Today's assignment is going to help me tackle something that I'm terrible with. Remembering names. When I meet people, I'm always so concerned with saying my own name and not stumbling over my own words, that by the time I shut my mouth, I've already forgotten the person's name. It's terrible! Luckily my husband is awesome at remember names, so he's usually my crutch. But it can be such a problem. You don't know how many people I refer to as "Heeeeyyyyyyyyyyy you."
Today's Assignment: Learn Someone's Name
How many people do you come in contact with daily, weekly, monthly, whose name you don't know? Geez, there are even people I work with whose names I don't know! Maybe this is the week to introduce yourself and find out that person's name. And once you know it, use it!Using someone's name is a known sales technique. Why? Because people love hearing their own name. When someone addresses you personally, it makes you feel important and acknowledged. And in turn, it makes the other person seem friendlier.
So go ahead, introduce yourself to your barista, and thank her personally for preparing your morning beverage. Or check out that grocery store cashier's name tag and tell him to have a great day. It's a simple way to brighten someone's day!
14 comments:
This is so true! People love hearing their own names!
Too bad I didn't read this before my morning trip to Starbucks... maybe I'll get another latte this afternoon!
Ha! Any excuse to go back to Starbucks is a good one in my book! ;)
This is a great assignment. Everyone loves hearing his or her name and I'm pretty terrible at remembering names. I'm going to work on this!
I just wanted to thank you for your website and all of the niceness you put out into the world! I don't think people are nice enough to each other, and I am totally on board with your quest to make the world a better place through some good old-fashioned kindness. Sometimes it's easy, sometimes it's not, but it is so worth it. Thank you, Melissa, for being such a nice person! (Sorry, I wanted to send this as an e-mail, but I am horrible with computers and couldn't get Windows Outlook to work for me.)
Remembering names can win you friends forever! I am fairly good at it although I also use cheat sheets. I generally make a quiet and forgettable first impression so I know what it's like to not have my name remembered. People are SO grateful that I've called them by name the second time I meet them!
Cashier's in supermarkets hate hearing them addressed by their name. I should know; I used to work as one. I think its because we tend to forget that we're wearing name badges, so when the customer calls you by your name its weird and unexpected and slightly creepy.
Or maybe that's just me and my friends.
Oh wow, really? Now I'm going to think twice about using someone's name. I used to have to wear a badge when I was a teenager, and I always liked it when someone took the time to look, as opposed to calling me "Miss."
I certainly needed this today! Met a ton of new work folks and everyone was introducing themselves to me (all were very nice, of course), but my memory has them all jumbled. :) I'm sure it will sort itself out! Thanks Melissa!
I took a memory class once (and then had to remember what I learned to teach others back at work) and I have to say the #1 thing I learned from the class was when having to wear a name tag (and don't we just love those) always put it on your right side (near your shoulder). Reasons being:
1) because people shake with their right hand and they can look up your arm and read your tag and 2) because it is near your face.
And my own little trick for helping people remember my name is I say "it's Kristine with a K". People always tell me it helps.
So here is to learning someone's name and I'm sure they'll think we're "nice" for asking! :)
My friend Filosophietje told be about your blog and it is really great.
When I read this assignment, I instandly new this is one for me too. I'm so bad in remembereing names, because when I meet someone new, I'm all tied up in looking at this new face and thinking how I must look. After a few seconds I realize that I didn't hear the other one's name!
I also almost never remember the names of people I meet. But there's a cultural gap between Finland and America in this one. I mean we don't usually call each other by name, unless we are trying to get their attention (eg. the person doesn't see/hear you). It's slightly odd if someone insists on saying your name, and at least I associate it with telemarketers. So, basically it's easy to live here with a bad name memory (although it can still be a bit awkward at times). :)
In reference to what oops_pig said, I think one guideline *might* be - if it's a situation where you can introduce yourself then it's nice to use someone's name.
If it's a cashier that is in front of you and you really don't know her/him at all, well...
I have to agree that when I was a cashier or barista at various places, I really didn't like when people would say my name. I think it's because it feels like an imbalance of power. You don't know their name, but they are using yours and it feels weirdly personal when you have nothing personal about *them* to go on.
That's why I think about the above idea. If it's a cashier you see daily, you might say: "Hey, we see each other every day and I'd like to introduce myself. I'm Emma!" Then, OK. If it's your neighbor or coworker, etc. whose name you've never known, definitely!
But if it's a one-off cashier, barista, etc...I think it does make most of them feel weird.
I hope that was useful. I love your blog!
(P.S. I corrected my previous commented. The first version didn't come out quite how I intended. :)
When I was a waitress I would introduce myself so that if they needed something they didn't need to say "hey you!" (which I hated!) It would bother me if they still said "hey you!" after I'd told them my name. But every now and then, a customer would introduce themselves - which was always nice!
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