Editorial: It's not rocket science - be nice

Every person in this crowd is potentially a walking, talking billboard for the businesses they like, and dislike. Photo / File

THERE are a lot of things in this life that rile me up. Items with the ability to get my blood boiling are wide-ranging, from leggings worn as if they're pants to the one in four kids in this country who live in poverty and the thousands more who go to school hungry each day. But, for some reason, of all the injustices in the world, the thing that annoys me most often, taking out the dubiously glorious top spot in Rosie's Rage-Inducing Pet Hates, is crappy customer service.

I just don't see any real reason why all customer service isn't good? It's not rocket science, you just have to be nice. And try to help as best you can. Even if you can't help, being nice when you say there's nothing you can do goes a long way to keeping everyone happy. A little bit of charm goes a long way.

I spent the majority of my 20s working in customer service roles, from a supermarket, to retail to a bank call centre. And it's really not that hard.

Clothes shopping can be a truly joyous, or truly traumatic, which is to say a certain level of tact is required in retail. There are things that staff should never, ever say. But some do.

A friend of mine tried on a pair of jeans that really weren't for her. But instead of the shop assistant saying a different style would look better (as I used to do), she just said "Oh no, no, no, definitely not" and looked genuinely revolted. My poor friend went home and cried. Thankfully she now laughs about it. Or my friend who tried on a dress only to be told it would look good if she wore Spanx shapewear. Not surprisingly, she didn't buy it. Really? That's just plain rude.

Another friend discovered her new jeans had a big white mark where the dye had not taken. She took them back to a manager who was snotty, didn't apologise and made her feel like she'd done something wrong. This is not good enough, New Zealand. When you work in customer service, your first response should never be "no". It should at least be, "Let me see what I can do." If you work in customer service, do your best to be a yes person.

Business owners need to realise that building a culture of good customer service is the easiest way to increase your bottom line without it really costing you anything, other than the time required to teach your staff to be nice. Word of mouth is the most powerful marketing tool. But bad word of mouth travels faster than good. So, if you want people to keep spending their hard-earned cash with you, you gotta be nice. Every customer is potentially a walking, talking billboard for your business. Goodness knows, if I have a great customer service experience, I will tell everyone. Like I said, it's not rocket science. Just be nice, for crying out loud.

That said, as customers we can help, too. All it takes is a smile. And patience if there's an issue. I spent my fair share of time on the receiving end of ranting calls when I worked at the bank. When something goes wrong with your money, it's pretty stressful - I understand that. But yelling at the poor person trying to help you won't fix it any faster. I'm not saying I'm perfect in this regard. Far from it. It can be hard to keep your cool when something goes really wrong.

This is usually when I tap my husband to make the complaint calls. You should have heard him when our power was inexplicably switched off for eight hours with no warning due to a miscommunication between power companies when we moved recently. He was a picture of calm and reason. An incredible sight to behold as our lounge room darkened in the fading daylight and I struggled to find the measly three candles we own. (Note to self: You're an adult now, Rosie. Time to get a proper emergency kit together.) But I am trying to be better when the proverbial hits the fan.

Ultimately, it goes both ways. If, as customers, we are nice then, hopefully, we'll get the same treatment. Maybe we all need to step up? As Oprah Winfrey said in her interview with Hilary Barry earlier this week - "Your legacy is every life you ever touch". That is, every single interaction you have will be your life's legacy.

So smile, and be kind. Be understanding and do your best to help. And the world will be a greater, happier place for it.