This has been a pet peeve of mine for a while and I would love to know if it rubs you the wrong way as well. I think it’s a big customer service faux pas. This happens at fast food or low-price retail establishments, but do you say this to your customers? Customers who may be paying you handsomely for your products or services?

How this happens

A customer walks into a diner, convenience store, or other retail establishment and wants to purchase something. Perhaps they even have a question or a special request. After the server/clerk assists them, the customer thanks them and the server/clerk replies, “No problem.” 

Or, maybe they say, “Not a problem,” which in my opinion is even worse.

Why this doesn’t work

Somehow, hearing “no problem” always seems at a minimum passive-aggressive, and sometimes it even feels like a slap in the face. 

Said with the right amount of snotty attitude, it can make the customer want to apologize for having been a bother. Customers who are buying your products or services should not feel like they are bothering you by giving you their money!

The server, clerk, phone agent, or whoever is interacting with the customer has the job of serving the customer. That is what they are being paid to do. Without customers and their needs, they would have nothing to do and wouldn’t have a job. 

Now that’s a problem. 

What you can do instead

The bar for good customer service is so incredibly low these days. I know, everybody is spouting happy horsesh*t about how the customer comes first and advertising that they offer world-class service, often while quoting company policy and giving you the runaround, but few companies are actually serving their customers well.

You might want to strike “no problem” from your vocabulary and replace it with “Happy to help!” Or, its cousin, “My pleasure.”

Why? Because it puts you in the right mindset of serving your customer, and makes the customer feel important and valuable. (You do want them to come back to buy something, right?)

“You’re welcome” works too, but doesn’t have the same energy.

I know it seems like a small thing, but I think you will see big results from this one little change. And if you have employees who work with your customers and vendors, you will want to train them on this.

Photo by Christiann Koepke on Unsplash