@OGIONIK,
Ogionik: A Word to the Wise:
The customer is everything in a business. A happy customer, through word of mouth, repeat business = more sales, whether you own the shop or just work there. So the secret to success is to make sure they're happy. To make sure they're happy, you need to read body language, really 'hear' what they're saying, anticipate what they might like, be unobtrusive but present... I'm talking about just about everywhere except a fast food place, although even there that would work.
In a restaurant, a server who is never present is as bad as one who is always present. No one wants to be interrupted or ignored. Reading body language is one of the finest tools a person can learn. 'Oh, looks like they want something', and over you trot. 'Oh, looks like they're heavily engaged in a conversation', so leave them to it.
Knowledge of your product is of extreme importance in saving them time and in making a sale. For example, if a customer says they want this very same thing but in blue and you KNOW you don't have it, say so, rather than lead them around to every rack just to show them similar items. They'll be pissed at you for wasting their time and you'll have wasted your time on someone who's not going to buy what you don't have.
It's all about the customer and your products - do you know what you have? Do you know what they want?
And another thing when you're working in fast food, is to say, "You've ordered blah blah, but for $1.20 less, you can get basically the same thing which is xyz." People really appreciate saving money. Unless you plan to be a manager at a fast food place, you will likely never get mgmt recognition for what you do, but it's a fabulous place to hone these skills.
Hopefully when you work, you have loyalty to your employer and work to make them money and that it's not all about you and the bonuses and perks you get but in a huge organization it's never going to be about you when you're in the takeout window...
Figure out what you really want to do, learn and hone those skills and then move on and up. At the end of the day (each day, in fact), you want to be able to say Yes to questions about whether you did your best, learned something, improved something, etc. For me, that's what it's really all about.
All really good workers get appreciated somewhere along the line - depends on the company and the managers, sometimes, but keep on going until you find the right fit. Somebody, somewhere, out there will appreciate you and what you have to offer, but only if you have something to offer. You're in control of that, so make the best of these years and soak it all up.
