Guest Blog - Customer Service - by Don Johnson

Funny story,

I thought I knew what customer service was. I just had a customer redefine it for me.

“customer service=attitude”

Yesterday, I sold a $2,000.00 wedding band. I was on the floor when this nice lady walked in and went straight to the wedding band counter.  Within a few seconds, I acknowledged her and went of to help her. I noticed a very large Princess Cut diamond engagement ring on her finger.  Knowing that we have never had that ring in stock, I knew we never sold it, but instead of dwelling on that, I mentioned “what a lovely ring?” where did you get it? “In Vegas” she replied... I smiled and said “well, I guess you need a wedding band to match it?...... I opened the showcase and pulled out a 14K White gold wedding band with 10 princess cut diamonds that I thought would go great with her “ring from Vegas”.... she smiled and said “that’s brilliant, its’ a perfect match... I’ll take it”

(I’m thinking to myself..... that was easy) When my customer says, “well, that was easy!” I was just next door at the national retail jewellery store and when I walked in, I got “bad customer service”.

 I asked for her to explain, she said just before coming in here,” I walked into your competitors and asked for help as I needed a wedding band.  They looked at my ring (that was not bought locally) and told me “that it would have to be custom made and that it would be VERY expensive”.  She said thanks anyway and came to us.  I listened to her needs and with a smile provided a solution....

(Keep in mind that my customer just had the flu and wasn’t dressed very well, so she looked like she couldn’t afford very much)

At first glance I saw a very large purchase that happened someplace else....so if I give the “attitude” that it was not bought local, so I have no interest in helping..... I guess I would get the response that my competitor got... A customer, walking out the door.

So the end result was our competitor having “Attitude” and losing any chance of making a sale, and me listening and putting 2 grand in the till........

The funny part is, my customer told me “they have bad customer service”

So was it Bad Customer Service or was it a Bad Attitude?

I guess the customer is always right.

Why can’t we be friends?

Why do we find it so hard to think of our competition as brothers in arms when it comes to battling the dragon of “other consumer products?”

I’ve got a theory.  I believe that no matter how much retailers struggle or prosper, we think we’re living in a bubble.  We worry about consumers finding-out that there’s enough margin in jewellery for a competitor to undercut us by a good sum and then nobody will pay our asking price.  We go into a trade center with a few other jewellers, they’ll undercut us and take all of our customers away.  Or, we’ll undercut them and then we’ll be stuck with a bunch of clients that always want a deal.  There’s no honor among thieves.  It’ll all fall down like a house of cards.

Guess what folks.  It’s already happening exactly like that.  The only thing that’s missing is the high-profile and publicity of a trade-show.  It’s all a natural part of the economy; it’s what Adam Smith called the “invisible hand”; ensuring through competition that prices veer inexorably towards a position of fair value. 

I’m not saying that a retail jewellery trade show is the answer to defending jewellery’s position as a desirable consumer product, but because of my experience with consumer shows, let me finish the thought.  When I worked for Canadian National Sportsmen’s Shows, I camped-out on the roof of BC Place stadium for a publicity stunt.  We flew-in fishing gurus, built 100 foot climbing walls and built and filled pools for kayak  and fishing demonstrations (not at the same time.)  We spent tens of thousands of dollars advertising the shows and we were successful in bringing 40,000 people through the doors – to learn and to shop.  How did we get 200 or 300 exhibitors to pay money to set-up shop mere steps away from their competition?  Because together they could build more demand for more product and train-up more future consumers of sporting goods than if they sat in their little shops spending their little advertising budgets to sell a little bit of product.

Buying groups, the CJA and chambers of commerce are all groups who are looking for retailers who will set aside their fear of competition for the greater good:  the strengthening of an industry or the strengthening of a marketplace.  Get involved.  Bring your own ideas to the table.  There is strength in numbers.

The connection economy multiplies the value of what is contributed to it. It's based on abundance, not scarcity, and those that opt out, fall behind.

