Yesterday's Wisdom - Mrs Caulder

Yesterday’s Wisdom – Mrs Caulder

It seems as if Good Old Fashioned friendly retail service has become a thing of the past.  Getting to know your regular clients never seems to rate very highly on the skills taught to the staff of retail stores; which is a great shame as personal relationships with your clients builds a bond beyond that of 'customer and sales person'. We all know the cost of finding new customers if very much less than retaining an existing customer base, but it is surprising how many independent businesses do not make this fact integral in the company philosophy.

When I left school in the pre-computer age, I was a mere 14 years old. I went straight into my fathers multi outlet butcher shop business.  There were five shops and a small manufacturing plant at that time and all the new apprentices had to spend at least six months working in Uncle Dave's retail shop to get them `licked into shape'. I was treated exactly the same as all the other apprentices and was always singled out for the worst jobs just to prove that there was no favoritism.

My mother had wanted me to go on to University and become a Psychologist. Psychology was a recently new profession in those days and it was believed by people like my father and his brother, Uncle Dave, to be a word used by smart criminals to excuse their anti-social behavior: “The defendant was psychologically damaged as a child, your Honor.” However, it soon became apparent that, although they despised the word, and their believed interpretation of the word, they were actually masters of the subject.

I had been working in the shop for only five days when after serving a customer and her leaving the shop.  I was grabbed by the scruff of the neck by Uncle Dave and lifted off my feet.  Dave did not look particularly strong or muscular but that was another lesson I was to learn that day "never judge a book by its cover”.  I was dangling about six inches from the floor with my nose only inches from Dave's, "That Lady's name is Mrs Caulder," he blared into my face, "You will call her Mrs Caulder every time she comes into the shop".

If the fear and humiliation were not sufficient, Dave punctuated each word with a slap across the jaw.  My head was rattling from side to side as his words were forever embedded into my sub-conscious mind.  So much so that when I get to heaven, (hopefully), Mrs Caulder is up at the top of my contacts list.

Dave knew that everyone has a deep psychological need to be known and recognised.  Every customer of that business was converted to a client.  One of the original shops still exists today, some 50 years later, and Mrs Calder's grandchildren are still being greeted and fare welled by name.

Knowing a person’s name and using it every time you could was a sign of respect and created a bond that often would not be broken by a competitors discounted promotion. The other fantastic benefit was that when the client smiled with a warm fuzzy feeling that she had been recognized and was of some worth, it also infected the deliverer thus creating an atmosphere of friendship and camaraderie with fellow workers and customers alike that manifested in phenomenal staff satisfaction and retention.

Colin S Mackie.