Are you a villain or a hero?

Like everyone else, once the World Health Organization announced a pandemic, I went to the grocery store. I saw two types of people: the villains and the heroes.

Villains:

The large chain store owners who instructed staffers to dash all around the store and take down the sale signs – there were 4 staffers snatching the “10 for $10” bright orange tags from the lip of the shelves.

The fight in the toilet paper isle as one shopper was asking another if they could just have one package of bathroom tissue from the other’s overflowing cart? (The latter had cleared the shelves of any last package of toilet paper.)

Heroes:

The patron who found a head of lettuce and brought it to another who has asked if there was any left.

The pharmacist who was there at 9:00 pm patiently answering questions in the over the counter medicine isle.

Conclusion:

It’s tempting to emulate the villains, to get swept up in the fear, the worry, and the self-mindedness. But we have choices; you can either find ways to leverage the tough times by holding your customers hostage or you can find ways to add value, charge fairly and treat your customers the way you want to be treated.

In making the choice, remember your customers are watching and will remember.

What are you choosing?