The Eyes Have It!
Eye contact when selling or servicing customers is essential.
As I checked in for my Island Air flight to Maui today there was a group of pilots and flight attendants congregated at the counter. They were laughing and chatting with each other.
I watched carefully waiting for one of them to make eye contact with me. I had already checked in on the web, but had a simple question. I just wanted to know my gate number.
As they all moved about it was obvious that the only customer (me) was being ignored.
When the pilots left, three other employees continued to chat as they performed some small duties. One was preparing some baggage claim forms for a future flight; one was making announcements, and the other just hanging out.
Eventually one of them walked in front of me, around the counter and started to leave. I turned around and asked, “Does anyone work here”? Her curt reply told me that she didn’t like my question. I asked about my gate, and she pointed to a small area on my boarding pass with the gate number, and walked off.
Our new inter-island ferry starts service next week. I wonder if this new competition will help existing attitudes.
