Finally tonight I went through the steps on amazon to do a return and got a message saying, “Can’t just return this item punk! You gotta talk to someone in a foreign country who is awake this late.” or words to that effect. With great trepidation I called the 800 number and got someone whose name I didn’t understand but his name was NOT “Peggy” and he did NOT tell me I couldn’t turn my airline miles into cash.

It was a guy, with an accent yes, but he was super friendly. Very helpful and never once asked if I’d dropped it, thrown it across the room, left it in a car overnight when it was eleven-degrees outside, shipped it across the country twice in a shoe box or anything else that might cause problems. He simply apologized for the problem and asked where to ship the replacement item. I told him and while we were talking an e-mail showed up with a link to print a shipping label. When the new one arrives I’m to put the broken one in the box, hand it to any UPS driver or store and toddle off to enjoy the replacement item.

No muss. No fuss. Free 2 day shipping to me. They couldn’t have been nicer, more solicitous, helpful, cooperative, or excellent to deal with. Seriously. I can’t imagine anything he could have done to make the experience more pleasant.

To answer your unanswered question: Would I still recommend someone get a Kindle Fire? The answer is absolutely YES if you have wi-fi at your home or work. If you don’t have wi-fi it’d be a harder sell for me. But with the wi-fi I have available to me at home, work, and the coffee shop it’s as good as always on for me.  I love it for movies, facebook, comics, and reading websites. I don’t love it for books because the battery doesn’t last 2 weeks like my Kindle 3. But I like it for books at night when the lights are out and I don’t want to turn on a table lamp.

Thank you Amazon.

So, I’m at a store not listening to the background music… that’s what it’s for. It’s in the background… and then I heard it… they lyrics to Bob Dylan’s Hurricane:

And to the black folks he was just a crazy nigger
No one doubted that he pulled the trigger

Do you care to guess what the first word I heard was and what the next words were? Just on a guess?

Now, the song’s about… I’ll let songfacts.com say what it’s about:

This is about Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, a boxer who spent 19 years in jail for a murder Dylan felt he did not commit.

That’s the short version. The longer version is a black man was convicted (his conviction was eventually overturned) of killing some white people and his jury was made up of all white people… in 1966. Bob Dylan didn’t think he did it and wrote this song to draw attention to the injustice of the situation and hopefully do something to get Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, out of prison.

That’s all very cool But that’s not the part of the song anybody who has heard it today hears. What they/we hear is,

“crazy nigger No one doubted that he pulled the trigger.”

So, I’m not asking if it’s legal to play the song or if it’s a good song. I happen to believe protest songs and such are a powerful tool for change. I happen to think this song is NOT a bad song. It’s not all that entertaining or anything, but it’s a protest song it’s not supposed to be fun. I’m not even going to debate if it’s still topical today or applicable, especially when crap like this is happening where power-crazy police attack minorities (disabled lady in this article) just because they like the power. (no implication of racism here for obvious reasons.)

What I’m asking is, just because someone CAN play a song does it mean they should? What does it say about them when they do that? Does it say anything? If I were listening to the lyrics from the start of the song it wouldn’t be shocking. If it were a contemporary song getting enough radio play that I’d recognize it if I came in during the middle of the song it wouldn’t be an issue… but no radio station is playing this song with any regularity in 2011 and almost nobody 40 or under is going to recognize the song at all even if they’re told the name and who younger than thirty would know who Bob Dylan is/was?

Is it good judgement to play that song? Is it OK for the employees to sing along with the music on their corporate radio? Is it OK for them to sing at the top of their lungs the names of this song? If it’s not… should they choose to play that song? Bob Dylan’s use of the words is protected as freedom of speech. It’s being used artistically. But the same word can be used during the course of a crime and change it from a simple assault to a hate crime… when a word carries that much baggage with it is it a good idea to identify one’s self with it or, if someone complains about it, to defend it’s usage?

I’m a big advocate of the freedom of speech… some battles though I ask myself “are they worth fighting?” What is gained by their insisting on playing this not terribly entertaining song in their stores?

Evidently at some point he had a business where his job was to empty apartments.(I remember where I’m being discrete.) In one job, a big one, he knew the guy doing the check writing. He was being paid by a big corporation, we’ll say it was MTV just to be interesting. Maybe they bought a block of buildings and needed them emptied so they could use them for something. Maybe he was being paid by container of crap he hauled out. Maybe his truck would hold 16 containers at a time full… but maybe they billed, say, MTV for FORTY per truck load and they split the money, this guy talking to me and the guy writing the checks.

