I happened to have arrived too early at the mall and the stores weren’t even open yet. However, I could walk through the mall’s thoroughfares and see inside the various retail stores, with staff members folding clothes and filling cash drawers. My destination was the Apple store, where I was headed to a free class offered to iPhone customers.
As I waited outside the entirely glass front of the store, I could see that all the sales people were gathered in the back with their leader talking to them, football coach style. They all wore the same red, branded t-shirt and appeared to be listening intently. It was pre-Christmas and there were A LOT of them. Finally, I heard them giving a cheer and then clapping loudly in what was obviously a daily ritual—the morning pep talk. “Boy, is that ever cheesy,” I thought. “A work cheer.”
I didn’t realize at the time that those associates were about to open the doors and give all of us early customers a cheer as well.They lined up down either side of two aisles and when the doors opened, and we all streamed in, they clapped for us, like we were the football team players heading out onto the field. It wasn’t perfunctory or forced. They just clapped and clapped, whistled and wooted with us.
It was kind of fun. Really. It made me laugh and actually feel good about doing business with them—albeit free business today—and I took back my “cheesy” thought of their own internal cheer. The employees were obviously enjoying themselves and that, I admit, made me feel good about spending time and money with their company.
Recent Comments