Two Cashiers Taught Me the Real Secret to Great Customer Service

21 Jun 2026 #misc

Buying a birthday present…

“We have these tote bags. They’re so practical,” she told me.

I was secretly buying a birthday present for my sister. “I’m looking for Hello Kitty merch,” I told her when I entered the store. My sister was turning 30, but still adored Hello Kitty. She left the register and guided me to a red aisle with almost every Hello Kitty item you can imagine.

When I showed her a photo of my sister, she recommended the right lipstick—Hello Kitty-themed, of course. “OK, I trust you,” I said and went with her recommendation.

After a few minutes, buying a lotion…

Moments later, I was in a skin-care store. It was a single-aisle store, bottles of all sizes behind bright, mirrored selves.

I pulled out my phone and showed a photo of the lotion I needed to buy.

“Have you used it before?” the cashier asked me. “It’s an errand,” I said. “You can buy a refill instead,” she searched for the lotion on the shelves. “Did you know that’s only the first step in a good skincare routine?” she said. “You also need…,” she started to list other products I didn’t know about. I only said thanks and smiled.

I wasn’t really a client. I didn’t know about their products or skincare routines. I had said I was there to buy one exact product. The lotion from the photo.

Guess who offered me a better service? The first one: the one where I bought the Hello Kitty bag. I said what I needed and got exactly that.

Lesson: Meet your clients, readers, prospects, or whoever where they’re at. Sometimes help is giving them what they asked for. That’s the best customer service.