Free Web NovelChapter 272: Chapter 272: Service with a Smile
Not long after Gu’er and Sun Jiaming arrived, Li Zhi and Dingzi came too.
Li Zhi was followed by a young man, around twenty-five or twenty-six. He was decent-looking, and his clothes were quite fashionable.
’This must be the talented college graduate Li Zhi mentioned, the one who worked for a year and was planning to develop his career in Beijing,’ Gu’er guessed to herself. The man seemed easygoing, but there was a hint of arrogance in his eyes.
"Gu’er, Jia Ming, Liu Yuan, this is Qu Feng, a friend of mine. He’s a graduate from a proper university. If I hadn’t sought him out, he would have already gone to Beijing. I managed to pull him over here."
Li Zhi introduced him to Gu’er and Sun Jiaming, a hint of pride on his face.
"Qu Feng, this is Lin Gu’er, and this is Sun Jiaming," Li Zhi then said to Qu Feng. "They are the managers of the department store."
"Hello."
Gu’er nodded a greeting at him.
Qu Feng greeted them both as well.
Li Zhi led Qu Feng around for a look and gave him a brief introduction to the department store’s situation.
Qu Feng wasn’t particularly enthusiastic. He hadn’t wanted to stay and build a career in his hometown, which he felt was too small and had no future. He wanted to go to a big city. However, Li Zhi had found him last night and said a lot, making it hard for him to refuse outright without making Li Zhi lose face. So, he had agreed to come and take a look today. If he wasn’t satisfied, it would give him the perfect excuse to leave.
Although this private department store was quite large, it was nothing special to someone like him who had seen the world.
’There are five bosses. Never mind Li Zhi; his family has connections. But that Dingzi guy can be a boss? His family has nothing. I heard another one used to be a factory worker, one is from a village, and another is a woman. That woman does have a father who’s a district chief, though. Li Zhi probably wants to use her connections. The way I see it, this store is Li Zhi’s project. He used his father’s connections to get the contract on the cheap. Whether it’ll succeed is anyone’s guess. There’s no reason for me to tie myself down here.’
Because of this, Qu Feng paid little attention to Gu’er and the others, aside from Li Zhi.
When all the employees had arrived, Qu Feng grew even more dissatisfied. ’What kind of people are these? Hardly any of them are young. Some are on the verge of retirement, and others look sickly. What can people like this possibly do?’ He became even more pessimistic about the department store’s prospects.
Gu’er looked around and saw that the six missing employees had also arrived. None of them were particularly old, and they seemed to have a decent attitude. She nodded in satisfaction.
Gu’er took out the personnel assignment sheet she had written and began to read it aloud.
Four people for the warehouse: two during the day, two at night, rotating between day and night shifts. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
Four movers, responsible for loading and unloading trucks. This required strong, able-bodied men.
Four people for the security office, responsible for safety. They were all tall, sturdy men.
Two drivers, also men. They knew how to drive and repair vehicles from their previous jobs. With that, the dozen or so men were more or less assigned.
Among the women, there were salespeople and janitors responsible for cleaning. There were also two accountants and two logistics personnel.
Of course, there were still many positions left unfilled. Gu’er felt there weren’t any suitable candidates yet, so she left them open and would look for more people later.
Hearing the buzzing murmur from the crowd, Gu’er knew many people had objections. ’Who would want to clean when they could be a salesperson?’
"Everyone, please quiet down. These assignments were based on everyone’s individual circumstances. There may be opportunities to change positions in the future. But don’t think that working in the warehouse or as a janitor is a bad job. Everyone’s base salary is the same. Salespeople can earn commissions and bonuses, but warehouse staff, janitors, and movers can also earn bonuses. As long as you do your job well, no matter which department you’re in, if you work diligently, we will not treat you unfairly."
Gu’er reassured the crowd. Her words calmed them down. Everyone wanted to earn more money. If they could get a bonus for doing any job well, then they were willing to do it.
Qu Feng’s eyes flickered. He hadn’t expected the benefits at this private department store to be this good.
Gu’er then read out the rules and regulations they had established. This was just a general overview; they would be detailed further later.
The crowd had already heard a lot from Gu’er yesterday, so they didn’t have any major objections. Qu Feng, however, gave Gu’er a surprised look. ’I didn’t expect a private department store to have so many rules, and for them to be so progressive. If they really follow these regulations, this store might actually succeed.’
"Right now, I’m the only one conducting the training, so I can’t be everywhere at once. I’ll have to train you department by department. But I hope that no matter which department is being trained, everyone pays close attention. Don’t think it has nothing to do with you and ignore it. Learning more might be useful later. Even if your department isn’t being trained today, I don’t want to see any absences." freewebnovёl.ƈom
Gu’er instructed the fifty employees.
"Don’t worry, Boss Lin! We’ll be on time just for that perfect attendance bonus!"
A young man in his twenties shouted.
Gu’er smiled. ’Whatever the reason, as long as they’re motivated, it’s a good thing.’
’They even have a perfect attendance bonus? Many of the rules and rewards here are different from other department stores. Where did they learn all this?’ Qu Feng was even more surprised.
"Today, I’ll start with some general training for everyone. What I want to train you on is: smiling. I imagine you’re all thinking, ’What’s there to train? Smiling? Everyone knows how to smile.’ But what I want to say is that many people truly don’t know how. Don’t underestimate the simple act of smiling. A smile is a beautiful expression of a person’s peaceful state of mind and inner kindness. As the saying goes: a smile can make you ten years younger. A smile can lift spirits, spread goodwill, and it’s the best way to start an interaction between people. If you give someone a nice smile, you might just make their day. Think about it. When you go somewhere to buy something and see the salesperson, would you rather they give you the cold shoulder with a sour look on their face? Or would you prefer they serve you warmly with a smile the entire time, explaining things for you?"
Gu’er asked the crowd as she finished.
"Of course we’d want her to be smiling! Who wants to look at someone’s long, stinky face? Even if you buy something, you won’t feel good about it. You’ll just feel frustrated thinking about it later."
A middle-aged woman immediately chimed in.
"Exactly! The last time I went shopping, the salesperson had such a sour look on her face, it made my chest tight with anger."
Another woman said.
Everyone started discussing it among themselves.
"So, none of you like it when someone serves you with a sour face, right? It’s the same for other people. When customers come here to shop, if you greet them with a scowl, they won’t be happy. Even if they buy something, they won’t feel good about it. They might even decide not to buy anything at all, or just never come back. If that happens, our store definitely won’t survive. On the other hand, if you serve them with a smile the whole time, they’ll be in a good mood. They’ll definitely buy something, and maybe even buy more than they planned. When they think back on their experience, they’ll remember the good service here and feel happy. In the future, whenever they need to buy something, they’ll come to us. That is the power of service with a smile."
Gu’er explained the concept of "service with a smile" to everyone using the simplest reasoning.