He was bragging to me about more than double billing a company (It’s a sizable company) for the work he did. He paused expectantly. I sipped my green tea and looked at him. He made a sort of “enh? enh?” noise, looking for a response.

“Aren’t you glad I actually gave you what you paid for when you gave me the money? I suppose I could have defrauded you of half of what you’d paid for. But we don’t call that good business here in Iowa. We call it stealing.” I took another sip of tea, looking over the rim of my tea-cup and feeling like Wesley Crusher in that episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation (Justice) where he said, “I’m with Star Fleet. We don’t lie.”)

“Yah, well, they’d under cut me. They’d paid less than was standard!” He said, defensively.

“You didn’t have to take the job. I’m not going to argue with you. If you want to brag about stealing that’s fine. It takes all types. Just don’t expect me to think it’s good or think I’ll ever do business with you. I’ll probably warn everybody I know to avoid you like the plague. Thank you for showing me your work truck out front when you got here. I’ll remember the name.”

“You can’t go slandering me!”

“I wouldn’t dream of telling them anything you haven’t told me yourself,” I indicated the three video cameras aimed at him and sipped more tea, “on camera where audio and video are being recorded.” I took another sip of tea while he pulled his pants up as if girding himself or gathering up his dignity. I’m not sure what all the belt tugging is supposed to do honestly, but he looked at me like I’d just called him an insulting name.

“It’s business. People do it all the time.”

“I’ve been in this business 16 years and not done it. You appear to not be in either that business or that state any more. One of us is doing things for the long-term and one of us isn’t.” I sipped my tea, “But seriously. I’m not arguing with you. I’m just not recommending you. Was there something I could help you find? I promise to charge you what’s on the price tag and not a penny more, other than tax.”

He left.

Now. I could have kept my mouth shut. I do that sometimes when people are being political I smile and nod and send them on their way. I do it when they’re talking sports… I didn’t want anybody in the store listening to him and me to think I agreed with that type of business and I sure as heck didn’t want him thinking I thought that sort of nonsense was OK. He was gross… and yes. I’m being judgmental.

I’ve noticed something and I’ve never read a book on it or heard anybody tell me to do this. I think I stumbled on it by accident and I swear I don’t do it on purpose. Have you ever tried to talk someone out of buying something only to have them spend more? It happens… more than it should.

A customer comes up to the counter with some stuff. Two of the things they have are so similar as to be indistinguishable from each other. Perhaps, two boxes of screws one with a closer thread than the other, but otherwise identical. I point this out. “Excuse me, but really, with what you’ve got here. You don’t need this one at all. It is the same thing. See.” Go on to show them. We then get into conversation about the other stuff they’re buying. I’ve opened the door to conversation and appeared helpful. Here’s where it falls apart.

After talking them OUT of a sale and losing myself money… anything I suggest next, even if it’s more expensive… they’ll do it 9 times out of 10. If there’s a widget that’s just a little better than the one they’re already getting and I suggest it, even if it’s more… and I mean more than the original ticket with the item that I talked them out of, they’ll buy it… because they trust me. Because I talked them out of an item. Because I saved them money. Now I’m a good guy, on their side. I wouldn’t screw them. I’ve already demonstrated that by talking them out of something and saving them money… right?

The first time it happened I thought, “That’s odd.” Then it happened a few more times by accident. I wasn’t doing it on purpose. Then I showed my assistant manager one day and he was like, “What are you doing talking them OUT of an item?” I pointed out the final ticket was more and he was all, “Ooooooooooh.” He’s since tried it and it doesn’t work for him. He’s able to talk them out of the first item, but not into the subsequent items. I suggested it was because he was too pushy, that he acted more like he was trying to sell them something than help them find something.

He said, “But you sell them things,” and I said yes, “But I really try not to. Haven’t you seen me continue to try to talk people out of things as I carry it to the counter and put it with their other stuff and ask, over and over again ‘Now, you’re sure?’ as they buy it?” I don’t want them to feel buyer’s remorse. I try to talk them out of things I think they won’t like… sometimes they talk me into selling it to them, and in so doing… they talk themselves into it. Then, if it turns out to not be right… they can come back and you know what? Instead of being mad at me for selling them something they didn’t like I’ve built more trust by trying to talk them out of it. They’ll say it even, “You were right!” And from there on they’ll listen.

