It was the typical scenario…..peak period in the bank and only 2 Tellers out of a possible 5 working. There was a Greeter who was asking people in the packed line what transactions they were there to do.

Sidebar: I don’t know which smart bank manager came up with this idea. It is NOT a good one as it breaches confidentiality.

Back to Miss Greeter. When I saw only 2 Tellers, I told her it might have been better if she was working as a Teller, given the shortage. Well she snapped from being the Gleeful Greeter to the “this is where they have placed me and what are you going to do about it?” persona. Seriously, I would have loved to have used a video of that interaction to show my trainees of how bodies leak information and what we are thinking.

Thankfully, I didn’t fall asleep while waiting. Relief as “next customer waiting” was me. I greet the Teller, comment on the many customers and few Tellers and asked her about her break time. We exchange a few more words after which she dealt with my loooooooooooong transaction.

I therefore had time to reflect on the difference on the two interactions. I realised that the key thing was that the Greeter did not express any empathy at all. The Teller could teach her a thing or two. Some skills come with practice I guess. I will be patient and hope the Greeter ‘gets’ the Empathy lesson.

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