I had a couple of recent experiences with retailers, one was good and one bad…..well really awful. I will explain the problems, the good experiences, explain how they happen and why. At a time when retailers are struggling to survive, you will see why some are a success and why others fail. The sad part is they don’t really know why they fail. This week I will tell you about the bad experience and next week about the good experience and why they are successful.

 If you want to protect your business and make or keep it successful then read this. It’s a useful article for managers and staff to understand why the customer is important and for businesses to understand that staff and customers are important to their survival.

My story begins when I decided to buy a quality printer from a high street conglomerate who specializes in PC’s and white goods and have operations throughout the UK & Ireland. I went to their local store as there was a sale on. There was a queue due to the ongoing Covid epidemic.

I stood in the queue for 40 minutes and eventually got to the front door where I was met by a gruff aggressive staff member with crossed arms. He said “What do you want?” I said “I’m looking for a printer” he responded with “We have no printer anywhere in the store” So I said no problem I will just have a browse around as there is a sale on. No you won’t he replied, no browsing allowed!

Wow what an attitude and I wasn’t the only person getting this attitude, which is shocking for a major retailer. Yes, we are all concerned about Covid, but to practically push a customer out of the store, who wants to spend money, is a first for me. So later that day I went online and asked to be advised when the printer stock will be in and the system said I will be notified.

The system worked! I received the confirmation of my preference being in stock on Monday, the e-mail arrived Sunday night so first thing Monday I was back in the queue and yet again the guy on the door (a different person) challenged all customers asking what they wanted before allowing them in.  A young couple in front of me said they wanted to see what was on sale and they were refused – no browsing that’s the rule. So, they left and said they would go to a competitor where they would be allowed to browse.

I went back as they now had printers. I had to be personally be escorted by a staff member and I was told I could only look at printers, yes really! I told the guy I had an email confirming stock of a particular printer. He said no, they were out of stock of the particular printer I was interested in. He said they came in last Wednesday and all sold on that day. I asked why I received an email saying it was in stock. He said he didn’t know but that stock only comes in on Wednesday so I asked how about the next Wednesday, should I come then? He said no I don’t think we will get any printers next Wednesday. That was my experience with this retailer – will I buy from them? No, I certainly won’t.

My first concern is what type of manager runs an operation like this? At a time when retailers are struggling against online sales and yet this retailer had such unpleasant staff on the front door. He or she must condone this attitude. As a customer it got my back up and I’m sure many other customers felt the same. The result is that staff at this retailer created upset and angry customers who their colleagues would then have to deal with. I bet the staff think what awful customers we get in this store. Well, you create your customers attitude by the attitude you take towards them.

I will be interested to see how long they last; staff will lose their jobs along with the managers and they will all wonder what went wrong. I looked up the comments of that particular store on Google and they get a poor score. Most reviews say rude unhelpful staff – I wonder if their management follow up on this. Sadly, it seems unlikely as the reviews have been negative for a number of months.

I had a look at Glassdoor ratings of this retailer as a place to work and they get a poor rating in all areas. This suggests this organization doesn’t value their staff and that’s another reason why the staff don’t value customers. Financially they have struggled over the past few years but had a good 2018 when they went back to profitability. I will be interested to see how they do this year.

So, what can you learn from this?

1. Keep an eye on all public reviews about your business

Reviews confirm the experience your customer are having good and bad. They highlight your good staff and it will also highlight problem areas that may need your attention.

• Motivation is critical to business success

How often do you meet personally with your staff? You should try to do so weekly. Ask them what the problems are, ask them for suggestions on how to improve any potential issues. Share feedback with them. If it’s good then mention staff names, if it’s bad don’t mention names but discuss why that incident occurred and how it can impact the reputation of the branch and everyone who works there.

• Reward the good staff

Recognizing your best people means they will stay with you and they will become an example to other staff. The majority of staff seek attention and recognizing them is the most powerful way. It’s not about the money it’s about being appreciated.

• Develop your staff and management

Most frontline staff only learn about the organization and it values but what about the psychology of dealing with people? What about developing managers to effectively manage staff? When I asked the staff in my experience about if they had a been involved in training they said yes we attended the staff induction programme when we joined but that was it.

• A tale of two retailers – Part 2

Last week I gave an account of my experience with a major PC and White Goods retailer in the UK & Ireland who had serious flaws in their service delivery process.  It’s interesting to note that they have announced this week that over 800 staff redundant and cite Covid and on-line sales as the reason. The reality is their service delivery is flawed and they are driving customers away from their business.

