Saturday, September 6, 2008

(W3) A few minutes in a Deli

For those that have been to a deli in the last year, you can skip the rest of this paragraph (though you would miss out). Supermarkets house a good selection of food, the deli holds a few more choices then people normally realize. My deli is run on the honor system where people wait until the people before them were served at the counter.

To show you two conversations that tend to happen frequently (semi-w/the intent to open deli costumer relations to a new degree.) I will be playing the role of deli sale clerk and I will have a customer.

A middle aged man and myself:
I start the conversation 'May I help who was next?' No response given by the few people lined up. 'Anyone not being waited on?'
'I guess it's me.'
'Hello,'
'Hi, how are you today?'
'I am doing well and yourself?'
'Fine'
'Is there anything I can get for you?'
'What do you have for a turkey?'
'Well we have fourteen different types of turkey, was their anything that you were looking for in your turkey?'
'Just a plain one, do you have a turkey that is low in sodium?'
'Yep the golden home style,'


Next is a younger women and myself.
Because she was standing at the counter alone, I say 'Hi, how are you today?'
'Good, I need a pound of potato salad.'
'Which would you like,' as the women moves to see the choices 'we have the red royal, the baked, the creamy white, the German and a sweet potato salad.'
'Oh, hmm.'
'Are their any you would like to taste?'
'No,..., the baked looks good, I will have a pound of that.'

4 comments:

johngoldfine said...

What would you do with me? I'm very abrupt--"Pound of low sodium turkey, please." No chitchat at the deli counter....

This works for week 3...almost. The lead-in, where you twice address your audience ("you"), is not the way to go. There has to be a sharper way to start--the address to the audience is a copout.

Any other openings from the 14 types available? Some way of tying these two dialogues together, a particular point?

nkassigned08 said...

If you made it clear enough which item you wanted I would slice it, the costumer interaction is based on the custom and his cues. For no chitchat my conversation would be the minimum."May I help who is next, how would you like that sliced, anything else I can get for you,..., Thank You." We have to react to you to give you the customer assistance you need. I have over two years of deli training, most things come second nature. Though do be warned I can get most people talking (It's the Virgo in me.)

On: 'Any other openings from the 14 types available?'
Can you give me a brief overview of the 14 types?

johngoldfine said...

14 types: low sodium, smoked, honey glazed, hi sodium, etc etc.

Really--opening with a direct address to the hypothetical reader is running on empty, which I know you otherwise are not. I could write a sample opening that you might or might not like, but my reading of you is that that would prick at your justifiable writer's pride, so I just offer these remarks.

nkassigned08 said...

Thanks for clarifying, reading through some of the prompt ideas I think a have a more suitable solution.

(Hurting my writer's pride would be had pressed, but I do gain more from guidance then from one of many possibilities.)