Zombie Hulk SMASH bad customer service! (Image by Flickr user Bob Jagendorf)
“The televisions these days, they depreciate when you take them home. Like a used car.” - Customer Service manager at [insert electronics store here.]
Dear retail customer service folks, that was the justification I received when I was handed a gift card for nearly a third less than what I paid for the LCD HD Television I was exchanging via a warranty exchange. I raised one eyebrow to express puzzlement to the manager, then proceeded with a short diatribe into the logical and perfectly rational reason why he was completely wrong in his assessment in the situation and why he was making a mistake. Not to mention, the gift card I was originally handed wouldn’t even cover the tax on the replacement television. After a short discussion, then attempting the transaction again in the computer, a gift card was created with the correct amount. As a customer, I was finally satiated, but still left in mild bemusement at the complete level of incompetence I routinely experience when dealing with retail customer service representatives.
Now, to be clear - this isn’t everywhere and everyone. This is a select bunch of folks who seem destined to cross my path when I walk into a store to return something. With electronics, this happens often enough to warrant a rant. The lack of intelligence and general problem solving skills, not to mention the seemingly oblivious behavior when it comes to standard transactions, is amazingly curious for this day and age. Perhaps it’s simply a lack of training, perhaps it’s a lax standard in education up to that point. Perhaps they really just don’t care. Having worked in retail myself for many years in my formative years, I’d have to say it’s a little bit of all three. So how can the retail customer service folks optimize their service? How can they get better at what they do so I don’t have to explain it to them every time I walk into a store? Here are a couple ideas that have been around for a while they may want to take heed to.
Learn the Inventory.
Retail jobs can be fun, for some they can be a career. For most, they are a stepping stone to the next thing. They are a filler until a professional job comes along, or a second job. No matter place your retail job holds in your life, you should still take the time to learn the inventory. Especially if you are working at the customer service desk in the front of the store. You should know what you have on sale, what you don’t and what’s in stock. If it’s not something you can pull off the top of your head, you should know what quick keystrokes to punch into the computer to bring it up.
Sadly, this is rarely the case. More often than not I am being helped by a customer service representative that appear as if they either just woke up, or just finished off a batch of “special” brownies. Maybe it’s just here in Central Florida, but no matter their state of mind, they should at least be able to tell me if they have a particular brand of television in stock that is advertised for sale in the weekly. They should be able to point me in the direction of the splitter that I need, or be able to quickly know if they carry the hard drive enclosure I’m asking about. Scanning the shelves for 6 minutes then giving up is not customer service. That’s laziness.
Case in point, my friend Justin and I recently went to a large electronics retailer to pick up a new Plasma television he had bought at the same store across the county. They were out of the television, so we went across town with the receipt to pick up one of several they had in stock. This is what the customer service representative at store #2 told the representative at store #1. This was after the rep at store #1 was on hold with store #2 for 45 minutes. We arrived at store #2 and after slowly explaining the situation and presenting a receipt, we were told the television was out of stock.
At the same time, we heard the stock-man say out loud, “I wonder if there are any in the warehouse.” So before checking the warehouse to see if any were in stock, we were told there were none in stock. Know your inventory!! Turns out, there were plenty in stock. To further add insult to ignorance, Justin and I had to carry the TV out ourselves as when we asked for assistance, they offered a cart (in which a 50″ TV won’t fit.) Major customer service fail.
If You Can’t Figure it Out, Ask for Help.
This is just a quick note to customer service representatives that have either just started the job or are in the middle of training. It’s alright to ask for help. 12 years into my professional career, I still ask for help when I don’t know the answer. Don’t stand there struggling with a transaction that you aren’t familiar with for upwards of 15 minutes before asking a more experience co-worker. Your pride will not take a hit if you ask for help. It’s okay. I won’t look down on you or anything. If I ask you for an SCSI cable and you have no idea what I’m talking about - direct me to someone who does. Don’t stand there looking befuddled and then tell me you don’t have any because you don’t know what they are. This takes you right back to knowing your inventory.
Math is Your Friend. Embrace it. Use it. Love it.
I am fully aware that the registers are pretty self sufficient these days. They do all the adding and subtracting for you, and most customer service representatives don’t have to think about things like division and multiplication tables when processing a transaction. There is still an element of human interaction. When processing a return and entering the tax calculation, mind the decimal point. Seven percent is .07 not .007. When you see the tax on a $700 item is $4 you must know that is incorrect. Right? Right?
What I can’t figure out is at what point customer service reps were no longer required to learn basic math. For the short six months I was forced to work the register at the retail store I worked, I did the math in my head along with the register. I knew what things cost and how they would add up. I could calculate a transaction down to the penny. I don’t expect that same type of exemplary math skill from customer service reps today, but I do expect they be able to tell when they’ve put in a ten percent discount as a one percent discount and not argue with me about it. All it takes to solve this problem is one day working without a register. Everything by hand in a notebook (which I had to do at a hardware store I worked at) will force a learning of general math.
The Customer is Always Right, Unless they are Wrong.
There is a creedo in customer service that we are all aware of, “the customer is always right.” From personal experience on both sides of the counter, I can say that this isn’t always accurate. Now more than ever, due to a lack of general education and a strange sense of entitlement by the populace, sometimes the customer is a jackass. The problem is when the jackass was the customer in line in front of you. That sets the tone for your transaction, and it’s not a good tone. The best advice I can give the customer service rep in this situation is not to let the bad transaction carry over to the next one. Too many times I’ve dealt with a surly customer service rep because the customer before me was a moron.
In general though, the customer is almost always right. They know what they want or are looking to you for assistance. It’s the job of the customer service rep to provide that assistance in the least stressful way possible. I know all of this seems like textbook obvious stuff for $10 an hour jobs, but if you’ve been to a big box electronics store lately, you’ll agree that there has been a serious disconnect between the one on one customer service of yore and the current “next please” mentality. More important than knowing that the customer is always right is knowing that I am always right. I research everything I buy, I know how to add and subtract before your computer does it. Challenge me with ridiculous claims of falsehood and I will destroy you in front of your co-workers.
What it all boils down to is training. Both by management and by the employee. The management has an obligation to the shopping public to make sure the employees are trained correctly. The employee has that same obligation to receive that training and use it to earn their wage. As I mentioned, I’ve worked in retail and can understand the animosity that arises between employee and customer due to so many terrible customers. What they don’t think about, and what took me years to realize, is that the customer is the one paying your check. The customer is directly paying your rent. If that customer decides not to shop at your establishment anymore because of a terrible customer service experience, that hurts you directly.
With the availability of online retailing and shopping, it is so much more imperative that direct retail customer service gets it together. It’s the only way to survive. I like the personal touch, I like to hold the product in my hand and talk to an expert. The moment I stop getting that, that’s the moment I stop shopping at your store.
What are some of your good/bad customer service experiences at retail stores?
