Department store re-defines ‘Customer Service’

I got a lesson in counter-intuitive sales thinking this past Saturday at “The Bay: Canada’s Department Store” (company’s slogan). The only problem is, that’s the opposite to how sales psychology works.

A sales presentation, regardless of its form (brochure, in-person, billboard, commercial) or medium of delivery (TV, radio, Internet, in-person shopping experience) should be:

• Readily understood
• Accessible to all
• Consistent, and
• Motivate the buyer to take whatever action is desired, providing they have an identified need or unidentified want-desire for the product or service.

As Canada’s oldest company – 343 years and counting – I would have thought that they’d mastered these basic tenets of sales. In a high-touch retail environment, other factors are also important: among them: store layout, product displays, staff training, and a close proximity of check-out stations to area of purchase so as to capitalize on the impulse purchase drive.

I stress the last point because once I’d decided what to buy, I looked around for a check out station and found none – which frustrated me to no end. First thought: “I’ve been coming here since I was a kid, worked here when I was 17, gone Christmas shopping multiple times and never, at no time, was a check-out station not in line-of-sight.”

It was the same with Sears, Eaton’s (when they were around), and any large department store except Wal-Mart. However, with them, you knew from the start what their check-out plan was because it was consistent.

2nd thought: “Ok, one’s probably over there near Woman’s Wear because they buy way more than the average guy.”

No deal. ‘Couldn’t spot one anywhere. Determined now – and increasingly frustrated – I did a walk-round but came up empty. And there were no signs anywhere as to where I should pay for my purchase. My remaining option? The Customer Service desk which was situated right in the middle of the store. “Strange,” I thought, “there must be a lot of complaints because there’s a line-up of people.”

I got in line because I, too, now had a complaint. My turn comes up, I walked up to the counter and pointed out that I was not there for an exchange or refund; “I just want to buy something.” There was a “I don’t get it” expression in the woman’s face, whereupon I explained my problem and bade her to inform her manager that this place was confusing. Her expression changed into a smirking incredulous one – like I was the new guy. “This is where you pay for things.” I would have addressed a manager right there had my back not been hurting so.

Conclusion? The Bay had altered their customer’s purchase process – which had been the same for decades – by centralizing it. Instead of check-out stations being distributed throughout the store, adjacent to major buying areas, now there was 1 big check-out area: a factory approach. The thinking? Maybe, to reduce headcount, encourage on-the-way-to-the-checkout-station impulse buying (although i saw no buggies and no one with buggies), or to increase product capacity with the saved floor space.

Problems:

• Re-Definition of Customer Service area Perplexes – For decades, ‘Customer Service’ has been where customer issues (exchanges, refunds, billing issues) were dealt with: a practice duplicated across the continent. Re-defining it – without any signage assistance – alienates customers, especially infrequent ones like me.
• Alteration not in Accordance with Confirmed Male Characteristic – Couldn’t I have asked someone? I could have but I am a man and as such I do not ask: I find, I hunt, I discover, I stake out new territory. (Actually, I always ask but my back was killing me and pain tends to focus one). But really! Why would a 343 year old company hide its cash registers? I didn’t think to ask as I was on a quest and growing increasingly dissatisfied with each non-find.
• Under-trained Counter Personnel – Had the woman who served me been properly instructed, she would have voiced empathy for my plight and apologized for her company’s lack of orientation. In direct sales, from whence I came and will soon again be immersed, we call this type of action “stepping up” and/or “being accountable.” Would I have requested some type of compensation for my wasted time? No, because I could have asked for help. What I wanted, more than anything else, was an apology, and an explanation which would require management to have thought ahead and built that eventuality – the infrequent shopper – into staff training. My shopping experience would then have turned into a positive one.

Lack of job-related training and poor service habits has long been a pet peeve of mine. I’ve always a noticed a big decline in both, retail-wise, when I cross the border from the U.S. back into my native country. It’s also been a failing in professional services, particularly sales. This is a future post so I will end this tangent here. The only thing I will add is that Canadian business is (finally) waking up as these Canadian government statistics indicate. (Source: Human Resources and Skills Development Canada)

Ultimately, the crux of this issue is poor Usability, also called:

• Ease-of-Use
• User-friendliness
• Smart industrial design
• Providing a nice shopping experience, and/or
• Thinking ahead and addressing blind spots before customer consternation sets in.

All of these, in their respective environments, are often the difference between a one-time customer and a returned, enthusiastic one who passes on favorable – and profit-aiding – compliments to their friends.

For The Bay, ‘making it easy to do business’ would have meant posting signs with an explanation as to how the changes would benefit me – the buyer – and the listing of a person’s name to call or an email address to write to with my ideas or opinions.

That’s “Service in the 21st Century.”