It was funny the first few times it happened. Now it’s just scary. When has it happened to me? When has a salesman gotten my trust by talking me out of something and then talked me into something else later? I’ll bet car salesmen all know this trick. No to heated seats in the economy car, but yes to the Hummer 3 and I’m all. “Derpa Derpa Derpa OK.” *drool*glassy-eyed stare*

So, what do I do now that I’ve found this heinous opposite-world power? The most recent time it worked I really was trying to talk the customer out of stuff. They were charging it and they shouldn’t have been. Credit-Card-Company One has terrible interest rates and these people were spending too much. I talked them out of stuff… and then… and then things started going wrong. They’d ask follow-up questions on other items and wind up buying them. DAMN MY INNATE CHARM!

So, seriously. If a salesman ever tries to talk you out of something, LET HIM, and then run away. He’s dangerous because you’re going to be tempted to trust him and he’s a salesman. We’re not to be trusted… even when we’re trying to do right by you,  and I always am. I never want to take all a customer’s money. I’d rather get ten dollars a week for the rest of their life than 100 dollars once. I’m in this for the long haul.

(PS: This happens more with women than with men who aren’t susceptible to my talking them out of things at all. But I bet a lady could do it to a guy… and yes. I know saying there are gender differences is not done but generalities can be true without being discriminatory.)

… I decided when I was a teenager that retail isn’t for me…

I would have never thought I’d like retail either, much less middle management in retail, but I do and it got me thinking about what I love about both.

Retail, I’m in something of a specialty store, not a big box store or a supermarket type store. If you come to my store you’re coming here on purpose. It’s similar to a Hallmark store. If you go to a Hallmark store you’re going for a card. If you go to a bookstore you are probably looking for something to read. This type retail environment is probably a little different from a big box store or one of the major retail outlet stores.

My challenge here, as I see it, is to generate not only new customers, but repeat customers. There are a lot of managers and sales people out there who seem to believe that they can best serve their store by getting as much money as they can right then. They’ll almost always suggest the most expensive counter top or the service plan that costs almost half as much as the widget they’re selling. I’ve been through that as a customer and it annoys me. It makes me feel like they’re treating me like a wallet to drain, not a customer to help.

I read somewhere (Not here, but they talk about it here too.), and I wish I could find the source, that a manager of a hardware store told his employees nobody wants a drill. They want a hole in their wall and it’s our job to help them get the hole in the wall as easily as possible. If they’re never going to want another hole in their wall there’s no reason to sell them the DeWalt Deluxe Drill Set 2000 with 180 diamond tipped drill bits and 17 year service plan. All they need is a cheap drill and the right sized drill bit. They don’t want either one. They just want that hole in their wall. If we help them do it without leaving them feeling screwed they’ll choose us over our competitor who tries to wring every dollar out of them on that one visit. We might not make as much per visit, but we’ll get more visits and that will win in the long run. I totally buy into that.

I’m known for sending customers to other stores if I not only don’t have what they’re after but can’t get it. I’ll try and get it. I’ll call our buyer in front of the customer if possible and try and get it and an estimate of when it will arrive. I do everything I can to get the customer what they want in our store, but if I can’t I will send them where they can get it. My hope is that in the future they’ll come to me first and I’ll have what they want. I’ve helped customers get jobs, and make connections to help them with whatever it is they’re planning at the time. Things far beyond the scope of my job or the scope of the store itself. But, they come back. They tell their friends that this is the place to go to get what they want.

I’d rather they left spending a little but happy than spending a lot and being almost happy.Buyer’s remorse is a tough thing. I’ve been through it. Add a high pressure salesman to it and you can wind up resenting the merchant as much as you do the doo-dad that you got home only to find you didn’t need a 78 speed juicer with pulp incinerator after all, a food processor would have been just fine and about one-fourth as much money.

