Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Can I help you?
I went to get a haircut today. I walk in, stand in front of the receptionist and say hi. She looks up with a rather bored expression on her face, like I was bothering her. “Can I help you?” she asks.
I wanted to answer with, “Well let’s see, the name of your establishment is ‘The Haircutters’, so what do you think?” I’m not sure why the phrase “can I help you” irks me so much. I think it’s because, if you’re standing in front of them, waiting for them to look at you, you obviously need something. Of course they can help you. “How can I help you?” is much friendlier, I think. To me it indicates that they want to help you. It’s more “I’m here to serve you” and less “oh it’s you, whaddaya want?” Maybe I’m trifling with semantics, but sometimes it’s the subtle things that make good customer service.
Anyway, I came out with a fabulous haircut, so everything’s good!
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Categories: • Grrrrrr... • Thinking aloud