This isn't a new or novel concept, I won't claim that this is my breakthrough, but I feel it bears repeating.
My daughter gets frustrated when a toy breaks quickly, doesn't work right, or doesn't live up to her expectations. It's been a learning opportunity for her - a chance for me to point out the sad fact that all too often, the sole job of companies is to get your money. Once they have liberated you from your money, they've done their job. Nevermind if the thing never works as you'd hoped or is such a piece of junk that you never actually play with it. You paid for it and that was their end goal.
Sadly, you think of the people who designed it, manufactured it, shipped it, stocked it, rang it up. You think of the resources mined/cultivated/chopped down to build it, package it, the vessels that transported it, the fuel used to power them, and it's amazing the amount of waste expended in the production of garbage. She doesn't think that deeply yet, but she's starting to understand the concept of sheer blind greed that puts the seller at odds with the customer.
And it's the sad fact that it can be this way. This happens when your goals do not align with that of your audience. Then you must resort to tactics to get them to buy: shame, guilt, the fear of being left out. And you incentivize your staff to make the sale at any cost and they resort to tactics of shakedowns, empty promises and outright lies. Or, as you sell them extras or services, you bundle them in a way that makes you money but infuriates your customers. Or you let them exceed their limits while you gleefully think about the extra money you can bilk out of them. Instead of sending them a text message alerting them to the impending overages.
And maybe you make the sale the first time. And if your entire industry is full of crooks and liars, you can make more sales just by better than the others, or the choice of least resistance.
Or, you can choose your customer. And choose your employees. Focus on your staff and they'll focus on your customers. And you know what? You'll make the second, third and fourth sale.
Whether you're selling cars, cell phone plans or pancakes - give me a story to tell my friends about your awesomeness, make me feel good about trusting you with my money, show me you're looking out for me, show me you want me to have a good deal.
Show me you care.
6 comments:
Does your daughter know a warranty can be provided for toys bought at Toys R Us, so her broken stuff can be replaced? Or does that ruin the analogy?
P.S. Swap the words "that" and "fact" in the 2nd graph, and AP states there should be a comma before "or" in the next to last graph.
Kevin the copy editor, signing off... for now.
Hmmm... this was typed on a Mac. Perhaps you misunderstood my word arrangement choices? Heh. Fixed, thanks.
I did not add the Oxford comma. This is one area me and AP don't see eye to eye. I used to be pro-Oxford, but I have to ration my commas these days; I tend to write a lot of run-on sentences, so I need to preserve them for when they're actually necessary so that I don't run out of them before I'm done writing. (The extra space after the period -- that's another story. Still haven't been able to break that addiction.)
It doesn't ruin the analogy, but we're not talking toys of that scope or of Toys 'R Us. Talking the real cheap stuff she can afford with her own money. Plus, add-on warranties just stink of nickel and diming. My 8-year-old doesn't live in the world of warranties she lives in the world of you buy it, you play with it two seconds after they cashier has handed you the bag.
To your main idea, the whole concept of customer service needs an overhaul, because right now there are two very different notions of what is best. The one taking the lead now is modeled after being hyper-efficient... the one who is fastest wins. You see it all the time in retail... employees must greet a guest within 3 seconds of them entering a business or answer the phone with a jargon-filled sentence. But very often in the race to be first, the other form of service, the one that involves actual interaction instead of one-sided action, falls by the wayside.
When I managed the Music and DVD dept of a Barnes & Noble, corporate policy was entirely focused on the rapid greeting system. I untrained the others in the department of that... instead of making them follow a script, I trained them to actually talk with customers instead of at them. We lost the teenagers who were just killing time waiting for the movie to start in the theater next door. We gained a reputation, however, as the store with the best selection in the area and the most knowledgeable personnel. People were willing to pay the higher B&N prices because they got something extra when they came to see us. In the year I was there, sales increased 25% because we listened to the audience.
I went into the same store last week. They have reverted back to the corporate policy. The department's inventory was maybe 1/3 what it was, and the person in the department gave me a memorized greeting as I came in, then ignored me until I was walking out, at which point they said "have a nice day" without making eye contact. I'm going to guess they didn't increase sales this year.
Have you seen this?
Box stores now charging a browsing fee for customers who don't buy. Because the quickest way to draw in and keep customers is charge them extra.
http://techcrunch.com/2013/03/27/store-charging-patrons-5-for-just-looking-to-offset-losses-from-internet-shoppers/
Wow, she can use it to pay for a really cheap "Going Out of Business" sign.
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http://about.me/James.Lamb
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