It Takes All Kinds

I am a firm believer that everyone has something to bring to the table.  Each of us has things we are good at, and others we are AWFUL at attempting.  There is really no way we could do everything in life on our own.  For instance, if I had to build something with power tools at this moment, it would fall over. 

Not to say that I won't learn power tools, but that is beside the point. 

When you work at a bank, you get to see the good, the bad, and the ugly of the financial world.  It is a sad but true fact that favorites are always played and it really isn't always fair.  I have seen people practically dive under their window to avoid waiting on a certain customer for whatever reason.  And I am not saying there are not any people slightly leaning toward the crazy side that I don't sometimes want to dodge myself, but behind a lot of crazy or smelly or downright hard to deal with customers are some nice folks.

For instance, a guy walked in a few weeks ago that when everyone saw him coming there was a chorus of "ughs" and "oh please not my window".  I see each customer like this: either I wait on them and have something to do for five minutes, or I avoid them and continue to be bored. So I put on my most chipper of expressions and perked right up when he walked in the door, and of course won him over to my window.  Granted all of my "competition" was ducking down and looking away.  So maybe it was winning by default.

And you know, he immediately started cracking jokes about how we must have opened just for him that day.  He was extremely pleasant and I let him know that sadly we had not had time to blow up the balloons and put up the banners that we should have had since we "opened just for him".  The other tellers, needless to say, really missed out on a pleasant guy.

I think your attitude directly sets the attitude of your customer.  An infectious smile can subconciously start to perk them up as well, and really set the tone for the rest of the encounter.

There are people all over the world that really are not the one you would choose to deal with if you got to make the call.  But even the smelly customers who probably haven't showered in the last week can have something to bring to the table.  And like it or not, their business is part of what justifies your paycheck. If only the perfect people had accounts we would be in serious trouble as bankers (especially us summer helpers haha).

I have also found that more often than not, some of the "less than desirable" people in life turn out to be the ones that would really come through for you in a pinch.  We have had some questionable people that we had the joy of calling friends throughout the years and they have surely saved us in times of need. 

When I was a kid in elementary school, my mom MADE me invite everyone to my birthday parties. I pretty much hated doing it, because it was weird to give invites to people that I really didn't talk to...ever...but looking back and remembering the excitement (and oftentimes SHOCK on peoples faces when they got that invite) makes me sure I will force my kids to do the same later on in life.

What if no one ever invited you to a party?  What if everyone hid when you came in the door?  What if no one ever legitimately seemed happy to see you? 

I really think this is why people get dogs.  Dogs truly look so incredibly happy to see you when you get home as if they will just bounce right out of their skin.   So if by any chance you are in the customer service business, or just interact with people on a daily basis, and by all means if you are a teacher/professor in any level of school, try to make people think you are happy to see them...even if really you want to strangle them because they are making your job one million times harder.  It might be the only smile they get all day.

On a random sidenote, I think this all goes back to the Grinch when his heart grew 3 sizes or whatever- I feel like him.  A couple days ago I caught myself thinking about how scared the spider must have been that I was whacking with a towel and I genuinely felt bad for causing him so much panic...

And it is at this point at which I am sure I must be losing my mind... Pin It Now!