Photograph by Eric Johnson
Check Mate: Bill Bingman, who will soon celebrate 30 years with Safeway, takes customer service seriously and gives it naturally.
Public Citizen
Mr. Bill's Neighborhood Market
By Eric Johnson
Kathy Espinoza, bookkeeper for the past five years at the Safeway store on Winchester Boulevard, doesn't hesitate for a second when told that one of her colleagues has been nominated as a Public Citizen.
"You must be talking about Bill," she says, laughing.
Yes, we're talking about Bill Bingman, a supermarket checkout man who spends every day of the week, from 6 a.m. until 3 p.m., trying to make people feel a little bit better about one of life's mundane chores.
Bingman, loves his job, and it shows. As he streams purchases through the scanner as fast as it can be done, it's clear that he sincerely enjoys interfacing with as many as 100 different people an hour.
"He's got what it takes to work with the public," says Espinoza, who works upstairs in an office. "People who I think are grouchy--well Bill, for some reason thinks they're just fine. He just seems to bring out the best in people."
Bingman says his people skills come naturally.
"I've seen generations of families in this area grow up and come shopping with us," he says with obvious pride and gratitude. "But I try to treat all of my customers the same, whether I've known them for years or I've never seen them before.
"I figure that the easier I am for them to deal with, the easier their shopping experience is going to be. It just makes the whole thing work better."
Safeway has a policy called Superior Customer Service, which is designed to guide less-experienced employees toward a Bingmanesque method. But Bingman--known to legions of customers as "Mr. Bill"--didn't need the memo to tell him to be friendly.
"The policy is five years old, but I've been guided by the principle for my whole career," Bingman says.
Bingman got started in retail when he returned from a 13-month tour of duty with the U.S. Air Force in Vietnam in 1967 and started working with his grandfather in the old San Jose Office Supply store. He still remembers the name of the Safeway hiring agent who interviewed him a couple of years later--"Mr. Blevin," Bingman says, almost wistfully.
Having worked since then in four different Safeways throughout the valley, and at virtually every job in the store--from assistant stock clerk to assistant manager--Bingman has settled into his current position at the checkout register, in the slot he calls "my office." And he points out that while the job isn't all about chatting up the nice people that pass through his line, it's easier than it used to be.
"I learned on the old Sweda Power Penny machine," he says. "We used to have top memorize hundreds of codes, memorize every advertisement, and punch in every single thing."
While the new computerized scanners have taken some of the edge off the job, Bingman says they are not a checkers' most vital piece of equipment.
"The proper shoes," he says, giving an unpaid endorsement to Nike Airs. "Management gives us good floormats, but when you're on your feet all day, you've got to have sturdy shoes."
Campbell, California
