So sorry to be a nuisance

An everyday occurrence at a department store yesterday got me thinking.

I was at the service counter returning an item, and the clerk helping me continued to carry on a conversation with her fellow clerk. Apparently, someone was either fired or moved from the service desk, and it was quite a scandal. The other clerk has a theory about what was behind it all, but I wasn't there long enough to hear what it was.

What did I find interesting about all that?  Not the actual conversation, as I really didn't care about the drama of the service desk.  What I noticed and disliked was the way they acted as though I weren't there.  As the customer, I should have been the focus of the clerk's attention, but that most definitely was not the case.  Instead I was made to feel like an inconvenience, someone to "deal with" so they could get back to the real issue at hand of their conversation.

When a client calls, or stops by, do we perhaps make them feel that way?  That they are someone to be dealt with so we can get back to more pressing matters?  I hope that's not the way I treat my clients.  I'm sure to be more aware of it going forward, having been treated like a nuisance myself.

Best to give clients our full, undivided attention.  They are sure to notice and appreciate it.