Getting better service

We all as customers expect very good customer service. The question is, how many of us deserve good customer service?

Internationally we are known to be rude, aggressive, tip poorly, treat staff like personal servants and then complain about poor service.

I had a friend who was an air hostess with Air India and once we had a debate about why Indian fliers were treated poorly while foreigners would be helped, smiled at and so on. She stumped with a single line. She said “Without fail most foreigners would say please and thank you, while most Indian fliers would demand whatever they wanted”. That set me thinking and I started observing if we as a consumer class are really so bad.

Retail chains were a good place to observe this phenomenon, especially since they talk so much about customer service and customer delight. I noticed that most chains have instructed and trained their staff to smile, wish ask if any help is required. Most staff did smile and wish, while most customers would either look past them or be mildly irritated.

One day I commented to one such staff member that this must be one of the easier parts of their job. Smile and wish. She said “No sir, this is actually not so easy. A few customers smile back at us. Most just ignore us. I feel very bad when that happens.” The staff became comfortable enough to share a few thoughts and it gave me a very different perspective.

These people come from poor economical backgrounds. Most of them use the bus or cycle to get to work. Their homes are not exactly the epitome of comfort and luxury. On top of all that they also have their personal problems and issues. In that context being cheerful, smiling and wishing is an effort. Doing it again and again when being ignored by many is an even bigger effort. Adding insult to injury are some misguided youngsters who use this as an excuse to make funny comments or remarks.

I resolved to remember this and make it a point to wish and smile back at staff, say please and thank you every time someone does a service. I am just being selfish. I am ensuring that this service staffs do not get so demoralized that they stop giving good service because no one acknowledges it and one day I stop getting good service.

A retail trivia – There is a customer service guideline called the 5 Feet rule. This was propounded by Sam Walton of Walmart and most retailers follow some variation of this. Every customer facing staff is required to smile and wish customers who come within 5 feet. How do they measure 5 feet? Simple, the floor tiles have a defined size and one needs to wish everyone within a particular number of tiles.

-- This article is part of a series, I wrote for "The Hindu, Retail Plus".

Power of change

Most of us would have definitely had a situation where we could not complete a purchase because we had no change or had to take some meaningless toffees instead of the change. Having or getting change has not been an issue as wide spread in the fast few years. However in the late 90’s this was a major issue and has given lots of headaches to retailers, especially the new organized chain stores.

During that period a regular customer who used to frequent one such chain store used to expect change as a given. Most cases she would get the change and a few times the staff would ask if she had change and she would grumble and search and try to find change. One day when the staff asked if she had change, customer suddenly lost her temper and started shouting. The others in the line were getting quite restive and it looked like there would soon be a major scene.

Just then another staff who seemed like the store manager came up to the lady and said that she would help. After patiently listening to the lady she had a long talk to this lady explaining about why there is a problem with change and what all they are doing to address this. I was watching to see if the manager’s talk would resolve the problem. Obviously she was quite persuasive and the customer calmed down, found some change, billed her purchases and left.

I congratulated the manager on her customer service and went away. A few weeks later the manager spotted me at the store and walked up to share an astonishing end to this story. The customer had returned the next day with lots of change bundled in her kerchief and gave it to the manager and said “I never realized how much of change I end up having in my house, till you explained how difficult it was to get change. So I thought let me give it to you and help”. I left the store impressed with the manager and with the customer who helped herself and other customers with her small effort.

I am sure that many of us would discover lots of change at our homes if we had a look around. Maybe we should also do what that customer did and give it to our regular store. Or at least carry it with us. Imagine how much money would be lying unused as change!!

A retail trivia – These chains as part of their efforts to get adequate change would approach several innovative sources apart from their banks, the Tirupati temple being one of them. Based on what the manager was telling I gathered that staff would go every week to Tirupati and return with bags of coin. Another interesting source was the various beggar groups. Yes, were amongst the main suppliers of change and made money giving change. They would give change worth Rs. 97 or 98 and get Rs. 100 in return.

-- This article is a part of a series, I wrote for "The Hindu, Retail Plus".

Where is the banner/ Balloon rice!!

In the early days of corporate retail, with limited budgets I had to think of every kind of gimmick to stretch the marketing budget. One innovation (Thanks to a Hindi Pop Concert!!) was the large format drop down banner and the large gas balloons. This became such an identification sign that, customers would walk in asking for the Banner or Balloon rice!!

P.S. - Thanks to a concert in the indoor stadium at Chennai, where large format drop downs were noticed by my team mate Usha and myself, this became SOP for launches for some time, leading to the term - Banner rice!

P.S.2 - The large gas balloons were as effective as dangerous. One had to get all kinds of permission and be very careful when using them. In spite of all this care, a balloon flew off during a launch. Last reported; some flights were being diverted to Chennai or Madras in those day! Because, the passengers wanted to purchase the balloon rice!!!!

Please allow me into the store!!

One of my most memorable and early memories of modern retail in India is the launch of the first Foodworld store in Hyderabad (or was it Secunderabad!!!!) in the late 90's.

Anyways...

It was around 7 p.m. and the 3000 sq. ft. store was just about ready to qualify for the record of "most people inside a confined space". The operating team of which I was a member of, decided to request customers to wait and not enter the store and if possible return the next day.

After all customers had to move out before anyone could come in...

My very dear friend Saurabh, the business head and myself decided to man the entrance and announce to the customers to wait or return the next day. While we were battling the crowds and explaining to the various customers why they cant enter the store immediately, our worry was that the glass door should not break and injure anyone!

While grappling between the crowds and the glass door, a person slowly pushed his way towards us and held out his hands to us for a hand shake. We politely shook his hand and were explaining that he would have to come back the next day or wait till the crowd lessened, when I had to suddenly pull my hand away, as something was being pressed into my palm.

At that point, the customer became hysterical and said "Please take 50 or 100 rupees and let me into this place. I have come from far to show this place to my children and cannot come again". Obviously we could not not do that and we tried explaining that to the customer while keeping the entrance barricaded.

Finally that person left. Convinced or dejected, I do not know, till this day.

The incident had a great learning for me as a retailer and a marketeer. Don't create expectations, which you cant meet and ideally surpass. In subsequent store launches we planned it like a 1 day match to manage customers. But, that's another story for another day.

Today when I think about that incident I wonder if that person even bothers to go to a chain store for his regular shopping, let alone a new store launch!!!

Do you have Eggs?

Wrote an article which was published in Business Line, about the current customer experience and the possible reasons for the same. Please look up the article and share your views.

- Do you have eggs?