My 2^nd experience was a good one and it was with Woodies, a DIY focused retailer.

When I visit their stores (there are two in my hometown of Galway) I have always observed the staff being friendly and helpful whenever customers need help. I was in there about three weeks ago, as I was repainting a bathroom in my home. I had decided on a particular paint and while in the store I couldn’t find the specific supplier I wanted so I decide to look at another supplier. A staff member noticed me browsing the paints, I explained the situation and he said he would look in the store to see if he could find my original choice. A few minutes later he came back with the tin I needed.

Two weeks ago, I decided to buy a computer desk for my home office and chose a sturdy well designed unit. I approached the check out and requested specific desk. She asked me if I could wait a couple of days which I thought was a strange question. She then went on to say they were having a sale later in the week and the desk I wanted would be reduced by 50% so I paid for a couple of other items. She didn’t have to tell me that, but the fact that she had made me realise how good the service ethic was in Woodies. A few days later I went in and got my desk with a 50% reduction which I was very pleased about.

Looking at Woodies financials their trading profits have risen close to 50 per cent over the past three years which is impressive. It’s clear that good customer service leads to increased profits. I also looked at staff comments about Woodies. It makes interesting reading: Friendly environment, productive and fun; staff are treated with respect. A great place to work.

What a difference to the other retailer where I had a series of bad experiences. Like many good companies they are not perfect but overall, the vision and values of the company stream down to the front line.

Retailers, there are lessons here that you can incorporate into your business which will help increase profitability:

1. Treat your staff how you want your customers to be treated

Woodies spend a lot of time focusing on the staff. They have a ‘Colleague Committee’ for voicing their opinions. It’s important that staff have the opportunity to have a voice in the organization. They often come up with great ideas that can save the company money and improve the service experience. Don’t waste this valuable resource.

• Make the job interesting and fun

Working in retail can be challenging and yes, there are some very difficult customers out there which front line staff have to deal with on occasions. You need to allow you staff to download in a safe environment. They will learn from each other and everyone benefits as their understanding will improve on the process to defuse such situations. Get staff to share funny stories, crazy questions they have been asked, strange customer they have met. The objective is to bring a bit of fun into the work environment.  Don’t forget to take the opportunity to recognize the good staff who get the best feedback from customers.

• Profits will come if you look after your staff

One of the biggest errors in retail management is not understanding ‘How you treat your staff directly impacts the service customers receive’. Good service leads to increased profits but only if you value your staff and their efforts to help your business succeed. 

• You must train and develop you staff

Woodies run regular training programmes not only in customer service but in product information, communication skills, working in a multi-cultural environment and management skills. If you don’t develop your staff they won’t stay in your organization. Today most new joiners ask what development they can they expect in their careers. It’s a big benefit that retailers provide development, you will attract the best candidates and they will stay longer with your company.

• Where did the customer service go?

Where did the service excellence go, it seems to have run out of fuel – Car Hire

Have you noticed that customer service seems to be on life support in many organisations? We need to act fast as it could become extinct. Maybe this seems like an exaggeration but over the past few months while I was travelling, I noticed that service is not what it used to be. I was hiring a car from a well-known European car hire company; one I have used in Ireland many times in the past 2 years. I booked the car online and when I went to collect it, I was told they would not give me the car unless I took the collision damage waiver (CDW) insurance.

I explained I have a separate policy for that so didn’t need to purchase the daily rate which can be very expensive over a long rental. I was happy to take the normal excess on my credit card. I had done this on a number of occasions in the past with the same company at the same location. But not this time!

I asked to see the manager. Picture the scene, the staff member is 3 feet away from me behind the desk. The manager come up and is midway between myself and the staff member. He says “What the problem?” She then whispers in his ear as quietly as possible about the CDW issue. He then looks at me suspiciously and asked me what the problem was. I told him the situation and explained I had done this a number of times in the past two years without any issue. He said “that’s not possible”!

So, think about it, he has just called me a liar! I continued to be pleasant and asked how long he had been at this location as he might have been new, “Ten years” he responded, “We can’t rent you a car without the CDW insurance unless you have a credit card from Canada or the USA”. I asked “Why” he said “It’s the rules. If you don’t take the CDW insurance then you can’t have the car”.

