Customer relations -When a cheery “hello” can go a long way

I needed to kill some time recently and wandered through a large out of town retail park.  They can be pretty soulless places but it was a bright sunny day it was actually pleasant to walk from store to store.

After half an hour I realised that the stores fell into 2 categories

ones that cheery “greeters” at the door  with a  friendly “hello” as you went in and staff on the floor smiling asking if they can help with the cashiers continuing with “did you find everything you wanted?”

or

the ones where you could wander the store aimlessly with the staff studiously ignoring you if you do ask for help greet you with a “why are you  interrupting me” look and the cashiers managing to take your money without actually looking at you.

We are – I believe – in the middle of an economic crisis where businesses are struggling. Which of those 2 stores would get your business if they were selling similar products?

Come on retailers. Hire your people because of their positive attitude and cheery disposition – you can train them for the other stuff –  treat your customers as if they are important( not an inconvenience) because they really are you know….