Your String Is Out

In just about every job that exists, there is a measure of customer service involved, with customer satisfaction as a top priority. Whether the establishment deals directly with customers on a one on one basis, coming through their doors all day long, looking for goods or services, sales by phone, or even internet based product sales, it is all about how we can guarantee the customers have a good experience while with us and that they get the best product that we can offer. The same goes for those who are only service based, that do not have physical products, such as accountants, bankers, stock brokers, tax experts, a sewage drainage company, or a landscaper.

If you are a worker, manager, or an owner of a business that produces and offers physical products, you know that you deal with more than just the consumers who walk through the door daily. For instance, you will be dealing with companies and wholesale vendors who you will have to purchase parts from to make your products. If you have a brick and mortar, you will be buying goods and services yourself to keep your employees happy and content, such as cleaning supplies, office supplies, kitchen supplies, and so on and so forth. You will be their customer, and expect the best product, experience, and price from them as well. Your employees will also be expecting polite treatment from you, and you will be expecting a ‘fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay’ from them, that you discussed specifically during each interview. In the job world, the phrase has been coined as ‘internal and external’ customers. Fair trade and commerce have been around since the beginning of days and is not a new concept. It is Capitalism at its finest.

In all our making, producing, selling, and working, as we go about our day, it is easy for us to forget that not only are we human, but so are those we are dealing with. We often get caught up in the business aspect of things so much, with a ‘you owe me’ attitude, that we forget to show respect and regard for those on the other side of the phone call, counter, or email. We can fall into arrogant, high minded thinking, especially if we think we have people between a rock and a hard place, where they have no choice but to purchase their materials or goods from us, for whatever reason. This is not my point, but I will add, beware lest we forget our humble beginnings, and need to be brought down to size once again. However, my point is, when all is said and done, and the business lights go out, we are dealing with real people and souls who represent real lives, families, and communities, just as we do.

It is said that the best advertisement that a business can ever have is ‘word of mouth’ advertising. If someone is treated kindly, the service is good, and they feel like you care, they will often give raving reviews, whether they thought the product was all that great or not. Of course, great products matter as well, but the opposite is also true. Your product could be the greatest in the world, but if you have no respect for the individual buying it, they will not be highly likely to recommend your place of business. You never know how far- reaching the influence is that the person in front of you carries. The goal in any business is not only to make new customers, but to keep current customers. All car salespeople know that they not only want the person to send in their friends and relatives to buy a car from them, but they want them to come back for their next purchase as well. The only way to do that is to remember that they are just people and they want to know that someone sees their needs and cares about them.

Keep in mind that not only are you offering a product or service as the vendor or provider, but as a customer, they are going to be handing over to you a sum of money. They are entrusting you with something that represents hard work, blood, sweat, and tears, on their part. Transactions involving trade are not gifts, but something they are purchasing, and you are benefiting from. Respect for that alone should come into play. Being kind and courteous can garnish greater dividends for you and them, than actual dollars could ever buy. Showing kindness is in fact free. You do not have to swipe your credit card, write a check, or reluctantly dig deep into your pockets to produce a dollar or two every time you smile at someone, yet it could mean more to that person than you will ever be able to know in this life. A smile is something that has everlasting value, not temporal as our meager products here on earth do.

Giving to others of your time and energy to help someone does not cost you monetarily either, and you will be surprised how much you will gain from giving back to others and your communities. Acts 20:35 admonishes us, “I have shewed you all things, how that so laboring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, it is more blessed to give than to receive.” In Luke 6:38 Jesus said,“Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.”  

Hospitality and giving back are what will draw people to you and your business, far more than any arrogant spirit or attitude you portray.1 Peter 4:9 says, “Use hospitality one to another without grudging.”Romans 12:13 tells us, “Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.”Titus 1:8says, even if you are a bishop, “Be a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate.”  Your importance and status in this world, the business world, governmental or executive positions, are not what will count in eternity. God is looking at how you treat others. Jesus said in Luke 6:31, “And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.”  We should learn to listen twice as much as we speak! Stop for just a split second with each person you encounter to allow them to share something about themselves or their day.

I was reminded of this a few days ago when I was traveling for work. I had contracted a summer cold from my grandkids I suppose, because we all know that ‘back to school time’ is ‘back to germ time.’ On the second day of our training, as I was getting dressed for work, I took medication to clear my head, because I just did not feel well. I also tried to drink enough coffee to give me an extra boost for the day before leaving the hotel. I drove to the office and as I was getting out of the car, I happened to look down at my blouse and noticed that my string was out. What string might you ask? Well, all the ladies out there might know the answer to this question. On garments these days they are adding a string that could be made from a ribbon as this one was, plastic, or just thread, to assist with keeping the item on the hanger better. Though it is supposed to be tucked away, somewhere, I have not taken the ‘string tucking tutorial,’ mine was just dangling as pretty as you please. I thought to myself, “Wow, my day has not started out well, I’m just falling apart!”

However, even in my hazy state of mind, it made me pause and think about people we encounter daily who are acting disgruntled, aggravated, perturbed, frustrated, or a little salty as the youngsters say these days. They too may be having personal issues, a horrible day, or just feeling sick physically. This can affect us emotionally, mentally, and spiritually because we are complex creatures. We often are reactionary toward them and may retort with an insulting remark or comeback to their saltiness or tone. We do have the choice to do as Thumper’s mother told him in the Disney movie Bambi, “If you don’t have nothing good to say, don’t say nothing at all”, or we could use a quiet, kind tone, and try to be understanding. We can show empathy. They are not asking us to solve all their problems. In fact, they may have just come into our store to buy a screw driver to fix something that has fallen apart for the fifth time this week at their house. However, an attitude of kindness could be what makes or breaks their day. We need to learn to throw kindness in for free.

