Small Business – Sales – Customer Service is the Difference
Having worked in retail for years and having the importance of good customer service being drilled into me I found it satisfying and very disappointing when I went on a shopping trip with my wife to look at things we will need for our baby.
First stop Baby Factory on Colombo St; now before I go any further I better explain that we were on a fact finding trip as we were not entirely sure of everything we would need and we had no idea of pricing so this trip was hopefully going to rectify some of that.
Anyway back to the Baby Factory, huge range, I looked vaguely across the store thinking I need a better paying job!!! Anyway, initial shock aside we systematically went round the store, making decisions on items we thought we would try and get off TradeMe and items we would definitely buy new.
My Baby's Mercedes
When we got to the buggies / prams it was all a bit overwhelming, there was a large range from several manufactures and we had no idea what the differences were and what to look for. At this point an assistant approached (I wish I could remember her name sorry) and asked us if we needed any help, to which we gratefully responded, after the assistant congratulating us (a nice touch) she proceeded to tell us the pros and cons of the different types and asked us what we were looking for, were we likely to run with the pram, is it likely to be used off road, are you planning on having more children etc. By the time we had finished we had a lot more of an idea what we needed and having looked at them all I decided in my own mind that my first child is going to get the Mercedes of buggies, nothing else will do!!! This kindly assistant then went through the whole process again with Bassinets and Cots, as we left we completed a form so we could be on their email list, that way we can keep an eye out on specials between now and the birth.
Next we went to Farmers in the Palms, all I can say is what a disappointment, we had been to their Riccarton store in the past for baby gifts for other people and liked the experience, but now we were looking for ourselves, they still had the range and the pricing was good but at no point did we get help from any of the three assistants talking in a group together. We would have been there for around 15 minutes, but I’ll tell you now we will not be going back!
The third place we went was Baby City in Tower Junction, a nice store to wonder around, similar if not slightly newer than Baby Factory. We got to the buggies, there were some makes we had not seen before, an assistant approached us and again we welcomed her help. This assistant was not so forth coming with information, I can’t say she did not give us the information we needed but she certainly did not go the extra mile.
When I compare the three shopping experiences I will definitely be going back to the Baby Factory to spend my money, why, because the total experience was better and the sales assistant went out of her way to help us in our quest, that is the difference a single member of your sales team can make between winning and losing a sale.
I can’t wait to buy my Mercedes buggy!!!!!
Shopping is one of those jobs that I really dislike, mainly because it is going to make part with my hard earned cash. What is even worse …is when I can’t get the right info so I can make the right decision on my purchase. Poorly trained, ill imformed, lazy staff member really do my head in …..making the whole process very painful for all involved. They are killing the business and it’s reputation just imagine their boss feels, lossing all that business with no idea as to why or any feedback so you can identify that you actually have a problem other than poor profits. Customer like me vote with their feet, If you get poor service complain….complain…complain !!!!!
Craig Pidgeon on September 7th, 2009