Originally Posted April 28, 2008
Getting Personal
There is a practice that I believe is called personalizing, it's when a clerk at some store goes out of they're way to be familiar. Here at our local Safeway the clerks stop, look at your receipt, figure out how to pronounce your last name, and then won't let you leave without saying "Thank you Mr. Smith, or Jones" or whatever your name might be. I find this practice appalling. Nothing against being friendly but this imposed "Thank you Mr _____ " is just fake and stiff. Whatever happed to "Sir", as in "Thank you , Sir". Also I'm not sure I want to have everyone in line behind me knowing my name.
I've heard that the local health club is instructing its employees to use the phrase "live well" whenever parting company with a client or member. That's great, so deep and caring.
I know that this is a corporate concept aimed at connecting with its clients. Leave it to a corporation to, using scripted patter, micromanage any personality out of its employees. And that's about all that these kinds of mindless, robotic pleasantries result in.
Posted 7:56 pm April 28, 2008
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