Customer: a person who purchases goods or services from another; buyer; patron.
- from Dictionary.com

The challenge to me in the retail is the customer relationships. I like to build those. Yes. There are certainly customers out there who think the customer is always right and that if they buy a SparkleMaster5000 and then exchange it 14 times for other shiny geegaws that I won’t figure out they quit being a customer when they quit paying. That’s the thing. A customer spends money. If they’re not spending or intending to spend, or trying to spend they’re not a customer. They’re creatively loitering. Do some people take advantage of my hopefully exceptional customer service tendencies? Sure they do. On the whole those people are easy to figure out pretty quickly, and they can be dealt with differently because, again… they’re not a customer. The first word in “Customer Service” is “Customer.” If they aren’t trying to be the first part I probably won’t bust my butt for the second part. But that’s never my default assumption.

The management part will wind up being a second post after this one.

At one point in the meeting toward the end one of the employees, when I stopped to take a drink and inhale a couple breaths, raised her hand tentatively, “I have a question?”

It wasn’t the question part of the meeting but I didn’t want to squash the first person to show any interest in speaking up so I replied with, “We’ll always have questions at the end but go for it. I can take another drink while I listen. Thanks for the break, my voice is tired.” I did a little laugh and waited.
“Some customers are really annoying when they ask… (whatever it was they were asking).”

“Oh! Well, see, here’s the thing,” I take another drink and pause as I think how I want to say this, “Customer service jobs are a lot like musical taste. Some people like Rock and some like Hip Hop. Some people think classical music is the bee’s knees and some people LOVE Jazz. And none of those people are more or less right than anybody else. Customer Service, and that’s what we are. We’re in retail and our job is to help the customer find what they want and make sure they leave happy. Now, I’m not being a smart-alek or a jerk when I say this because we need all sorts of people in this world, but if you really believe that customers are annoying then maybe Customer Service isn’t your calling. Now, I’m not saying it is or it isn’t, but if you dislike the customers then maybe a job where you don’t have to work with customers is a better idea. We’ve got custodians that have almost no interaction with customers, and if you’re interested in a transfer I’ll see what I can do.” I stopped to take another drink, holding up a hand to indicate I wasn’t finished yet.

She interjected, back-pedaling quickly, “I didn’t mean they’re annoying…” I swallowed my water quickly, shaking my head.

“No, I get it. You’re asked the same question over and over again, day after day and it gets repetitious right?”

“Exactly!” She said, pleased to see I understood.

“Perfect! That means you have new customers who haven’t asked you yet. This is the perfect time for you to help someone new and impress them with how we’re able to make this the best shopping experience they have all week. We have to answer those questions with a smile. It may be the fifteenth time you’ve heard that exact same question this week, but it’s probably the first time they’ve asked you today. Please, answer it like you care about the person asking it. Smile, nod a little bit, lean forward slightly, look at their face at least even if you don’t want to make eye-contact, and then, when they know they have your full attention, help them. Answer their question. You now know something about them you didn’t know before. Next time you see them, remember that question and call back to it. Mention it in someway, let them know you remember them and their question. Let them know the product’s not in, or hasn’t come in yet, or did come in, or we got something similar or that you’re still keeping an eye out. That does a lot of things. It lets them know they are important to you. It lets them know you haven’t forgotten them. It also, and this is the key part that addresses your question directly… it stops them from asking the question again. You’re anticipating their need and addressing it pro-actively. EVERYBODY likes that.”(1)

We then went on to talk about the various questions and I suggested they practice giving directions to the store coming from different directions because that’s one we get a lot and maybe they could jot down directions and put the different directions in our Pass Down Log so we could all help each other. (That was fresh in my mind because I had to interrupt the meeting to take a call and give directions to the store.)

I won’t lie… I will be watching for more chances to help that employee quit thinking Customers are a nuisance to be handled rather than an opportunity to be taken. There have been customer complaints, but I suspect most of the crew is willing to come around to my way of thinking.

(1) Two of the people at the meeting “got it” and I could see them nodding in agreement with me as I spoke. Two were thinking, and I’m SURE they were thinking it, that I don’t know what they have to deal with on a day to day basis since I’m all supervisory and I’ll come around to their way of thinking soon enough. Now, I know I know what they go through. I’ve worked in this store as Sales Associate and Manager for 7 years. Someone remind me to link to my meeting outline and see if I can’t dig up the source. It’s pretty good and I use it all the time in all my meetings.

Priorities.

