It seems like light years ago that when you went into a store to buy something you got service. You expected service and you got it. If you didn’t get service, you either complained to the management or owner who actually cared about your complaint, and the situation was rectified. Or you found another place to shop and you didn’t’ return.
Time was that even most department stores gave you service. As for the smaller, individual shops, service was their major selling point. A shop would live and die on its unique selections, its pricing, and its service. But it is no secret that with rare exceptions that has all changed. Between the discount shops and the big box stores, service is out the window. You walk into the store and hardly anyone cares that you are there. In some shops they accommodate you or even ignore you. In others like view you with scorn and condescension. You loom before them like a ghastly imposition that is designed not to increase revenue and extend their employment but to impose upon their personal phone calls and Internet dating. You are not good enough to shop there. Or, whatever it is that you are buying you can go and find yourself.
But now the worm has turned yet again. As an article in Marketing Daily reports there is going to be a lot of pain in the retail market. According the Price Waterhouse thee retail market will be an extremely competitive environment. the economic doldrums that we have experienced are to be prolonged in retail. People aren’t buying, and if they are, the question is why should they be choosing your store to spend their money?
The retailer has to go the shopper a reason for patronage. Price is a big part of it. then there is the selection. Something original instead of the same old same old would be nice. And then, finally, service. You need retail people who understand the meaning of selling. They cannot just be bored clerks, sucking up the air and passing the time. they should know the stock and understand how to approach a customer. They should be able to a certain the shopper’s need. They should know enough not to load the customer up with a lot of junk they don’t need, only to have that customer resent the experience and decided to shop elsewhere.
The retail sales person should have some finesse, some charm. they should actually know what they are talking about. You as the retailer can’t look at your personnel as one more clerk wishing they weren’t there but agreeing to take up space for minimum wage. Your clerk should be an asset, a reliable person who gains the trust of customers. Someone who believes they have a vested interest in the well being of your shop. A job is a good start for vested interest.
Running background checks on your employment candidates will help you determine who is not the miscreant you don’t need representing your business to your diminishing clientele. Education verification will help assess the caliber of your candidate. And personality and aptitude tests can’t hurt.
It’s time to adjust. Go back to a time that is so old it’s new again. And as for your work force, check them out before you hire.
