Every now and again a story will pop up on social media or television, asking ‘is chivalry dead?’. Generally when we think of chivalry, we think of men opening doors for women and other acts of polite behaviour towards the opposite sex. Although as a woman I appreciate if a man holds open a door for me, I don’t have an expectation that it should happen. On the other hand, I think common courtesies should transcend gender: that is, if I have an opportunity to show courtesy or give assistance to anyone, male or female, I should.

It is interesting how not everyone thinks this way! A few years ago I was moving some heavy items from one location to another. Someone I knew walked alongside me as I did this, chatting away to me with coffee in hand. At the time I thought that maybe he was just a little distracted and didn’t think to ask if I needed assistance. But that incident has stuck with me as an example of how as a society we seem to have lost common courtesies as a normal part of our interactions.

Sadly this has translated into business as well. I often see friends remarking on social media about their complete surprise at having dealt with someone at a large company who was helpful and gave them the answers they needed. In contrast, most of us seem to be met with people whose only goal is to ‘tick the boxes’ and get to the next customer. Customer service is increasingly being viewed as a lost art and in some industries, we almost expect to receive poor customer service, such is our past experience.

For those of us in small business, practicing common courtesy can give us a huge advantage. We all appreciate when someone goes the extra mile or even simply provides ‘service with a smile’. So think about ways that you can show your customers you care. They will in turn become your biggest advocates and will spread the word about what a pleasure it is to deal with you.

Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender