Are the Customers OK?

"Have you been having a nice day so far?"

It wasn't a close friend of family member who asked me this question, but the guy behind the counter at the FedEx/Kinkos store. He asked as if he really cared and really wanted to know.

I was taken aback because when you think about the typical dynamic between customer and customer service-giver, it's usually the standard, "How are you today?" Sometimes without eye contact; sometimes without more than one syllable proffered. (Who’s with me on this?)

But lately, there’s been a sort of almost Stepford-like pleasantness on the behalf of store employees it seems, where they appear to really, truly and deeply want to help.

"For the first time ever I was asked in Target if I needed help finding something," a friend of mine in Wilmington, Del., told me. "That has never happened before," she said. "They took for granted that you'll come in and spending $150 on things you didn't even know you needed."

Hester Scott, who was shopping in TJ Maxx with her daughter, said that she too, has noticed a change in the customer climate.

"We just went into Belk's (the country's largest privately owned department store) and they were very nice and — 'How are you doing today Ms. Scott?' — addressing you by name to get you to purchase," says Scott. "Usually they don't do all the extra trimmings on it like that, but it seems like they are being nicer and making you feel more comfortable to do whatever it takes to sell their product."

So is the upshot of the downturn in the economy is that there's been a return to actual customer service? Is this bygone art form from the bygone era of the Maytag man, shirtwaists and malted milkshakes making a comeback?

Rick Olson, a professional speaker who consults with companies on themes like service and management, thinks so and he says he finds the change encouraging.

"I am seeing a return to it. I have a lot of dates on my calendar that are all about coming in to give a company a game plan for increasing their customer service," Olson said.

In fact, the city of Bloomington, Minn., is responding to the effects of the shattered economy — and the community left to pick up the pieces — with proactive ingenuity: They've hired Olson to teach a new program for city employees, specifically geared toward learning how to give customer service to distressed people. "Their husband has lost his job, or they can't pay their water bill, so how can we be of service to people who are very distressed?"

This might be a trend born out of necessity, unfortunately, but as tempers rise with the unemployment rate, perhaps more cities and companies will be as forward-thinking in their approach to help stem the ripple effects from these challenging times. A simple, "I'm sorry, but that's our policy," is not going to suffice when the wolves are at the door for an increasing number of people.

Olson, whose client list includes companies like Target and the U.S. Government, is optimistic about this chance for a change.

"I work with a lot of banks and credit unions, and I don’t hear any of them talking about new branches or expansion," he said, "but they are talking about things that they can control like, 'We probably can't build new buildings, but we can do a whole lot better at what we're doing internally.' So that's where they're putting a lot of their energy right now."

Also, the job that you hated yesterday might be the very same job that you have found a renewed appreciation for today. And for those that ignore the kinder trend? Like Julia Roberts told those snobby salesladies in Pretty Woman — "Big mistake."