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There’s only one existential retail question that’s tougher than “debit or credit?”, and that would be...
“Did you find everything that you’re looking for?”
I was at Staples recently, late afternoon, and I was tired. A guy rushed into the store and asked the employee at the cash register, “Can you tell me where I can find Staples?” And I thought to myself, dude, you are more than clueless. There was a long pause and it was all I could do to not say anything….until the cash register guy said, without even looking over, “Aisle Seven.”
Oh. He meant, “Can you tell me where I can find staples?” not “Can you tell me where I can find Staples.” Oops.
Still and all, is there any question more meaningless than “Did you find everything that you looking for?” Especially when you consider that the person asks you this question AFTER YOU'VE DONE YOUR SHOPPING and have made it to the cash register. Wouldn’t it make more sense if someone had asked that question, say, in aisle seven, when you’re looking for staples? Or Staples?
What do they expect you to say at that point? “Well, I was looking for world peace in the refurbished toner section but couldn’t find it.” Or, “Yes, I just need a bit more help locating a virtually new Treo 650—the one I lost a couple weeks ago downtown.”
Sometimes, just to play with the programmed cashiers a bit, the moment they start to ask the question they’ve been trained to ask spontaneously, I’ll interrupt and say, “I found everything I’m looking for.” That often leaves them speechless, doing the gaping fish-mouth thing of opening and shutting wordlessly. “But did you REALLY find EVERYTHING you’re looking for?” is about the only reply they come up with to that. At which point we’re back on the trek for total consciousness.
Technorati tags: Staples Sartre customer service
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Comments
Thanks for a good laugh this morning, Tom! And thanks for the inspiration for a post. As someone tasked with helping drive consistency into the service experience, you've given a great illustration of what we DON'T want it to become.
Posted by: Tom Vander Well | 08.10.06
Good stuff Tom. How many times have I stood helplessly staring at a tier of shelves, while a Staples employee stood alongside doing inventory or pricing items. If even once I had been asked, "Can I help you find something?" I would not now be writing this post. Instead, I would be a happy customer because basic (not good nor great) customer service had been provided.
Posted by: Lewis Green | 08.10.06
Very funny observation, Tom E. And Tom V W -- thanks for picking up the post on your blog.
I hear you Lewis -- I've had the same experience at Staples. What I often wonder is -- why are some retail employees genuinely good with service, while others -- like Staples -- less so? I was in Trader Joe's yesterday, for example, and it struck me that the employees there are helpful and friendly without being overly solicitous or unnecessarily chatty.
Are Trader Joe's employees better motivated? Incentivized? Trained? And why don't other places get it?
(There's my existential question for today, I guess!)
Posted by: Ann Handley | 08.10.06
Say, thanks for the comments! And on the serious side, for a good analysis of the costs of poor customer service and a way to think about going far beyond good service, I recommend the book Lean Solutions by Jim Womack and Dan Jones. In particular, read the portions about Fujitsu Services.
The key point is that the goal of call centers, for example, should not be to reduce the amount of time spent on individual calls--rather, the goal should be to have the operators solve the problem at such a root cause that these calls eventually stop happening. In other words, the goal should be to reduce the number of calls overall!
Posted by: Tom Ehrenfeld | 08.10.06
It wasn't at a Staples, nor looking for staples, but I have been asked that question, "Did you find everything you were looking for?". More than once, I've answered, honestly, "No, I was looking for .... and I've determined you don't have it." I've never been told, "Oh, we have that on aisle ...."
Posted by: Parley Kennelly | 08.10.06
Great post and thanks. When the goal is to reduce the time and cost of business ... does that factor in the time and cost to callers who wait after long menues and often get cut off at the end of many numbers punched in. It seems to me a better solution would be one person to route the call to the many efficient handlers. What do you think?
Posted by: Ellen | 08.10.06