PentaVision's "What's Your Story?" Blog

In case you’ve never stopped in to visit us before, PentaVision is located in shopping plaza in a residential area of South Bend. People are sometimes surprised to see us tucked back in this residential neighborhood, but we’re one of several businesses that call this place home. On one end of the building is one of those discount retail stores which usually has a pretty steady stream of customers throughout the day, including us at PentaVision. In fact, I’m quite sure that I probably buy more Fruit Stripe gum there than the kids that trickle in after school!

The employees at this store are usually pleasant and as I strolled in this morning, I was genuinely surprised and delighted at what I noticed upon entering. An adorable little old lady was sitting perched on the end of the checkout lane where the bags sit, and she was chatting away with the cashier. When I checked out, they were discussing pets and it seemed very comfortable and natural. Did the cashier think that this interaction was creating customer loyalty, or that the elderly woman might develop an affinity for this store in particular? Probably not – she was just doing what was natural to her – being nice and enjoying some conversation with a customer. The big question becomes: what would the cashier’s manager have done had she/he seen this? Would he or she have pulled her aside later and chided her for “wasting” time when she could have been doing more productive things? Would this manager have worried about lost productivity and accountability to corporate? Potentially. What would corporate have advised? My instincts tell me that it would discourage this type of behavior and interaction, because this is time that the cashier could have spent doing “work.” I have no actual inside knowledge of this company’s policies, so this is only my guess.

I don’t know about you, but I think this is my major issue with big corporations; everything comes down to the numbers and the “p’s” – productivity and profit. And now more than ever, I think it’s falling apart on them. With people like me demanding more out of these large entities (like decent customer service) and the ability to have rapid response to grievances, these big guys are finding a backlash among many consumers. With the increased emphasis on social media and relationships, the game is changing, and it’s the smaller businesses that seem to be at an advantage in this arena. With less bureaucracy to wade through, smaller businesses can sometimes be more flexible in listening and responding to our needs. I am hoping that bigger companies are trying to change and be better at the relationship – not just the transaction, but only time will tell if they can make the shift. Don’t get me wrong – I shop at big businesses too (hence the snack run), but they never seem to quite capture the feeling of small business hospitality. Maybe employees just aren’t empowered to feel as if they’re more than just a cog in the wheel, but that’s another topic of its own!

So, what did I learn that we can all apply? It is the little things that matter. Take some time to truly interact, to listen and learn. And be patient. You might not “sell” something right then and there. But you might be nurturing the customer of tomorrow.