I’ve recently needed to buy a lot of technology hardware  and it seems one of the only places left to do that is Best Buy, so off I go. Often. And there begins the tale.

On two occasions I’ve walked into Best Buy to be slowly and casually greeted by a guy who wants my name so he can “add me to the list.” I don’t want to be on a list, and I don’t want to give my name. I want to buy what I came for. But this is their new process, so…..I give in. “Jose,” I tell them.

I then watch. Standing in the aisle less than 15 feet from me is the store manager—the guy with his picture on the wall up front. He’s talking with another guy wearing a Best Buy logo. On the other side is the guy who is responsible for the department I am standing in. He’s got a clipboard, too. And he’s talking to a blue-shirted Best Buy guy standing behind a register. They are enjoying one another’s company.

There are various Best Buy people walking around. They don’t look at me. They don’t speak. And they don’t seem headed anywhere in a hurry.

I stand and wait. I’ve stood at the iPad display for ten minutes at this point, and the store doesn’t seem to be busy.

Here comes a “lesser manager” and I flag him down. I tell him my problem. Instead of getting me the iPad I need so I can be on my way, he goes to find someone else to help me. He chats up the department manager. Nobody moves.

The name-taker guy finally walks back through and sees me standing there frustrated, comes up to tell me somebody will be with me in a minute. I protest, and in response, he gets a ladder, climbs high, gets me what I needed, and two minutes later I’m on my way. I’ve spent $750.

This isn’t a diatribe against Best Buy, though they deserve it. This is the second time in a row I’ve had this experience in their store, and something similar happens roughly annually. Instead, this is about salesmanship.

Yesterday I had a representative of Infusionsoft—a CRM software company—tell me he “wasn’t trying to sell me anything.” I replied “Perhaps that’s the problem. I’m trying to buy something and you aren’t helping me, so maybe we could get someone who IS trying to sell.”

The point is simply this: whatever your title, whatever your department, whatever your role, YOU ARE IN SALES. Helping your company’s customer get what they need quickly, is everybody’s job. Serving the people who are doing business with your company is everybody’s job.

When the customer is in the room, and you are busy jawing with your buddy who also works there, you are demonstrating that you aren’t serious about helping your customer or your company. The customer comes first. Help him!

So…..throw your clipboard away. Quit goofing off with your fellow clerks. Quit walking around looking busy. Look customers in the eye. Greet them. Smile! Ask how you can help them. And then quickly get them what they need.

Everybody is in the sales! If you aren’t, you’ll eventually be in the unemployment line.