Why Working On Your People Skills?

Regardless of the career path that you choose, you will need to possess some people skills.  As a matter of fact, being "people oriented" is an essential skill that can help one maintaining a strong, healthy and lasting relationship with her peers, parents, classmates, professors, co-workers and etc.  From a business perspective, being a people person is a highly regarded expectation especially if one is employed in the hospitality industry. For instance, a hotel clerk is expected to extend a warm greeting to every guest who walks toward the front desk.

In the retail industry, the same kind of people skills is warranted.  Although selling products and services are the primary expectations of a retail associate, a great deal of customer service is need to keep customers coming back to the store. Being customer-oriented is a skill that allows associates to build strong rapport with their customers. By focusing on the customers' needs, sales associates can offer solutions that help those customers with their challenges.  In the retail industry, poor customer service can quickly cause the demise of a company. Managers are and should be concerned about enhancing great customer service in their stores because if customers are not happy, they simply will stop coming back and with thus seek for other alternatives. 

For those of you who are in college, it is important that you start developing your people skills as early as possible.  When you are applying for a job, please don’t think of it as just a mean to pay the bills.  You need to think beyond that; you will need to focus on the skills that this job can offer to you.  Five to ten years down the road, you will be amazed at the many opportunities that will be out there for you. Companies will be interested in you because you have learned and developed skills that will make a difference in the their operations as well as the customers that they serve.

Wedlin Sainval, M.S.M.S.