customer service - One Less Dog In The Hunt

September 17, 2022September 17, 2022

Main Street

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Man, I drive down Main Street in our dusty little county seat on a Saturday, and it’s a ghost town. During the week it’s fairly lively, but on the weekend its dead. Tumbleweeds have more movement. Parking certainly isn’t a problem, but then why would you be parking? There isn’t a store open after 12 noon, and there were only three that bothered to open at all. It’s sad, but it’s also expected.

It’s no secret, I managed a big box before I got laid off. That’s what got this page started in the first place. And though it wasn’t in this town, we were often vilified for “Killing Main Street.” It is one of the biggest bullshit stories you’ve ever heard and people eat that crap like it was coconut cream. No doubt, Big Box Retail presents a challenge for small business and for cities and towns that have lived on that apple pie way of thinking since their founding. Don’t get me wrong, I worked for Big Box, but I root for the small box. I’m as freaking Americana as they come. I grew up on Leave it to Beaver, Hazel, My Three Sons, and Father Knows Best. All that sixties/seventies nuclear family stuff is in my blood.

July 31, 2021August 14, 2021

Rule #1

You know, I don’t go in there very often. We do most of our shopping online these days. It just saves the hassle. But one of the things I get most aggravated about my former retail employer is just how far they have strayed from their original standards.

Rule #1 – The customer is always right.

Rule #2 – If the customer isn’t right, refer to Rule #1.

September 24, 2019April 11, 2020

Convenient for who?

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Rule Number One: The customer is always right.

Rule Number Two: In the event the customer is not right, refer to Rule Number One.

These rules used to be among the first taught to new employees. The truth is the customer isn’t always right and you often have to revert to rule number two. If you’ve ever lived, worked, breathed retail you know that sometimes the customer just gets it wrong. Not wrong in what they want, just wrong in what you are able to give. Maybe there are restrictions. Perhaps Uncle Sam (and I mean the US Government, not Sam Walton) says you have to do it a certain way. Maybe the decision would require an executive approval. Maybe what they want isn’t really something that is good for them. Your job is to come to a conclusion which makes the customer right or at least satisfied. Still, the idea behind the rules are important, and a good company adapts to the needs of the customer, not the other way around.

Yet, more and more in today’s market we see retailers trying to force the customer to conform to what is best for the retailer rather than adapting to the wants and needs of the customer. Oh, to be sure, they’d never admit it. They always mask it with an effort in improved customer satisfaction. They would say they are just striving to provide a more convenient atmosphere or they are trying to make the shopping experience more customer friendly.