When service comes with a snarl instead of a smile
Stefan Stern | Saturday, 7 June 2008
YOU might think, with the growing threat of recession and with the constant arrival of new competitors, that businesses would be trying to improve their customer service at the moment. You might think that - if you are as naive as I was until a few days ago when I was exposed to the full blast of contemptuous customer neglect 2008-style.
Was it my fault that I was making a last-minute purchase of a portable DVD player when I probably should have researched the product range online first? Yes, it was. But as it turned out nothing could have been too little trouble for the sullen and uninterested staff I had to deal with at my local electricals giant.
The tone was set by the store manager. He spent most of his time averting his gaze from customers or telling them that they would have to join another queue when they had already spent a long time waiting for the privilege to be given this disappointing information.
Eventually, I was told that portable DVD players could be found "over there", this vague phrase being accompanied by an equally vague wave of the hand. Two more queues later - the purchasing system seemed to have been inspired by an East German bookshop I remember visiting 20 years ago - I left the store with my new consumer durable. It hasn't broken, yet.
British readers may by now have guessed that this unfortunate experience took place in a branch of "Currys.digital" (formerly Dixons), the sort of shop that ought to have a sign saying "Now wash your hands" by the exit.
Predictably, the corporate website for DSGI, which owns Currys among other retail brands, gives little indication of what you can expect to find once you enter their world. "We serve more than 100m people every year, and we want shopping in our stores and online to be a pleasurable experience for every customer," it says. This goal has been inspired by an internal programme called "Being the Best". "We have a dedicated internal training resource and specialist external consultants," the site reveals. You could have fooled me.
The good news for shareholders is that DSGI's new chief executive seems to realise how bad things are. John Browett, a former high-flier from Tesco, recently committed to making "years of investment" in training, calling for a return to "good old-fashioned salesmanship".
Perhaps he should ask Ken Blanchard, author of the best-selling One Minute Manager, for some advice. In a speech in London the other day Mr Blanchard explained why businesses should now be aiming for "legendary service", which will turn your customers into "raving fans". This aim is - you guessed it - "a journey, not a destination". Improving customer service is an ongoing task.
Mr Blanchard offers an acronym - I Care - to describe what is needed. It stands for: Ideal service (meeting the customer's needs); Culture of service (an environment that serves the customer); Attentiveness (knowing customers and their preferences); Responsiveness (demonstrating a willingness to serve others); Empowerment (taking the initiative). The world of I Care would certainly represent a big improvement on what so many retailers seem to offer: I Don't Give A Toss.
How hard is it really to get staff to care about their customers? Too hard for many frontline managers, clearly. Low pay can't help. Lack of training, rude customers and a workload filled with repetitive tasks can't help either. But there are simple things any manager could do to cheer up their customer-facing staff a bit.
Start-of-day team meetings in which colleagues can discuss how to do their jobs better would be good. As would something as basic as ensuring that people get proper breaks. A recent paper in the US Academy of Management Journal showed that morale can be improved by building downtime into the working day. Its authors argue the humble break might even offer the answer to bigger questions such as burn-out.
Gary Hamel's recent book, The Future of Management, contains a lengthy analysis of life at Whole Foods Market, the successful organic food retailer. Prof Hamel describes a world "where frontline employees decide what to stock, where the pressure to perform comes from peers rather than bosses, where teams (not managers) have veto power over new hires, and where virtually every employee feels like he or she is running a small business".
This is not so unlike life at Best Buy, the US consumer electronics business where productivity is up and staff turnover down since managers handed over more power and responsibility to its employees. It also recently announced plans to open new stores in the UK and the rest of Europe in 2009 after buying 50 per cent of Carphone Warehouse, the UK mobile phone retailer.
How is Currys likely to fare against this hungry new rival? Not brilliantly, I fear.
I don't want to stick my neck out too far here but I just have this feeling that getting your staff to be better at selling things could be quite important for your future success. Call it a hunch, if you will. I'm telling you this because I care.
Was it my fault that I was making a last-minute purchase of a portable DVD player when I probably should have researched the product range online first? Yes, it was. But as it turned out nothing could have been too little trouble for the sullen and uninterested staff I had to deal with at my local electricals giant.
The tone was set by the store manager. He spent most of his time averting his gaze from customers or telling them that they would have to join another queue when they had already spent a long time waiting for the privilege to be given this disappointing information.
Eventually, I was told that portable DVD players could be found "over there", this vague phrase being accompanied by an equally vague wave of the hand. Two more queues later - the purchasing system seemed to have been inspired by an East German bookshop I remember visiting 20 years ago - I left the store with my new consumer durable. It hasn't broken, yet.
British readers may by now have guessed that this unfortunate experience took place in a branch of "Currys.digital" (formerly Dixons), the sort of shop that ought to have a sign saying "Now wash your hands" by the exit.
Predictably, the corporate website for DSGI, which owns Currys among other retail brands, gives little indication of what you can expect to find once you enter their world. "We serve more than 100m people every year, and we want shopping in our stores and online to be a pleasurable experience for every customer," it says. This goal has been inspired by an internal programme called "Being the Best". "We have a dedicated internal training resource and specialist external consultants," the site reveals. You could have fooled me.
The good news for shareholders is that DSGI's new chief executive seems to realise how bad things are. John Browett, a former high-flier from Tesco, recently committed to making "years of investment" in training, calling for a return to "good old-fashioned salesmanship".
Perhaps he should ask Ken Blanchard, author of the best-selling One Minute Manager, for some advice. In a speech in London the other day Mr Blanchard explained why businesses should now be aiming for "legendary service", which will turn your customers into "raving fans". This aim is - you guessed it - "a journey, not a destination". Improving customer service is an ongoing task.
Mr Blanchard offers an acronym - I Care - to describe what is needed. It stands for: Ideal service (meeting the customer's needs); Culture of service (an environment that serves the customer); Attentiveness (knowing customers and their preferences); Responsiveness (demonstrating a willingness to serve others); Empowerment (taking the initiative). The world of I Care would certainly represent a big improvement on what so many retailers seem to offer: I Don't Give A Toss.
How hard is it really to get staff to care about their customers? Too hard for many frontline managers, clearly. Low pay can't help. Lack of training, rude customers and a workload filled with repetitive tasks can't help either. But there are simple things any manager could do to cheer up their customer-facing staff a bit.
Start-of-day team meetings in which colleagues can discuss how to do their jobs better would be good. As would something as basic as ensuring that people get proper breaks. A recent paper in the US Academy of Management Journal showed that morale can be improved by building downtime into the working day. Its authors argue the humble break might even offer the answer to bigger questions such as burn-out.
Gary Hamel's recent book, The Future of Management, contains a lengthy analysis of life at Whole Foods Market, the successful organic food retailer. Prof Hamel describes a world "where frontline employees decide what to stock, where the pressure to perform comes from peers rather than bosses, where teams (not managers) have veto power over new hires, and where virtually every employee feels like he or she is running a small business".
This is not so unlike life at Best Buy, the US consumer electronics business where productivity is up and staff turnover down since managers handed over more power and responsibility to its employees. It also recently announced plans to open new stores in the UK and the rest of Europe in 2009 after buying 50 per cent of Carphone Warehouse, the UK mobile phone retailer.
How is Currys likely to fare against this hungry new rival? Not brilliantly, I fear.
I don't want to stick my neck out too far here but I just have this feeling that getting your staff to be better at selling things could be quite important for your future success. Call it a hunch, if you will. I'm telling you this because I care.