Customer Service 101 – for all businesses large and small

Today, I had to do something that I simply dread. I mean, this is worse than trying on swimsuits after a long cold winter!

Jean shopping.

I tried to put it off as long as I could – honestly, I did! But, with the temperatures what they are, and a 7:30 football game tomorrow evening (read: the sun will be down!), I didn’t think I could put it off another day.

So, this afternoon, I took a few hours off work to take care of the dreaded task. Literally, I had 2 hours in my schedule to do this. The trip to the mall is 45 minutes one way. So, I had exactly 30 minutes to get in, try on jeans, find one or more pairs I like, and get out.

I’m more of a hunter than a gatherer when it comes to shopping for myself. So, while the task of finding the right pair of jean in a matter of 30 minutes was daunting – an ambitious goal, to say the least – I was quite determined to accomplish this mission.

Before I left, I spent a little time researching jeans. It’s been quite a while since I went jean shopping (which is why I was in the position of urgently needing jeans for tomorrow night) – partially because I haven’t been overly impressed with the recent “styles” that were overflowing from every store that carried jeans (when I say recent, I mean the last 4 or 5 YEARS). Flare jeans are just not very flattering on me – I seriously don’t need to look like I have tiny little knees and giant calves! Then, there’s been this whole “skinny jean” thing. Honestly, I don’t know what possesses some manufacturers! I am a thin woman….but, my thighs are more athletic than skinny jeans allow. I think I would have to quit eating for several years to get rid of enough muscle to wear skinny jeans.

Okay…back to the researching. There is a site that I had heard quite a bit about – www.Zafu.com. Now, I heard it was *the* place to go online and find the perfect pair of jeans for you. I’ve even had some friends who use it and swear by it. However, I wasn’t terribly excited by my results. I think part of my disappointment was that I wanted to find jeans I could actually go to a store to try on. First, I didn’t have time to order online and get them by tomorrow night. Second, jeans, in my opinion, are really something that is best tried on BEFORE you buy them. I do have a few brands that I know I can go to every time and be happy with them. I know exactly what size I need in those brands, I know they offer “long” in those sizes (there is nothing worse than your ankles sticking out from under your jeans!), and I know they are consistent in quality. Zafu did give me a few options in those brands….BUT, it looked like the only way those particular cuts were available was online. So, yay for Zafu….but, not so yay that they don’t give you the option of choosing if you would like to see jeans only available online or only in stores – that would be a great thing to add.

So, I made a plan on my way to the mall. I would go to The Gap first – the Gap produces consistent quality and I know that I like them. I know what size I need at the Gap AND I know that they will have at least one cut that isn’t the dreaded “skinny jean”. The second stop would be The Buckle. LOVE the Buckle (at least I did before today….okay, even though they ticked me off, I still love the brands the Buckle offers….so, I will probably go back again – DESPITE my time in the store today).

The RIGHT way to serve your customers: The Gap

First, I don’t think I’m alone in the sheer feeling of desperate overwhelm-ment (I know that’s not a word – don’t write to me and tell me that it’s not a word!) when you walk into a store and are confronted with an entire wall, complete with racks and racks of jeans in front of it – and *every* pair has a cute name like “The Monica” and “The Lola”. It’s sort of like you need a degree in jeans to be able to pick out the right pair for you in stores like this!

The Gap does have the wall and the racks….but, they don’t name their jeans like they are people – which is a HUGE relief. However, I was still pretty overwhelmed by the sheer number of cuts & styles….and seriously didn’t have time to read the little descriptions on the tags of each cut/style to find the ones that would work for me.

THANKFULLY, one of The Gap “guys” (aka an employee) obviously could tell that I was about to pass out from panic at the thought of going through every pair to find a pair I liked, and happily came over to see if he could help. I wish I would have taken note of his name! He was awesome. I told him what I was looking for. I explained “athletic thigh” syndrome (he wouldn’t have been able to tell from what I was wearing….more on that later). He quickly and easily went to three different areas, pulled three different styles of jeans that he thought would work, and showed me the dressing room.

THAT, in my opinion, was one of the many reasons that I love The Gap. The employees, for the most part, are excellent at knowing their products….and are quite adept at identifying customers “in need” (there are times I go in the Gap and I’m just browsing…I don’t need anyone hovering over me when I’m just browsing – even though I may buy something…..so, this skill of identifying customers “in need” is a BIG bonus in the customer service area).

I tried the jeans on and, I have to say, I was VERY impressed at the Gap Guy’s skill. I LOVED 2 of the 3 pairs – which is excellent. And, I have to say, I didn’t hate the third pair…it fit fine…I just didn’t LOVE it. So, all in all, he did a most excellent job – and, in my opinion, was truly 3 for 3 in his choosing ability (I only buy things that I absolutely LOVE….but, I know people who will buy things they just *like* as well….so, I’m not counting that third pair against him….if I had a different personality, I would have bought all three pairs).

