Cooperland

I had a great experience this morning with a girl working one of the Mickie D’s drive through windows.  After I told her “Thank you” for processing my payment and giving me permission to move ahead, she responded with, “Thank you.”  Not “You’re welcome.”  Not “Okay.”  Not silence.  She said “Thank you.”  It doesn’t seem like much right?  But it was huge, and she’ll never know why.

You see, in the context of customer service, the proper response to a customer saying “Thank you” is to say “Thank you.”

Wonder why?  Because the customer doesn’t have to say thank you, but you should always say it.  The customer doesn’t have to use your service or to visit your store.  The customer is taking time out of his/her day and spending his/her hard earned money.  That customer could have done that anywhere else, but he/she didn’t.

My Lesson

I was taught this while working at a sports equipment store.  My manager was adamant that I never say you’re welcome to a customer telling me thank you.  He’d tell me, “You’re telling them thank you is a way of thanking them for visiting our store; for spending time here even if they don’t buy anything.”

The Church

So, how can we use this in a church environment?  In the same way that customers spend their time and/or money at a store they are doing the same by coming to our churches.  We should always thank them, even members, for taking time to visit and for giving.  They could do that anywhere else, but they didn’t.

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