I reminded him we had done this on a number of occasions before (as recently as April 2016) and he said “Well, when we find out who did this, we will take action against them!” I explained with the limit on my card I could buy the car I was hiring but no, with his arms crossed he refused to budge and so we took our suitcases and left. Now think about my situation I have arrived after a long flight, the weather in Ireland is prone to rain, a lot of rain and here I was with no car. Also, it was embarrassing as other people were looking on and of course my wife wasn’t too happy either.

So, we went to the next car hire company along the road, a company called Enterprise, they were so helpful. The staff were smartly dressed in uniform (unlike the previous company who looked scruffy in their uniforms) they addressed us by name were very helpful regarding the car. And of course, there was no problem if you don’t take the CDW. So, in less than 10 minutes we were on the way. Interestingly the lady in Enterprise told us that they get a lot of upset customers coming from other car hire companies to them. It seems the staff in other car hire companies are on commission. I guess their attitude is focused on the commission as part of their salary so the service goes out the window.

I will no longer use the well-known European car hire company; I will probably tell at least 30 of my friends about the experience and I’m sure they will pass on the information as we all love to hear the bad service stories. And I’m sure people reading this will think along the same lines. So, if you run a major service organization, listen to your customers because by the time you realise you have a problem with your service it may well be too late.

Well done Enterprise you train your staff very well, they have a great attitude and look very smart. Think about how many organization today have let their service standards slip and sadly it seems to be increasing. Service is critical to long term business success. Even Ryanair had to change as their service record was really questionable but look at them now as they move to put the customer at the centre of their operations. Given time they may well become a role model. But it doesn’t happen overnight, it takes time, belief and communication from the management. It needs staff to understand the importance of effective service and everyone in the organization need to realise the importance of service from the top to the bottom line or you too could run out of fuel!

4) Do we need Teamwork anymore?

Many of us are currently working from home due to the pandemic. At first it was great we enjoyed the thought of being at home all the time. No more commuting, no need to deal with colleagues that irritated us, no worry about the boss having a bad day, nobody watching over our shoulder. While that all sounds great many of the people I know, who are working from home have realized that they are missing being at work.

They miss the commute and people watching. The crazy drivers who only think of themselves. The weird looking passenger on the train. The Buskers they see in the stations and public places, the discussions about last night’s TV.  We miss all of this interaction because it all became a great conversation topic when we met up with our colleagues at work. Also in reverse, the new person who joined the department, the boss ‘s latest idea about motivation, the gossip about work, the journey home, all provided us with conversation when we got home from the office with our spouse, partner or friends.

All of this interaction has slowly slipped away. Yes, we talk to our spouse, partner, friends while working from home but what is there to discuss about? The latest depressing results of Covid infections, whose turn it is to empty the dishwasher? Who is going to walk the dog? So, while we may be happy at home, is it having a detrimental effect on our wellbeing/mental health?

So why is Teamwork important? First and foremost, we are social beings. Yes we can get along with ourselves but long term on our own without social interaction can impact our mental health. This is why solitary confinement is used as punishment for problem prisoners. It is very tough not to be with other people as we need social interaction. There is a percentage of people who thrive on being on their own and that fine. But 90% of people need social interaction so its important to consider its impact.

Teamwork is something that has existed since time began and it’s believed that gave us an advantage over other species. Teamwork allows us collectively, to solve problems that we probably may not have been able to do on our own. Another advantage of Teamwork is that it boosts efficiency as we share the work load, which gets the job done. It also boosts our morale all of which helps our mental health.

So, what can you do about Teamwork while working from home? Well keep in touch with your colleagues, use WhatsApp or similar communication tools. Why not send messages or comments to let people know you are there and thinking of them?  Better still, call them, (it’s more personal when talking to someone than just reading a message).  Discuss non work issues, but try to avoid Covid discussions (that only leads to depression).   Tell them stories of funny things that have happened – your partners latest attempt to do DIY, your supermarket experience, this will encourage like-minded behaviour and will help your wellbeing/mental health because you are not on your own, you’re part of the team.

Why not arrange social meeting outside of work hours? Meet at a coffee shop, a restaurant, or a pub. Try this once a month and keep the team spirit going. The advantages? Well, you can talk about the crazy drivers who only think of themselves. The weird looking passenger on the train. The Buskers you see in the stations and public places, discuss last night TV. It will have a positive impact on your mental health and you will feel you belong!

So, Teamwork is more important now than ever before – enjoy it!