YAY for The Gap!

I came out of the dressing room, and, he spotted me, found out how the jeans worked, and was happy to ring me up with my 2 pairs of jeans. I was in and out of the Gap in 10 minutes. It was AWESOME.

What NOT to do: The Buckle

Let me preface this by saying I really do love The Buckle. They are one of the few local stores that carry Lucky Jeans – which is my other “go to” brand. They also carry a couple of clothing lines (Sinful & Affliction) that are consistently high quality and I ADORE their designs. So, don’t abandon the Buckle because of this…just learn the “moral of the story” by using the Buckle as the example of what *not* to do. So, while I’m a little cranky at the service this afternoon:

1. I totally understand where it came from (more on that after I relay the experience)
2. Overall, I still like The Buckle. They may be my THIRD stop from this point forward (right behind The Gap and Banana Republic which is another brand I do like)….but, this wasn’t a situation where I was so mad I wouldn’t ever go back.

So, after my fantastic experience at The Gap, I quickly went over to the Buckle. Usually, I get really good service (friendly & knowledgeable staff) at the Buckle. And, my son gets GREAT service almost every time.

Today, I walked into The Buckle, and was not greeted by anyone. I was SEEN by the staff (eye contact gives that away), but, not greeted in any way. I struggled through the walls and walls of jeans with cutesy names (see my example above). Of course, they may as well named them in Russian because I had NO IDEA what the names meant as far as cut and fit (and couldn’t find ANYTHING that told me what they meant). I FINALLY found where the Lucky Jeans were. I mean, they were here and there all over the store….but, I found where MOST of them were. Then, I went through piles and piles – trying to find a cut and fit that would work for me.

Mind you, the ENTIRE time I’m drowning in the see of denim, not one person asked if I wanted some help.

I was able to locate 2 pairs of Lucky Jeans (they all have tags on them – inside the fold, of course, so, I had to take each style/fit of jean OFF the shelf and unfold it completely in order to know how Lucky saw the “fit” of the jean.)

Then, I had to SEARCH for someone to direct me to a dressing room! It was like they didn’t want my money. Crazy. The guy I found just sort of pointed in the general direction of a dressing room. I was a little dismayed when I walked IN the dressing room to find old/discarded tried-on clothes littering the floor and dust bunnies reproducing like mad. I felt like I should go look outside the store to make sure I hadn’t inadvertently walked into a different store, thinking it was The Buckle. Shocked doesn’t even begin to describe my reaction to today’s visit.

Despite that, I tried on my two pairs of jeans. Good ‘ole Lucky Brands – LOVED them both. I also tried on a sweater, but, wasn’t so crazy about it.

Then, I went to check out. I stood behind this woman that appeared to be paying for her items. (Mind you, there were like 4 customers and 5 staff members in the store at this particular time….) I waited…and finally, one of the staff guys (again, wish I knew his name) asked if he could help me. I told him I wanted to buy those jeans…and he opened up another register to help me. As an aside, if I knew this guy’s name…I would share it with you. While he didn’t help me while I was drowning in denim, he was fine once it was clear I wanted to BUY something. He was very friendly. So, at least he salvaged *something* for the Buckle. I was almost to a point that I didn’t care how much I LOVED those jeans, I was going to put them down and walk out.

This is where it gets good……

He asked who was helping me today. I honestly told him “no one, really” . In my mind, I was thinking that there technically was the one guy who took the time to wave his hand towards the general direction of the dirty, dust infested dressing room….but, I don’t know if that really qualifies as “helping” – at least not enough to get the commission from the sale.

Now, when I said that, the Buckle guy did apologize – telling me they were short handed. Now, I know that they usually have more staff in there – BUT, it’s not like there were hundreds of customers…the staff outnumbered the customers at that particular time. So, yes, they may have been short handed….but, not so much that the staff *couldn’t* help every customer and still have someone left over.

So, after we were through THAT uncomfortable moment, he asked if I liked Lucky Jeans. I told him that they were one of my favorite brands. And, he immediately went into sales mode. I almost stopped him – it was a little late at that point. But, he assured me this was his “go to” style/cut in lucky jeans. I tried them on. They were fine….but, I didn’t love them, so, they were a no-go.

Then, as he was ringing up my jeans, I grabbed my Buckle points card thing. Between my kids and I, we go through one of these cards every month or two, so, I always keep one with me – just in case. The look of shock on his face was sort of priceless. “Oh, you shop here a lot?” I said, yes, my kids love several of the brands, and so do I. I went on to tell him that I was excited about my jeans because it had been a long time since I bought myself clothes – most of what I wear is quickly ruined at work. (And, this is very true – I have *very* few clothes at this point that are actually decent to wear in public – not in the “too revealing” way, just in the “too stained” way. MOST have dye splatter, glue, and unidentified spots all over them. None of them wash out – no matter how many times I wash things. So, I’ve pretty much resigned myself to wearing old, already-ruined clothes to work in, and since I work MOST of the time, I rarely buy new clothes – knowing what will happen the first time I work in them…regardless of how careful I am).

