On customer service in the United States

Every time I go to my local CVS pharmacy, as soon as pass through the entrance doors, an employee will scream "hey, welcome in" from wherever they are in the store.  Most of the time, I can't even see the employee.  And, the way the employee says the above phrase is startling and obviously forced.

Every time I visit the Starbucks nearest my apartment, after I order my coffee, the barista will ask, "so, how's your day going?"  Typically, the barista says this with a smile.  But, based on the fact that every Starbucks barista says the exact same thing to every customer, and based on the fact that it is not natural to ask how one's day is going in any part of conversation other than when one first meets somebody, it is apparent that the baristas are asking about my day, not out of genuine interest, but because they have been told to do so.

I have no idea why, but corporate America has clearly concluded that telling employees exactly what to say to customers is good customer service.  I could not disagree with this conclusion more.

First, when an employee is forced to say a particular phrase to every customer, the phrase never seems genuine.  And, because the phrase doesn't seem genuine, it is annoying to customers to have to participate in the charade.

Second, the facade of friendliness actually impedes employees from making genuine connections with regular customers.  Let's return to the coffee shop example.  In addition to my local Starbucks, I also frequently visit a locally-owned coffee shop near my apartment called Cafe Allegro.  The baristas at Cafe Allegro know me by name and the conversations I have with them are real an natural.  There is no question that, when they ask how I am doing, they are doing so because they have made a personal choice to do so.  By contrast, even though the baristas at Starbucks also know me by name, when the say "so, how's your day going?" even it they are being genuine, it feels fake because I know there is a corporate directive to every employee mandating that they ask this to every customer.

I realize that "mechanizing" good customer service is corporate America's reaction to bad customer service (e.g., a barista dryly asking "hey, whadya want?").  But, I do not think forcing employees to repeat the same phrase over and over again is the solution.