The grocery store clerk glanced around the bustling store and confided, "I don't like this season." At the bookstore, a cashier encouraged me to fill out a customer satisfaction survey, adding in a half-whisper, "If I don't get a perfect score, it counts against me." I have been told the same thing by other retail workers on several occasions.
Small wonder they aren't crazy about Christmas.
Perfection? During the holidays?
True, we are bombarded this time of year with images of perfection. There are those overachievers who put up their lights well before Thanksgiving or Facebook friends who post photos of the neatly wrapped boxes under the tree weeks before most of us have started shopping.
My own house is cluttered with wrapping paper and untouched Christmas cards as I rush around running errands that never seem to get done. I would hate to be scored on my level of "perfection"--and my livelihood, thank God, doesn't depend on my efficiency in running a household.
There are many positive aspects to customer feedback--not the least of which is the potential for a better shopping experience. Dr. Serdar S. Durmusoglu, an associate professor of marketing at the University of Dayton, thinks the trend is a very positive one:
"I think that more companies should be doing those things. It's a way to gauge how well they are doing. The approach shouldn't be to point fingers at employees, but to get feedback and do something to improve."
Durmusoglu believes the customer satisfaction surveys send an important signal to employees: "It sends a message that customer service matters. Your ability to stay in business depends on your level of customer service."
I always warn my children to never date someone who is rude to the waiter or the retail worker. Yet, based on a few whispered confidences from workers, I can't help wondering if I unwittingly contribute to workers' misery through customer satisfaction surveys.
Most actual grownups, meanwhile, have figured out long ago that perfection is an unattainable human standard. It's a theme that runs through many of my favorite films this year. These are movies populated with very flawed people, yet in each case we find ourselves rooting for them, empathizing with them. If we can do that with celluloid characters, how about trying it with the real-life folks who sell us our groceries and holiday gifts?
If we could all show each other a little more compassion this Christmas, I'd say that would be just about perfect.
Editorial on 12/17/2014