We pay attention to the things our bosses pay attention to. Sure, the memos from the office and from our boss may talk about things like improved customer service, better cleaning, more consistent branding, and being friendlier, but what do the bosses talk to us about when they come to the store? What does the office send follow up things about? What are they looking at? What gets us in trouble? What are we accountable for?

If they talk about the customer service part of things only at employee meetings, but then the rest of the time we talk to them harp on us that our paperwork isn’t legible or how many widgets a week are we cranking out then we have to assume that customer service is something we talk about, but widget cranking is the important bit. If we get in more trouble for forgetting to fax a piece of paper whose information is already available on the computer somewhere else than we get into if we’re rude to a customer then it’s obvious where priorities are. They’re on the paper.

If the District Manager calls and expects the person answering the phone to drop everything, including the customer they’re waiting on to help them with whatever special project they’re working on that tells the person answering the phone that the customer is second to the DM. That’s the slippery slope we start down as DMs when we get full or ourselves. I tell my employees all the time, please, if you’ve got a customer put the phone down and wait on them. I’ll hold while you help them. I don’t even mind holding! What I mind is if I hear they’re doing both because then they’re doing neither very well. I’m not a fan of multi-tasking.

So, when you’re working the store and 12 boxes of who knows what comes in and you start ignoring customers to get the product checked in and put out you’re doing exactly what you have to do to keep your boss off your back. It says right in the rules & regs or policies & procedures, that we’re not to leave product sitting around un-checked in. The problem with that is… the trainees see that. The Sales Associates see it. Then they assume that their work, their assigned tasks, their widget polishing, or gadget alphabetizing is the same as receiving all those boxes… something that’s more important than the customer. We teach them that by what we do, not what we say. None of us say, “ignore the customer to get your work done,” instead, we do it while saying not to.

I ask that we hit the floor and offer to help customers periodically and get an amazing amount of push-back. It makes me mad to have Sales Associates tell me, “customers don’t want us to talk to them.” ARGH! When the SA’s say that I don’t want them to talk to me! That’s for sure lol. Don’t just stand behind the counter and wait for them to come to us but a lot of people do exactly that, saying, “Well, I’m polishing widgets, or ordering gadgets” so I don’t have time to wait on the customer. And that’s just not true! It’s so frustrating to me to see it. That’s when I go do it and then go back to what I was doing. I try and show, by example, that you can indeed stop doing something to go help customers. Helping customers shouldn’t be an interruption to your ‘real job.’ It should BE the real job!

I can tell you now, after having met with, visited with, and talked about priorities with the new bigger than big shot that priorities need to be customer first. Your new DM is that way too. We’ve been “getting better” for a long time now. It’s time to “get great” at it! Not just at employee meetings, but all the time. It’s what I intend to do in my new job to increase sales. I hope it works immediately. One of the areas we can continue to grow and beat the competition is outstanding customer service. I don’t mean to say that it’s not better today. It is. But better isn’t good enough any more. It really is time to get great. It’s also an area where first impressions are hugely important. If a DM walks in and sees customers on the floor and people checking in product or polishing widgets or whatever, and never talking to the customer they’re not going to know that you JUST got back from making the rounds, offering to help them all, and helping them. They’re going to only see that the customer is being ignored right now, at the moment they turned on the live surveillance cameras or walked in the back door. We have to not just make sure we are providing great customer service, but we actually have to look like it! Not just to the cameras, but to the customers.

When the customer walks in and sees us busy behind the counters and a floor full of people they immediately think we’re too busy to help them. If we all shout the greeting at them without looking up at them and making eye-contact that doesn’t mean anything. Shouting our greeting with offers to help before they’re even in the door all the way may meet the letter of the law in regards to greeting customers but it’s not the intent. It’s not a greeting or welcome that is meant. It’s a pro-forma going-through-the-motions greeting that is as insincere as it sounds, and as someone who’s heard lots of them… There are a LOT of bad sounding greetings out there.

I hear people now clamoring that the product must get checked in, and their store sees hundreds of people a day and how the heck do I expect them to pretend to sincerely greet each and every one of them? The thing is I don’t expect you to pretend to be sincere. I want you to feel it. I can’t make someone like customer service, but if you don’t you shouldn’t be doing it.

