It is evident that people interact in a routine basis especially during daily business contact. In this case, conversation between an attendant and a customer may not only be unlimited to the professional contact but also reveal other interpersonal relationships. In anthropology, human contact during business transaction creates a sweep of interest whereby the study of humanities – in terms of culture, biological as well as social aspects – can be studied. Therefore, service encounters provide a unique platform for researchers to determine the social influences of various people especially when studying the starting remarks, uptakes, and closing remakes of conversations. This paper provides narrates four service encounters between a customer and an attendant from my observation at a local Costo Wholesale store.
First Encounter:
Attendant: You may now have your receipt.
Customer: Thank you! Please give me one second I confirm that everything is set.
Attendant: Yes, what else may serve you with?
Customer: That is all for today.
Attendant: Thank you for stopping and shopping at Costo.
Second encounter:
Attendant: You may now have your receipt.
Customer: Thank you! Please give me one second I confirm that everything is set. It has been a while since I last meet you!
Attendant: Yes, what else may serve you with?
Customer: That is all for today.
Attendant: Thank you for stopping and shopping at Costo.
Third encounter:
Attendant: You may now have your receipt.
Customer: Thank you! Please give me one second I confirm that everything is set. It has been a while since I last meet you!
Attendant: Yes. A nice observation. I was on off duty for a month; visited my dad in Manchester.
Customer: Oh! That is nice of you. It is good you are back anyway.
Attendant: Yes, thank you! What else may serve you with?
Customer: That is all for today.
Attendant: Thank you for stopping and shopping at Costo.
Forth encounter:
Attendant: You may now have your receipt.
Customer: Thank you! Please give me one second I confirm that everything is set. It has been a while since I last meet you!
Attendant: Yes. A nice observation. I was on off duty for a month; visited my dad in Manchester.
Customer: Oh! That is nice of you. We have to get in touch with our parents whenever we get a chance.
Attendant: Yes, we should always retain the love of our parents
Customer: Okay, it is good you are back anyway.
Attendant: Yes, thank you! What else may serve you with?
Customer: That is all for today.
Attendant: Thank you for stopping and shopping at Costo.
As seen from the encounters above, it involves a comprehensive engagement between a young man – an attendant at the Costo Wholesale Corp – and a lady customer. In this case, the customer is also a young lady who likes to shop at the store especially during the lunch hours. I noted the encounters during the lunch hours. My choice to visit the store and do the research during the lunch hours is that it is the perfect time when operations run smoothly as there is no traffic. Such a smooth functioning makes everyone inside the store happy.
The Analysis
It is evident that there are several elements that feature in the above service encounters. Looking at the first encounter, the conversation is short as it focuses mainly on the business transaction of parties. The conversation that follows is a bit comprehensive one as the customer introduced an inquiry when she told the attendant that she has not meet him for long in the store. However, the attendant chose not to offer an uptake but concentrate on the business matters. That is when he asked the customer whether there is anything he would serve and the conversation came into a conclusion. There is more comprehensive engagement in the third encounter since the attendant offered the uptake to the customer’s inquiry. Here, the attendant explained that he has been off duty to visit his father in Manchester. More comprehensively is the forth encounter where the customer replied to the attendant’s uptake to suggest that visiting his father was a good idea. The conversation then was concluded.
Service encounters such as the described above help an individual researcher to understand the background and social context of another individual of a group of people. For instance, based on a person’s background, they may wish to hold on to a conversation for a long duration compared to other personalities. It is to say that, upon the introduction of an inquiry, the other party has a choice to respond (offer an uptake) or cut the engagement short. In the event that there is an uptake, then the conversation prolongs and the parties are able to share personal experiences apart from the professional engagement. However, for some cultural elements for certain groups of individuals, it may be against the expectations of the social diestrum to tell one’s personal issues to a stranger (Bailey 530). It means that service encounters are ideal elements to study people’s culture.
Works Cited
Bailey, Benjamin. Communication of Respect in Interethnic Service Encounters
pp. 527-543. Print.
