By Kim Michael Copyright May 2015
For many years in retail it was believed as long as you had the lowest price that nothing else really mattered. In the wake of that ill-conceived philosophy we saw the mega super store arise and over night the: Walmarts, and Home Depots, and Krogers, and Lowes, of the world began to swallow up their competitors.
Then something changed. True the economy went south, but something else changed. All of those mega marts that sacrificed service found themselves loosing market share, and even those who remained healthy knew that times were changing and they would have to change with them or perish.
It has been a long time in coming, but retailers are beginning to see the importance of service minded and service trained personnel. We are rapidly coming to the point where customers will no longer accept rude treatment, or no treatment at all, as a replacement for lower prices. And as stores grow larger, the need for assistance becomes even greater, particularly in the age of the Internet with so many consumer options available. The fact is, the quickest way to an “out of business” sign in the window of mega retail marketing is to think that you do not need the “human” interaction that promotes the ease of “buying”, and the greater management misconception that your employees, even the lower paid ones, can not be taught the basic amenities of human interaction and conscientious service.
There was a time in the not so distant past when I could walk into Home Depot, almost any Home Depot, wander around for literally hours, even pass employees in their trademark orange shop aprons; and not have a single one of them ask if I needed help, or even acknowledge that I was there.
My family had made several large appliance purchases that ended up being poorly installed and even more poorly attended to by the customer service department. Apparently, we like many other consumers, stopped going to Home Depot. With Lowes just down the street why tolerate what we considered an inexcusable attitude toward their customers.
Now that could easily be the end of this story, but it’s not. Something happened at Home Depot. For someone, somewhere in that organization the light came on. Several months ago I stopped in breaking my promise that I would never darken their doors again. Immediately I was met at the door by a young lady with a smile, a thankful appreciation that I had come in, and most important of all, “How can I help you?” Which she also said with a smile.
I was stunned. What had just happened? As I walked around the store every Home Depot employee I saw smiled acknowledging my presence and then asked if I needed help. I ended up buying a lot more than I needed, another by-product of good service.
A few weeks later, remembering my good experience, I went to Home Depot again, another one closer to my home. I needed some custom cut plastic for a project, but my real interest was to see if the Home Depot change of heart I experienced earlier was real, or just a fluke. I walked in just after the store had opened and the manager of the store was meeting with his sales staff before they hit the floor. I thought to myself, OK, let’s see if management had the same prerequisite of good service that I had experienced with the floor staff. My intent was to stroll by, trying not to solicit a response and see what happened. To my surprise the manager stopped his meeting turned to me, smiled and said, “Can I help you with something?”
It turned out that I needed a lot of help and the sales staff at Home Depot stayed with me until it was finished. There is a lesson to be learned here. Good service is the experience we buy, as much as the goods we purchase. And long after those goods are gone, the memory of the experience remains. I think Home Depot learned that the hard way, but they made the changes that will keep them at the forefront of the market instead of trailing it and in so doing made a loyal customer out of me.
The take-away is universal. For anyone who sells a product or a service, a store or an individual, a big company or small–it is important to always remember that you are selling two things: The product and/or service, and the “experience” of that product or service. And if you shortchange the second, it can and will dramatically impact your success at selling the first…ever again.