on how badly I need something, I may even leave a message. Will I be a satisfied customer to where I would likely recommend that business to a friend or return for additional business? Not if I can help it.

So, I’ve polled numerous business minded people on both sides of the counter, as well as providing my perspective on the subject matter. Is this topic closed for conversation? Never. My hunch is that after reading this, you will consider this question and scrutinize the person behind the counter each time you walk into a shop and their phone rings. I’m also hoping that for those of us on the working side of the counter, we consider our “guidelines” as to what’s fair. What makes one customer more important than another?