I had a lovely visit to the Farmer’s Market to get my olives at the Gannet’s Pantry stall.
Had a great banter with him because when I commented that I couldn’t find the olives, he said, “No, we’ve moved them to the other end of the counter because we like to keep our customers agile.” So that was nice. My kind of customer service with a smile!
When I was paying him, he suggested it was that he would prefer cash. He didn’t say that outright, but when I offered cash, he was absolutely thrilled. Six euros. I held out eight euros in my hand. I had something in my other hand, and I asked him to pick the six. Without blinking an eyelid he said, “I think what I’ll do is I’ll charge you eight.” I could see there was a bit of a glint in his eye, so he took the eight, went to the cash register, and then he says, “And here’s two change for you. It’s all part of keeping our customers mentally agile as well as physically agile.”
Very obviously, he was able to read me well.
Yeah, lovely encounter. The simple things. All because I said I couldn’t find the olives in their usual corner.
We parted with another small shot. I thanked him in Irish. “Go raibh maith agat.”
“Now you’re trying to keep me agile. If I said ‘Tá Fáilte romhat’, would that be the correct way to say it?”
Perfect,” I replied, giving him a thumbs-up. Given that the man was English, I was impressed. He clearly understood an important principle of good salesmanship: connect with your customers, listen to them, and make them feel valued. Do that well, and they’re far more likely to come back.
