By Doug Stephens<\/p>\n

A recent Brandweek article titled\u00a0“Retail Customer Service Stinks”<\/a>\u00a0reported that the\u00a0service received by shoppers in over 1000 retail interactions in the study rated 48.2 out of a possible 100 points \u2013 a flunking grade. The study,\u00a0conducted by the research firm The Salt and Pepper Group, examined retail interactions in 73 stores over a four-month period. It went on to cite specific issues including the failure of staff to identify selling opportunities or handle multiple customers. Essentially, staff weren\u2019t actively anticipating or delivering on the needs of their customers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As the report made its way into the retail community it was met with a combination of surprise, disgust, and a dose of self-righteousness by industry experts. There was a landslide of opinion and\u00a0commentary\u00a0citing the need for retailers to properly train their staff to\u00a0sell\u00a0<\/em>and the failure of store management to\u00a0lead<\/em>\u00a0their salespeople. Some suggested that it was the fault of retailers who treat employees as\u00a0costs<\/em>\u00a0instead of\u00a0assets<\/em>. And others called out the need to get back to the basics of retailing.<\/p>\n

The Big Problem<\/strong><\/p>\n

The problem is that retailers didn\u2019t make this happen. We\u2014the consumer<\/em>\u2014did. The fact that “service stinks” is entirely our fault. We\u2019re the only ones to blame.<\/p>\n

We demanded the lowest airfare wherever we flew. We\u00a0went to the buy-one-get-one sales. We made Walmart what it is today. We camped out for Black Friday. We built the dollar store channel. The bottom line is that we voted with our wallets and customer service lost.\u00a0We<\/em>\u00a0killed customer service.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Minimum Wage = Minimum Service<\/strong><\/p>\n

The consequence of our lust for cheap stuff combined with the retailer’s hunger for profit is that there\u2019s barely a working wage left in it for most retail employees. And yet with most retail workers at or near\u00a0minimum wage<\/a>, we somehow expect them to sweep us off our feet and treat us to a profound in-store experience. We expect them to dazzle us with their knowledge and helpfulness. It\u2019s delusional.<\/p>\n

And our preference for price didn\u2019t only\u00a0erode wages, it trimmed recruiting costs, eliminated training budgets, slashed worker medical benefits, and put a virtual moratorium on employee corporate mobility. We made it so. We demanded it.<\/p>\n

Service Isn’t Completely Dead… Yet<\/strong><\/p>\n

Despite the devastating effect of discounting on the market in general, there are still some remaining vestiges of service. The Apple Store, Lululemon,\u00a0Nordstrom<\/a>, and Publix Super Markets are a few names that consistently rise to the top in discussions on in-store experience. Their closest commonality apart from superior service is that none of them have staked their reputation on price; they haven\u2019t\u00a0allowed us to drag them into the mud like so many others.\u00a0 They prove that in a world of price promotion, it\u2019s still possible to differentiate and create remarkable brand experiences that people will pay a premium for. Rarities like\u00a0Southwest Airlines<\/a>\u00a0that manage to combine low price and great service are exactly that \u2013 rarities. In the vast majority of cases, we get exactly what we pay for (or don\u2019t pay for) as it were.<\/p>\n

The question we need to ask ourselves the next time we\u2019re confronted with bad service is: would we\u00a0pay<\/em>\u00a0more to have a great experience? Would we literally reach into our pockets and pay an extra 20 percent or more for excellent service? It\u2019s not as easy a decision as one might think.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Trades and Concessions<\/strong><\/p>\n

For most of us it\u2019s become a matter of making trades and concessions based on the type of product, the brand, or the store we choose to shop at. Just as we don\u2019t expect the lowest price\u00a0for a laptop at the Apple Store, we can\u2019t in good conscience demand brilliant service at Sears, whose stores have become a virtual sea of sale banners. And if in fact we really can\u2019t live with that trade-off, then I\u2019m afraid we\u2019ll need to rethink our definition of value as consumers and as a society.<\/strong><\/p>\n

51.8 Reasons to smile<\/strong><\/p>\n

If all we\u00a0conclude from this study is that retailers scored 48.2 and \u201cservice stinks\u201d then we lose again. The real story here is that there are 51.8 points of unclaimed turf for smart retailers who want it. The service gap has never been larger. Never have the opportunities to shine and create remarkable customer experiences been more abundant.<\/p>\n

As far\u00a0as I\u2019m concerned that\u2019s good news for the future of great retail.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Doug Stephens A recent Brandweek article titled\u00a0“Retail Customer Service Stinks”\u00a0reported that the\u00a0service received by shoppers in over 1000 retail interactions in the study rated 48.2 [\u2026]<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[50,12,25,23],"class_list":["post-4681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-customer-service","tag-experience","tag-retail-sales","tag-trends"],"yoast_head":"\n