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The Proper Way to Address Your Customer

Is there a proper way to address a customer?  In the many years I have been served in restaurants and retail stores I have heard it all.  But how should the customer be greeted?  The other evening we were dining at one of our favorite Tex-Mex restaurant chains.  The young lady welcomed us at our table with a gleeful, "Hello, guys."  If I was dining with another male person, it would have been accurate.  As I was not, it sounded awkward and incorrect.  I have dined in places in and around Philadelphia and have been greeted with "Youz guys", also.  Again, very Philadelphia, but not correct.  I have heard "Folks", "Ladies and Gentlemen", "Guys and Gals", "Kids (?)" to name a few.  

According to Andrew Jensen, a business growth, efficiency and marketing consultant suggests to address them with a general greeting like "Hello, welcome to Wal-Mart."  Of course, you would use the establishment you represent.  It seems simple and direct.  You avoid the gender issues.  I know some people believe you should personalize the greeting.  You could, but be accurate.  "Good afternoon, sir and madam (ma'am)" seems a bit ostentatious and phony and out of date.  Who addresses anyone as madam or m'am?  Maybe, if you are in one of those upscale, snooty women's fashion boutiques the associate might refer to use a Ma'am.



Restaurant Owner.com has an article outlining how to give customers what they want.  They don't specifically address the servers' addressing the customers, but the host/hostess' address reinforces Jensen's approach. Maybe I'm snooty, but I would rather my fellow diners and myself be addressed generally than incorrectly.  A sincere and simple "Good day, evening, or afternoon" with a welcome to the establishment would be sufficient.  You don't have to "wow" me but be correct.

Another view supporting this approach is in Part 3 of this article from WikiHow.  They eliminate the concern of the gender at the table.   You can't go wrong with any of these approaches.

The message here is really much deeper than that.  When I was young, people were taught when young how to address people in general.  These days everything is "come as your are; do it on the fly, don't sit on pomp and circumstance."  

Communication in this country has declined severely over the last 50 years.  My proof?  Why is there an increase in gun violence in schools, the workplace and on roadways?  I'm not saying that not properly greeting your customers is the root of all the violence in society.  But, like the small snowball that rolls down the hill gathering more snow turning into a snow boulder wiping out everything in its path, the momentum could catch and maybe we all could start communicating correctly again.

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