Yesterday, I was shopping at a chain store for Christmas. While in the store, I overheard a clerk’s conversation with a customer they were attempting to help. The customer had approached the clerk looking for a specific calendar.
The clerk took the customer to a section where calendars were displayed. When he got to the display, he told the customer that this was one of two areas with calendars. He went on to tell the customer that he really didn’t know why the calendars were placed here. He also told the customer that the organization of the rest of the store didn’t make sense to him either.
He then took the customer to another section where most of the calendars were found. Many of these calendars were on lower shelves that could not be seen without bending down or sitting on one’s knees on the floor. The customer told the clerk that she hoped the calendar could be located. In response, the clerk told the customer that if she dug through the calendars [which were disorganized] that she might find the one she was looking for. Then the clerk excused himself to return to the front of the store. Luckily, the customer was able to locate the calendar rather quickly on a shelf that was eye level.
Thinking about this incident after I left the store, I quickly realized that this one small encounter contained several business lessons. The first lesson dealt with the organization of the store. If the employees can’t understand why a store is organized in a certain way, it is a sure bet that the customers won’t either. Strangely enough, prior to this incident, I had been looking for a specific item myself and had quickly become frustrated. Organizing the store and having the merchandise displayed so a customer can locate what they want without having to dig through disorganized items could be the difference between making a sale and gaining a repeat customer or losing that customer forever.
The second lesson dealt with the clerk himself. The clerk knew the specific calendar that the customer was looking for. Rather than taking the customer to the calendar section and telling them to “dig”, they could have stood with the customer and looked through the calendars to find the one that the customer was seeking. I am sure that this elderly customer would have appreciated this extra effort, because the expression on her face when she saw the calendars on the lower shelves said to me that she did not look forward to trying to search them.
A final lesson from this encounter was the need to improve communication between the store employees and management. First, if the employees did not like the way that the store was organized, they should have felt that they could communicate this to store management. Store management, should also have encouraged this input, and asked for employee assistance in developing a better organization. Including employees in the process of developing an improved layout would have provided them with a real stake in the success of the store.
Second, store management should reinforce, and in some cases teach, customer service. In today’s fast-paced society and era of mean and lean businesses, customer service has become a tragic casualty. Who has time to help someone find a calendar when there are boxes to unpack, stock to inventory, eight individuals waiting at the cash register, and only three employees on the clock? However, interacting with the customer is very important in today’s society of few dollars and many choices.
In my career, I have been lucky to have worked in several organizations where the adoption of the lessons above turned the business around. One organization in particular was a medical supply company. When I started working for this company, the new manager had only been on the job for about three months. The branch office he inherited was not well organized, and had poor inventory control. Customers would come to the store, only to discover that a simple item like an arm sling had to be ordered. Doctor offices that phoned the store looking for medical equipment would be equally frustrated that their patients could not secure the equipment that they required.
Customer service at the branch office was also lacking. Having grown apathetic with the lack of acceptance of their ideas by the former branch manager, employees had resigned to the idea of doing only what they had to do to get through the day. Customers noticed this apathy as well.
The first step that the new branch manager took was to bring the staff into a meeting to brainstorm on ways to improve the branch office’s performance. Ideas were gathered, the best chosen, and prioritized. Staff members were given assignments and empowered to implement these ideas. Procedures were also determined on how to best provide additional ideas as they developed. When I left the office a year later, the branch had become the second most profitable branch in the company, and was about to overtake the top branch.
As this post has demonstrated, you can learn a valuable lesson anytime. To learn this lesson, all you need to do is to open your eyes and ears to the possibility.
The clerk took the customer to a section where calendars were displayed. When he got to the display, he told the customer that this was one of two areas with calendars. He went on to tell the customer that he really didn’t know why the calendars were placed here. He also told the customer that the organization of the rest of the store didn’t make sense to him either.
He then took the customer to another section where most of the calendars were found. Many of these calendars were on lower shelves that could not be seen without bending down or sitting on one’s knees on the floor. The customer told the clerk that she hoped the calendar could be located. In response, the clerk told the customer that if she dug through the calendars [which were disorganized] that she might find the one she was looking for. Then the clerk excused himself to return to the front of the store. Luckily, the customer was able to locate the calendar rather quickly on a shelf that was eye level.
Thinking about this incident after I left the store, I quickly realized that this one small encounter contained several business lessons. The first lesson dealt with the organization of the store. If the employees can’t understand why a store is organized in a certain way, it is a sure bet that the customers won’t either. Strangely enough, prior to this incident, I had been looking for a specific item myself and had quickly become frustrated. Organizing the store and having the merchandise displayed so a customer can locate what they want without having to dig through disorganized items could be the difference between making a sale and gaining a repeat customer or losing that customer forever.
The second lesson dealt with the clerk himself. The clerk knew the specific calendar that the customer was looking for. Rather than taking the customer to the calendar section and telling them to “dig”, they could have stood with the customer and looked through the calendars to find the one that the customer was seeking. I am sure that this elderly customer would have appreciated this extra effort, because the expression on her face when she saw the calendars on the lower shelves said to me that she did not look forward to trying to search them.
A final lesson from this encounter was the need to improve communication between the store employees and management. First, if the employees did not like the way that the store was organized, they should have felt that they could communicate this to store management. Store management, should also have encouraged this input, and asked for employee assistance in developing a better organization. Including employees in the process of developing an improved layout would have provided them with a real stake in the success of the store.
Second, store management should reinforce, and in some cases teach, customer service. In today’s fast-paced society and era of mean and lean businesses, customer service has become a tragic casualty. Who has time to help someone find a calendar when there are boxes to unpack, stock to inventory, eight individuals waiting at the cash register, and only three employees on the clock? However, interacting with the customer is very important in today’s society of few dollars and many choices.
In my career, I have been lucky to have worked in several organizations where the adoption of the lessons above turned the business around. One organization in particular was a medical supply company. When I started working for this company, the new manager had only been on the job for about three months. The branch office he inherited was not well organized, and had poor inventory control. Customers would come to the store, only to discover that a simple item like an arm sling had to be ordered. Doctor offices that phoned the store looking for medical equipment would be equally frustrated that their patients could not secure the equipment that they required.
Customer service at the branch office was also lacking. Having grown apathetic with the lack of acceptance of their ideas by the former branch manager, employees had resigned to the idea of doing only what they had to do to get through the day. Customers noticed this apathy as well.
The first step that the new branch manager took was to bring the staff into a meeting to brainstorm on ways to improve the branch office’s performance. Ideas were gathered, the best chosen, and prioritized. Staff members were given assignments and empowered to implement these ideas. Procedures were also determined on how to best provide additional ideas as they developed. When I left the office a year later, the branch had become the second most profitable branch in the company, and was about to overtake the top branch.
As this post has demonstrated, you can learn a valuable lesson anytime. To learn this lesson, all you need to do is to open your eyes and ears to the possibility.
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