Proverbs 15:1says, “A soft answer turns away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.” What a positive impact we could have on someone’s life if we could learn this valuable lesson. We do not have to always make jabs or point out to others that their ‘string is out.’ The person in front of you may have just gotten sad news of a loved one passing and they could be mad at the world or at God. They do not know us, and we do not know them; therefore, why do we take their attitude as being directed to us personally? They are just trying to get through their day. We need to start looking at others as real people with real lives.

It has been said that a true friend will tell you when you have a smudge on your face, your dress is tucked into your pants, or you have toilet paper on your shoes, and I suppose if they see your string hanging out as well. Yet the attitude and spirit it is offered in makes all the difference in the world. People are looking for a friend, someone who genuinely cares about them, not a fake or phony, arrogant bystander, pointing out all their flaws. Proverbs 18:24 says, “A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother.”  We will all need a friend in our lives at some point. Romans14:7 says, “For none of us lives to himself, and no man dies to himself.” As a society, community, or family, we all rely upon one another. Why have we made this into a rat race? We all have unique skills, gifts, talents, or products to offer. It is not a competition.

My husband always mentions when we go on a road trip together how people think that driving is a competition. Though the other drivers do not know you, and you do not know them, they feel that they must compete. They will speed up and pass you, pull in front of you and slow down again, forcing you to pass them if you have your cruise control on. They may speed up and slow down just as they get to your bumper and then tail gate you for miles on end. They may block you when you try to pass someone else or speed up when you try to pass them. Why? Though you are all going in the same direction, the probability is that you are not all going to the same place. I have to say, I have seen my husband have a tendency at times to take some of their idiotic antics personally and buy into the craziness and challenge them himself as well. We need to learn to ignore and avoid behaviors that have no positive value and stop being reactionary.

I saw a short clip not too long ago from a lady who was talking about how she had dealt with issues with her self-confidence all through her life. She was sharing how she had overcome this and begun to realize, after her children were born, that life was more than just what people thought of her appearance. She continued to take photos of her life, her children, events, etc., but instead of trying to rearrange the settings, or the outfits to be perfect, as she had always tried to do before, she just began to take candid shots whenever and no matter where she was. She stated that this was liberating to her. Furthermore, when she looked back on any given photo, she promised herself that she would find something good in that photo, no matter what, even if it were just the color of the genes she had on that day. She said she is now committed to living real life and not worrying about what should be or putting on a façade, even if you can see sweat dripping down her chin in the photo. She look at the photo and appreciates that it was a beautiful day or sees the gorgeous flowers in the picture. These are memories that have been captured.

When hearing this it brought back a memory that my husband and I laugh at from time to time along a similar line. When our oldest daughter was born, his mom and dad were in the United States on their missionary deputation travels, which allowed them to be able to visit to see the baby. Before they left, they wanted to take a photo of us and the baby as a memory to take with them. As we gathered around the chair we thought would be a wonderful place for a photo, and we scooped up the baby, smiling and getting ready for the photo, my mother-in-law directed me to take off my glasses. How crazy. I have worn glasses since I was nine years old, though I have worn contact lenses on occasion as well. Though they are gone now, we have remembered this over the years because of how odd it was. Perhaps, because I had just had a brand new baby, I was not looking my best. I am not sure, but you can probably see the glasses in the photo sitting on the side table by that chair. I did not take it personally, but I could see where this could be very hurtful to someone.

Why do we feel the need to tell someone their ‘string is out’ when it is not in a spirit of kindness? Why do we feel threatened or have our eyes on things that are so temporal, and have no eternal value? Being kind and respectful to others will reap eternal benefits. In this crazy world that is lived around social media content, we need to remember that it is not the outward appearance that will matter in the end. The kind acts we show to others when no one else sees it will be what God will record in the Lambs Book of Life. 2 Peter 1:2-8 tells us,  “Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And besides this, giving all diligence, adding to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” These are things we need to strive for.

One of my favorite scriptures is found in Ephesians 4:31-32 which says, “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.”  Remember the person standing in front of you with their ‘string out’ might have been up since four am in the morning, cooked, cleaned, gotten lunches packed, changed diapers, gotten six kids ready for school and onto the bus, and has another one on the way. She has not had time to notice her ‘string being out’ nor is she worried about it. She is trying to make it through her day.

Five times in the scripture it states that Jesus was ‘moved with compassion” when he saw a need before him. Each time he reached out, healed, forgave a debt, forgave sins, brought direction, and showed kindness to those who were in front of him at the time. He is our supreme example of how we should treat our fellow man. The kindness of sharing a smile, picking up something that was dropped by someone in front of you at the grocery store, does not cost us anything. Jesus admonished his disciples in Matthew 10:8, “Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.”  Are you truly a disciple of Christ when you go out into your world each day? Jesus said in John 13:35, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”

Let us go out today, not trying to be right all the time. Not pointing out everyone’s flaws but let us practice giving a kind word to everyone we meet. Let us assimilate the words of Paul the Apostle found in Romans 12:10, “Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honor preferring one another.” Allow this to become the new routine, greeting, and modus operandi in your business establishments. Stop seeing customers for what they can do for you and begin seeing them as people that you can serve.