A few weeks back I was aimlessly wandering through an
outdoor mall with my wife on a beautiful day in Southwest Florida when I
remembered I needed a new navy blue sport coat and some dress shirts. I have
grown too big for my current blazer and not yet big enough for the old one
hanging in my closet. I needed a new
“between sizes” sport coat for work.
Anyway, my wife decided to go shoe shopping so I figured I had 15 to 20
minutes, tops, to get a new jacket. I
quickly went into a mid-level men’s clothing store that operates as part of a
national chain. I was immediately
greeted by an associate asking how she could help. She mentioned she was new and might need to
ask her manager a few questions along the way.
I let her know that I had about 15 minutes to shop and together, the
manager and new associate made the experience personal, simple and truly
pleasurable. They made recommendations
on designers that would fit me well and offered to have the necessary alterations
done quickly. While I did not have time to pick out shirts during that visit,
when I went back to pick-up the jacket, the manager remembered me by name,
remembered that I still needed shirts and offered his help. Again, I did not
have time to shirt shop so he quickly had me on my way with my new merchandise.
Within a week of the transaction, I received a phone call from the same manager
making sure I was happy with my purchase and he invited me to come back any
time to pick out the much-needed shirts.
The friendly service and knowledgeable staff gained them a new, happy,
would-be loyal customer.
Prompted by the manager’s follow-up phone call, I stopped
into a different location of the same store to pick up some shirts as I had
some spare time but was not anywhere near the location where I purchased my new
sport coat. A young woman quickly offered help, but no sooner had turned her
back and left to chitchat with a coworker in another part of the store. While I browsed on my own, another sales
associate came by and offered help, as I explained to her what I was looking
for she excused herself and said she would be right back. Have you seen her?
Because I never did again. Sales associate #3 made an appearance to ask what I
was looking for, I think he was the manager.
“A white French cuff 15 ½/32,” I said.
He lazily pointed in the direction of where I might find my size amongst
a pile of 100 shirts as he said “if we have any they’d be over there.” I did
spend a minute of two rifling through the pile but left without buying
anything. The aloof service and unhelpful staff was dramatically different from
the other store location and completely eroded the loyalty that the first store
had started to build with me just a week before. The inconsistency of the store
experience had changed my perception of the entire company. I am still debating
if I will go back or not, but it is possible that one bad apple can indeed
spoil the whole bunch.
I was a little more optimistic when a catalogue from a
high-end clothing store that my wife loves came in the mail. I have fallen into
a pattern of buying their dresses for my wife for special occasions and I
wanted to get her one for her upcoming birthday. I grabbed the catalog out of
the mail and put sticky notes on the dresses I was interested in. On that
Saturday morning I made my way to the store near me in Naples, Florida. I showed the store manager the four items
that had caught my eye in the catalogue. They had none of the items in stock
and she explained to me that “Naples is not a flagship store so we don’t get
the good stuff here.” Of course, she offered to order the items into the store
so my wife could come in to try them on. While I thought her explanation for
the lack of inventory was poorly stated, I appreciated the offer to bring in
the merchandise, right? Wrong. She went
on to explain that I would have to pay in advance for the four dresses they
were ordering to the store! “Wait a minute”, I said, “Let me get this right, you
sent me, a loyal customer, a catalog advertising your new spring line. I liked
what I saw and I came in to purchase a piece for my wife. You have none of the
inventory that you are advertising and now you want me to pay for you to have
four pieces of your merchandise shipped to your store?” Her reply was a quick
and frankly curt “that’s our policy.” “Really?” I asked, I had purchased from
their store in Michigan when we lived there and that was not their policy at
that store, the store manager ordered whatever they didn’t have and my wife selected
what she wanted, if anything. It wasn’t like the merchandise was coming to my
home, like I might hide it or steal it! It was going to their store. Again she stated that was their policy and I
left empty handed as there was no way that I was paying this company to have
their own inventory in stock. I located
and called the regional manager. She said that, indeed, it was their policy but
for loyal customers or when none of a customer’s selections were in stock, that
the manager has the flexibility to bend the rules and that she would talk to
the manager in Naples. It appears the Naples, Florida managers either didn’t
know that or didn’t choose to be flexible. In any event, that was the end of
that. My wife had a wonderful time opening my gift, which was purchased from
one of that brand’s competitors.
A few months later while traveling with my wife, we came
across another location of this (now infamous in my mind) dress store while
spending the weekend in Charleston, SC and decided to give them one more chance. This time, at this location, the sales
associate made us feel at home right away. I’m talking champagne and chocolate
style. She asked my wife all the right questions, “what is the occasion you
want the dress for? What other dresses from the brand do you own? What do you
like about the fit? What are your preferences in color and length?” She
returned with a few pieces that were perfect in style, but they did not have
the right size. My wife selected one of the dresses and the sales associate had
the correct size shipped to our house a few days later. This associate provided
a customer experience that reflected the brand and made us feel like we were
valued customers. She was fantastic in every way, my loyalty meter was once
again running high for this classic brand.
The problem arose back at the original location in Naples on
a visit to have alterations made to the zipper, which was not lying flat on the
dress. Well, it took three separate visits to get the alterations right. I was
with my wife on her second visit. When she tried on the dress after the second
round of alterations the zipper once again stuck out dramatically. At this
point the associate explained to my wife that all the zippers on their dresses
poke out of the bottom, “look, my dress does it too.” Seriously? Did she really just try and tell
us that the zippers in all of their dresses were that way? I did not remain
quiet as I know a thing or two about the construction of garments. I actually
grew up in the garment business, my father and mother were clothing designers
and manufacturers so you can’t tell me that a designer dress by an iconic brand
that I have shopped for years is supposed to have a zipper that pokes out from
the bottom like a monkey tail. I let the associate know that the zipper is not
meant to stick out and that the dress was not acceptable in this
condition. The associate would not even
respond to me. I explained to her that while I would not be wearing the dress I
am actually her customer, I buy their dresses as gifts for my wife on special
occasions. In fact, my wife has never bought anything from them. She was rude and dismissive but know that
dress was not leaving the store in that condition. On the 3rd attempt, the
zipper lay flat and the dress looked great. However, the manager and team
members in this location were so unfriendly and unaccommodating during our
combined four visits to that location that they ruined the experience of that
entire brand for me and my wife. That brand has not only lost our loyalty but
our business, we’re done for real, this time!
The fact is, multi-unit stores carry the same products. The
difference is in the service, the personnel, the experience they’re able to
deliver. Managers are the key here. They
should embody the character the brand wants to exhibit and coach their
employees to do the same. They are the
link between the vision of how the brand should be perceived and what actually
happens at the front line (on the store floor). You can find nice dresses and
dress shirts just about anywhere, the world has no shortage of retailers, it is
the experience that keeps people coming back.
There are opportunities every day, with every touch, to win
and lose customers. Which one are you doing?
Have you had a really great or really awful experience lately?