There are two kinds of people who are reading this article. First, the common retail sales sssociate trying to find an article to relate to and second, the average consumer (shopper) who’s interested in what we, sales associates, have to say to them (that’s a first). Whoever you are, we need to have a little chat, heart to heart if you will. Sales associate to customer.

I have gone through months of training learning how to treat customers right and give them an incredible experience the moment they set foot in my store. After working in retail for about two years and in three different stores, being able to give fantastic customer service comes relatively easy to me. Unfortunately, this training is not reciprocal. No one has ever taught customers how to treat a sales associate or the store in general, so I’m here to give the average consumer some advice.

1. When you walk into a store and are greeted, acknowledge us.

We’re taking our time and energy to greet you and ask you how your day is going, have the decency to answer back or give us a smile. I get it, you don’t want to have a long winded conversation with us, and to be completely honest, neither do we. But don’t be rude and ignore us.

2. Our store isn’t your closet.

So don’t treat our store like you would treat you closet at home. If a piece of clothing falls on the floor, pick it up. If you’re looking for a size, remember that someone has spent time folding those clothes, so be respectful and don’t throw the pile all over the place. That’s just completely unnecessary. This isn’t your place to make a mess.

3. And with that, our dressing room isn’t your closet either.

When you try on clothes, they are not yours. The store owns them until you buy whatever it is. It’s fine to try on clothes, but put them back on their hangers when you decide you don’t want them anymore. It’s so disrespectful to try on a ton of clothing and leave them all over the dressing room. Sales associates aren’t your parents, we shouldn’t have to clean up after you.

4. We’re human, too. We make mistakes.

This may come as a surprise to a lot of you, but yes, mistakes are inevitable. Maybe someone accidentally put a shirt in the sale wall that’s full priced or something scanned wrong, whatever the mistake may be, don’t get too angry at us, we are human too.

5. Closing time means THE STORE IS CLOSING.

Do not walk in two minutes before a store is about to close and shop around like it’s the middle of the day. This is seriously one of the rudest things you could possibly do. By the time it’s closing, most sales associates have worked five to seven hour shifts, and we still have to clean the store i.e. another one or two hours. When you come in our store before we close, you’re making us stay later. If we turn the music off, that is your cue to leave.

6. We don’t make the rules, we just enforce them.

So no, we can’t return that dress you bought a year ago, that you so obviously wore to your homecoming dance, if our policy specifically says we accept returns in under 30 days. That’s not our fault and not our rule, and we enforce them so we don’t get fired.

7. Be courteous and wait your turn.

If you see us talking to a customer, don’t interrupt the conversation just to ask a totally unrelated question. We want to give every customer fantastic customer service, but don’t be rude and interrupt us helping another customer. Wait your turn and we will get to you so you have our full attention. That’s just basic common courtesy.

8. We don’t control the prices.

So don’t ask us if we can give you a discount because we absolutely can not. The price is the price, unless whatever you are buying is damaged, or you have some type of coupon, the price is what it is.

9. Throw your garbage in a trash can.

One of my pet peeves is finding half drunken Starbucks cups all around the store whether that be on shelves, under displays, etc. If you have trash, throw it in a trash can, and if you didn’t know, our store is NOT a trash can. Again, this isn’t your house and sales associates shouldn’t have to clean up after you because you’re too lazy to walk outside and throw whatever you have away. Again, this is just a basic kind of respect. You wouldn’t leave your trash all over your friend's house.

10. We want to help you, so let us.

We are not the ‘bad guys’ that some of you think we are. Most of the time, we really do just want to tell you about the sales and promotions that are going on in our store. We care about you getting the best deal for your buck, we’re not always trying to sell you something.

So, the next time you go shopping I hope you keep in mind these ten things and make a sales associate's life a little easier. Working in retail is tough in its own ways, remember that.