Customer Service is the Difference

Having worked in retail for years and having the importance of good customer service being drilled into me I found it satisfying and very disappointing when I went on a shopping trip with my wife to look at things we will need for our baby.

Before I go any further I better explain that we were on a fact finding trip as we were not entirely sure of everything we would need and we had no idea of pricing so this trip was hopefully going to rectify some of that.

Anyway back to the first baby store, huge range, I looked vaguely across the store thinking I need a better paying job!!! Anyway, initial shock aside we systematically went round the store, making decisions on items we thought we would try and get off TradeMe and items we would definitely buy new.

My Baby’s Mercedes

When we got to the buggies / prams it was all a bit overwhelming, there was a large range from several manufactures and we had no idea what the differences were and what to look for. At this point an assistant approached (I wish I could remember her name sorry) and asked us if we needed any help, to which we gratefully responded, after the assistant congratulating us (a nice touch) she proceeded to tell us the pros and cons of the different types and asked us what we were looking for, were we likely to run with the pram, is it likely to be used off road, are you planning on having more children etc. By the time we had finished we had a lot more of an idea what we needed and having looked at them all I decided in my own mind that my first child is going to get the Mercedes of buggies, nothing else will do!!! This kindly assistant then went through the whole process again with Bassinets and Cots, as we left we completed a form so we could be on their email list, that way we can keep an eye out on specials between now and the birth.

On to our second store, all I can say is what a disappointment, we had been to a different branch of the same chain in the past for baby gifts for other people and liked the experience, but now we were looking for ourselves, they still had the range and the pricing was good but at no point did we get help from any of the three assistants talking in a group together. We would have been there for around 15 minutes, but I’ll tell you now we will not be going back!

The third store, a nice store to wonder around, similar if not slightly newer than the first store. We got to the buggies, there were some makes we had not seen before, an assistant approached us and again we welcomed her help. This assistant was not so forth coming with information, I can’t say she did not give us the information we needed but she certainly did not go the extra mile.

When I compare the three shopping experiences I will definitely be going back to the first store to spend my money, why, because the total experience was better and the sales assistant went out of her way to help us in our quest, that is the difference a single member of your sales team can make between winning and losing a sale. For your information the first store was the Baby Factory on Colombo Street in Christchurch.

I can’t wait to buy my Mercedes buggy!!!!!