We made some small talk about what I do, etc. And, I was finally able to leave. The Buckle took 20 minutes – twice as long as The Gap for the same number of pieces. It would have been GREAT if they would have taken The Buckle staff and given them some pointers on working with customers. And, here’s the key.

I’ve mentioned a few times about my clothes today. Frankly, I wasn’t dressed “to the nine’s”. I worked this morning. I had 2 hours I could take this afternoon to accomplish this task. So, instead of wasting precious time changing and making myself beautiful, I left directly from working to go to the mall.

I had on my head scarf (which serves 2 purposes….it protects my hair from turning 100 different colors from applying the leather dye AND it makes it so that I actually don’t have to do anything with my hair in the morning….I LOVE my head scarfs….particularly now that my hair is growing. That saves me from ALOT of frustration and too much spent-time on “bad hair days”). Then, I had on a hooded sweatshirt. I mean, it’s a nice sweatshirt (I did put this on right before I left…so, I did take about 5 seconds to “clean myself up” a little bit….besides, the shirt I had on was about 10 different colors from various dye “accidents” during work). I was wearing a pair of black cargo pant/capris (they are those button up cuff bottom so they can be pants or capris). They are officially 4 sizes larger than what I actually wear. Like I said, I don’t buy new clothes for me often – these are REALLY large. However, they have the added benefit that I don’t have to zip or button them to pull them on and off (that’s how big they are) so they save a little bit of time and since they aren’t “good” clothes, I wear them for work ALOT (not to mention that I LOVE cargo pant pockets – I mean, they are perfect for me…I can clip my phones in the pockets for easy access….slip tools in them when I’m moving from one area to another….they are just PERFECT – except these are simply far too large). And then, I had my formerly orange Crocs on. My crocs have suffered the same fate as everything else – they have dye splats and aren’t all that pretty any more. I needed something quick that I could slip on…and I need something that can be “sacrificed” at work – so, I don’t usually wear our Better than Barefoot line at work since I DON’T want them ruined. LOL

So, essentially, I probably looked sort of like a hobo. Okay…maybe not that bad. I don’t think that I have any tears/holes in my clothes. But, they are certainly a little deceiving at first glance. I mean, most people wear clothes that actually fit them instead of things that are literally falling off. Hey, at least my sweatshirt is in good condition!

In the world of commissions….I would have looked like a waste of time, I’m sure. I “get” that. But, I want to say something that’s really important. You NEVER KNOW who you are dealing with when you are serving customers. Some of my friends who are *very* successful wear their old work clothes when they go shopping – simply because they are going from work and they are limited for time.

I also know that my son will “get dressed” to go to the mall. I mean, he goes all out. Why? Because he knows he will get better service that way. But, guess who is paying? yup…little ole’ me – you know, the one who looks like she just crawled out of a vat of stains, who you don’t think will ever purchase anything. My kids are, essentially, the center of my world…so, even though I don’t spend alot of money on myself…guess what? I do spend money on them. And, when I DO decide to spend money on me….I will *always* return to stores that take care of me. That’s just how it is.

As I said, I’ve only had a few bad experiences with the Buckle. Today being one of them. So, they didn’t lose a customer – *today*. But, that doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t change my mind if this became a habit with the Buckle guys (and gals). Trust me, I’m probably not going to change my habits – my time is very valuable to me….so, to get “dressed” for the mall seems a little over the top (and a serious waste of precious time) – and I’m sure that I’m not the only person who feels exactly this way, and, it totally wouldn’t be beyond me to stop shopping at the Buckle if this would be something I encountered often. I mean, the brands I LOVE that the Buckle happens to carry are available elsewhere (and online)…so, I don’t have to go there to have my beloved brands.

This is really a lesson to all businesses. My attitude is not that uncommon. Many successful people work in “alternative” work environments – which means that you can’t judge a person’s buying power by the way they look (or sound). And, that doesn’t even take into account the eccentric people (you know, people who are to a point where they *don’t* have to work to be more than comfortable) who just wear whatever they want “out”. And, then there are those people who intentionally dress down to get a *really good* feeling for a brand’s customer service values. Trust me, not wearing your finest is an EXCELLENT way to get a feel for this. Remember, I was wearing exactly the same thing at the Gap and they were more than happy to help me!

The Moral of the Story

Don’t judge your customers by the way they look OR the way they sound. You just never know *who* you are dealing with – it could be the best customer of your life who would happily be a repeat customer and earn you untold money. You just don’t know. And, prejudging customers based on sound and appearance will ensure that you won’t know….as the ones who are offended will simply take their money elsewhere.

That may not be a big deal to a national chain….but, if you do it enough, it will even hurt a national chain. In small business, though, there is nothing that will kill your business faster than pre-judging a potential customer.

Popularity: 15% [?]