There will be the occasional customer you DO have to fake it with. The man with the nervous tick where he ALWAYS coughs into his hand before reaching into his pocket to get his cash. That guy, I have to pretend to like him. I don’t like him. I don’t like him at all! He makes me sick, sometimes literally as well as figuratively. But I greet him like I’m happy to see him because he’s my customer and I want him to stay my customer. The lion’s share of the customers, I am glad to see. And I never mind a break from receiving product to talk to customers. It’s a break from the receiving. I’d rather wait on customers than work on receiving product any day of the week. I was a shipping clerk at a warehouse for a year or so. It was so boring I quit. The other end of that, receiving clerk… not my cup of tea at all. I’m in this job for the customers. If you’re not then maybe it’s time for you to consider a different job too.

1) What does the approach to the store front look like? Awning, lighting, windows, doors, employees/customer hanging at the door smoking, ash trays, garbage on the sidewalk.

2) How does the store look, smell, sound, feel from 10 feet inside the door, the Launchpad? Radio too loud? Can customer get a feel for where they’re going from there? Can they identify an employee from there? Have they been greeted? Is there a stink from air fresheners, cleaning products, how well is the store lit?

3) At the cash-wrap. Is the cash wrap area cluttered? clean? professional looking? Is the employee’s lunch all over it? Is the employee’s receiving/shipment work all over the place? Are there customers lounging at the counter area hanging out with their friend? Will the customer feel OK about taking their wallet out there or not?

Store Front:
If the store front is shady looking a customer may never walk in the door. Got a lot of cans leaning up against the wall? Are there wrappers and cans on the sidewalk? Do you provide an ash tray? Where is it? Is it a smelly nose-sore? Maybe it’s easier to sweep up cigarette butts than walk past an ashtray that’s been rained on and is now giving off a cloud of wet ash smell to any who walk past. Do you have an awning? Do the birds know about it? Are they parking themselves on top of it covering the awning with their erm… leavings? Who wants to walk under that? If it’s lit are all the lights lit? If half the lights work that’s not half right. That’s all wrong. Are the glass windows and doors cleaned and finger-print free? If your store looks dirty from the outside there’s a good chance I won’t go there.  Here in town there’s a tattoo shop that I’d like to visit. They have body jewelry and ear rings and I’d like to get some. Outside their door are three lawn chairs where they and their friends sit and smoke. I’m not walking past that.  As a 40 year old man I’m probably not their target customer, but I’m A customer… or I would be if I didn’t have to walk past extras from West Side Story to get into the place.

The Launchpad:
It’s called the Launchpad because it’s from here that the customer launches into your store or scrubs the mission and leaves. This is the area where they assess how your store looks and feels to them. If the radio’s too loud people will leave.

That’s just sound. How does it smell? I didn’t shop at Bed Bath, & Beyond for YEARS because it was so overpoweringly smelly. Granted, that’s their thing… but I’m a guy (again, not their target audience). An air freshener over the front door may be a great idea two minutes after they walk out but it’s not cool to walk into the cloud of cherry or vanilla scented concentrate right after it’s shot out of the dispenser. Is the front area cluttered? Are there tall walls of grid wall or walls of displays blocking the view of the store? If so it makes it hard for the customer to see where they want to go. It also makes it less appealing because it’s not open. People don’t like to feel closed in or trapped in stores/shops. They like to know there’s room to move around and that they can be seen and see other people approaching. I’m not talking about merchandising or sales or end caps in any of this. I’m talking about the experience, the comfort level of the customers. Is there a visible employee that they can identify in case they need help or want help finding something? In some shops it can be off-putting to walk in and find you’re the only one in the store. I’ve let out a soft, polite, “Hello?” before wondering if I’d stumbled upon a murder scene and didn’t want to round a shelf of spices only to find between the cracked pepper and the vanilla beans the dead body of the  Penzey’s employee. Florists are the worst for this in my experience. It seems I only enter a florist when they are in the cooler, probably hiding the body of the last customer.

