Is customer service a thing of the past?

BY TONY FEATHERSTONE

OPINION: Has there ever been a better opportunity for small retailers to prosper through great service?

Customer service is almost comical in some mid-size and large retailers these days. Service levels have dropped so far that people no longer complain - they accept terrible service as the norm.

This trend is not new. Finding enough helpful department-store shop assistants, empty change rooms, or attended cash registers has been a problem for years.

But service has a found a new low this year as retailers grapple with a slowing sales environment, amid higher interest rates and expiration of government stimulus payments.

The problem will worsen as interest rates rise again later this year or early next year.

Soon, department stores will resemble supermarkets where you scan purchases at the checkout. Maybe that would be better than pretending to serve people.

Is good customer service a thing of the past? Has it deteriorated this year?

In this do-it-yourself age, should we just accept bad service and stop complaining?

Is service so bad that it puts you off shopping completely?

Consider my experience buying jeans.  I could not find a single shop assistant on half the store floor at Myer. Two change rooms were closed (presumably due to no staff), with the nearest on the other side of the store. So I gave up.

I went to a specialist jean shop expecting better service. After all, category killers pride themselves on knowledgeable staff and attentive service.

It was just as bad. Two shop assistants spent their time folding things and talking to each other as I destroyed piles of jeans looking for that elusive fit. I could have been invisible.

As shop rage got the better of me, I gave up again. Another lost sale.

Maybe I'm a grumpy shopper. So I asked my ever-patient wife who worked in retail for 15 years about her experience buying running shoes that week.

She jokingly decided to buy shoes from the first shop that served her properly. She finally bought shoes from shop number four, after three fruitless attempts.

To expand this research, I asked my Gen Y university students if they expect good service when buying clothes. None do. An entire generation just accepts non-existent service.

One wonders how many millions in sales are lost each day due to companies penny-pinching on staff costs, or not managing slack, rude shop assistants who don't follow sales protocol.

Yes, I know there are great shop assistants and companies that provide excellent service. They are the minority and almost extinct. They should be cherished and rewarded.

Anyway, enough whinging. Every problem is an opportunity.  

Every business that deals with the public needs clearly documented, systemised and enforced sales protocols. It's no good training staff how to sell if the process is not monitored and measured.

Does your business have a strong sales protocol that is second nature to staff?

How do you to tell if staff are following the protocol? Is the process too random?

Consider how a good system works in practice.

I eventually bought jeans from a surfwear outlet that was busy at the time. The assistant said hello as I entered, made eye contact, and said she'd return in a few minutes to check how I was getting on. She found my size and brought different jeans to try on.

When I chose a pair, she commented how it was a good brand, thus reinforcing my purchase decision. Unprompted, she brought a shirt to try on that matched the jeans.

Once I bought the product, she mentioned an upcoming sale to get me back to the store. And she took my details for the store mailing list.

Yes, it was scripted. Yes, I could see through it. But it worked. I'll go back to that store and tell people about it. I'll even pay higher prices if the service is as good each time.

Small ventures take note: a little old-fashioned attentive service can transform your business.

There has never been a better opportunity as big players become service dinosaurs.

- © Fairfax NZ News