Cash-Wrap:
Last chance time. By now the customer is ready to pay and leave. Is there room to put their purchases? Is the counter cluttered and buried in potential add on sales so that it’s a huge confusion of product and cruft? Is this the only work space the employee has? Some times it’s impossible to put your purchases on the counter because there’s a UPS box there where the employee is unpacking and receiving shipment. I get that work happens that isn’t customer related, but just like the view should be unobstructed for the customer, surely the employee can see the customer approach the counter and make room for the one who brings money into the store? A quick smile and apology is all it takes, making me wait as you finish receiving your box of Jelly Bellies and ignore me isn’t endearing me to you as a retailer, and I love my candies! Oh, and shift change? Not my problem. Don’t make it my problem by making me wait 5 minutes while you do it. I get that shift changes happen, but you know what else happens? Customers… we’re paying, don’t say “It’ll be a while. We’re at shift change.” Are there friends or family lounging at the counter hanging out at the counter chatting? If I’m making a purchase I won’t be if you’re visiting at the counter or worse if I have a question I don’t want to feel like I’m interrupting.

There’s a lot going on that doesn’t involve prices, competitors, competition, or how product is displayed.  It’s the appeal of the store and the experience of the store itself. None of this is new. It’s old stuff that everybody knows and hopefully everybody does, but when you find a place that doesn’t you’ll notice right away… and you probably won’t shop there too many times.

Once upon a time our town had a comic book store and the people who worked their knew their comics. They knew them to the point they could, if I bought MongoDROID Issue 17 they could suggest that I might also like Mongopolypse Issues 12-16: The Chubby Rain* mini-series. This sort of product knowledge that they had was what kept me coming back to their store.

When I used to go to GameStop here in town the staff there was able to help me pick Nintendo DS games based on what I’d bought in the past and subsequently returned. They knew what I’d bought and kept and were able to suggest games that I might not otherwise have considered (anything with an animal in it I would never choose to buy on my own). Their expertise in their area was what kept me coming back as a customer. It wasn’t great prices or anything like that. I wanted to talk to someone about something that interested me and get feedback and suggestions. (the staff now isn’t as good as what they had before so I don’t shop there. I went in yesterday while waiting for a hair appointment and they ignored me while I looked at a game system, not a game, the system… that’s a big sale they didn’t even try for. It’s why they get no more of my gaming dollars.)

I don’t make any purchase over a hundred dollars without first finding out if there are amazon reviews on the product. Seriously. I use the wisdom of the masses to help me buy things. I was looking at car stereos today at a local car stereo shop and got some part numbers. I’ll look them up for reviews before I buy. Not because I don’t trust the guy. He was pretty helpful and the information he had on my old stereo matched up with mine. But we don’t have a relationship yet. I don’t know if he’s motivated by commission or trying to sell out old product or trying to help me, so I’ll consult Amazon.comand Crutchfield for information first. That relationship is something that is important to consumers. Hank Hill references it when he talks about “his car guy” in an episode where it turns out that through his masterful negotiation skills he’s paid “Sticker price” for years. That’s a case where the salesman was a jerk. I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about the establishing trust, having a specialized knowledge and expertise, and having a desire to help the customer get what they want.

When you’re in retail, and I am… if you’re a smaller specialty shop this is what your employees have to do. They have to know the product in the store. They have to engage the customer and find out what they’re looking for, what they’ve tried, what they liked and didn’t like about previous purchases, and try to figure out what is in stock at that moment that will help the customer right then. If it’s not something that’s in stock at the time the sales person needs to be VERY good to have the customer come back to them. If I tell the customer, “Oh, you mean the widgetmaster 2000? That’s EXACTLY what you’re describing and sadly, we’re out of stock but should have some by next Thursday for the low low price of something reasonable,” the customer is now armed and able to go to Internet.storefront.not.me.com and order it there… and I lose out. It’s not their fault. It’s my fault as a retailer for being out of stock.

This is a clarion call for all those boutique type stores out there, those one-shot type stores that do one thing… if you’re not going to do it well, you’re not going to do it long. That comic book store I was talking about? I thought they did things REALLY well. Knowledgeable staff, big selection, no competition within 100 miles to speak of, and plenty of local events to keep people coming in. They went out of business anyway. So, if you’re NOT doing it not just good, but really good, you’re not going to be doing it for long. Sometimes, even if you are doing it really well the ball bounces the wrong way and places go out of business. There’s no reason to be in retail if you don’t like retail. Honestly. There are so many other jobs out there, why do one you don’t like?

*Two points if you know the reference and give it in the comments.

PS: What’s the picture of the bowl of Trix have to do with anything? Nothing, but isn’t it bright and colorful?