Sharing your money, your ideas, your insights, your confidence... all of these things return to you. Perhaps not in the way you expected, and certainly not with a guarantee, but again and again the miser falls behind. – Seth Godin

The most heinous of enemies…

The third enemy we face and I think one of the most crucial is the realm of “other consumer products and services.”  Going back 30 years, people had one television that cost a good sum, but they kept it for 10 or 15 years.  Nobody had an iPod.  Nobody had a cel phone, and nobody had a laptop.  Nobody really cared about granite countertops and it was virtually unheard-of to spend $15,000 (or three-months’ wages) on a bathroom renovation.  With the loss of the DPS telling consumers to buy 1ct diamonds, spend 2 months’ salary on an engagement ring, buy tennis bracelets, journey pendants and the like, we’re all losing market share.

I daresay that the third dragon is the scariest of all.  We can’t do anything about the economy.  If we just let-go of our thinking that the guy down the street is the source of all our problems, we could work on this third enemy together.  We could cooperate with our competitors to heighten the status of jewellery.  Why do you think there are RV shows, auto shows and sportsman shows?  Why do you think reality TV covers home renos, landscaping, wedding dresses and travel?  Car dealers combine forces to have multi-dealer car sales.  Why don’t jewellers do anything like that?

Come on people now.  Smile on your brother.  Everybody get together, promote love of jewellery right now!

I'll finish this crazy thought tomorrow, but Saturday I've got a big treat: a mystery guest-blogger for Saturday Story Time.

Those good-for-nothing jewellers down the street!

The economy is the first of the “big three” competitors that we battle.  The second category of competitor is other jewellers.  When analyzing your competition, include retailers in your local market area, higher-end retailers in larger centers nearby, and the internet.  You actually need different weapons to battle each of those three tyrants who constantly work to rob you of your well-deserved market-share.

It’s pretty simple to gain intel on your local competitors.  You can put on a rubber-nose and glasses and shop them, you can listen to what your customers say about them, or you can just get to know them as colleagues.  Almost every market loses higher-end sales to a larger centre.  Unless you’re a top jeweller in Dubai, Hong Kong or New York, there are always more luxurious and more exclusive places for the top consumers in your market to go for things that you can’t effectively supply.

Competing against the internet is EASY.  Okay, it’s easy for armchair quarterbacks like me.  Fact-is that that online jewellery purchases are on the rise.  According to most estimations, it seems the volume is plateauing.  Competing against the internet requires a focus on in-person service, and getting away from branded product.  More and more I hear complaints that popular branded goods are being price-shopped like never before.  Once the client knows the designer and model-number, they can make it all-about price.  Further to in-person service, you must offer unique selections and niche-product in order to take power away from the internet.

Dragon slaying 101

Every day in business there are three dragons to slay.  The economy is one particularly evil villain.  When the economy is slow (or more importantly is perceived to be slow) purse-strings tighten and spending in general slows.  Usually that means consumers will either spend less.  When they’re not working 12 hours a day to take advantage of a hot economy, they have the time and feel the need to shop around and grind you for the best deal possible.

When the economy is running hot, it’s a battle to take advantage of increased consumer spending without letting your inventory or operating costs get out of control.

The economy is not our only enemy however.  There are two more business leviathans lurking in the marketplace.  More on this tomorrow…

Baby-steps to HUGE results!

Small business person says to the business success guru, “What can I do to increase my sales by 100% this year?” 

Guru, “do 100 things 1% better.”

That’s not the answer the small business person wants to hear, but it’s the truth.  What they want to hear is, “Do this one revolutionary thing and your sales will double!!!”  You can’t tell me that Starbucks is successful because it has the best coffee in the world.  They are successful because even when there’s a line-up it seldom takes more than 3.5 minutes to get your drink.  They all have Wi-fi, they all are easy to find.  Almost every location has a drive through.  They have comfy chairs.  They have plug-ins for my laptop or phone.  They have a classy décor.  I usually really like the music they play.  Their gift cards are easy to buy and easy to use.  They have clean washrooms.  All Starbucks have convenient gifts I can take to a friend or client.  It goes on and on, and I haven’t even touched on their product.  The reason they pump-out the drinks so fast is that they’re organized and trained to do so.  What are you organized and trained to do 1% better than your competition? 

Remember that your brand is what people say about you.  Make a list of one-percenters and add to it constantly.  Make a list of things that you commit do every-time for every person that comes into your store.  Strike things off the list that don’t work or stop working.  Your best clients love when you offer to clean their jewellery for free.  If you offered all clients free cleaning, would they love you too?  If you send thank you cards for your biggest sales, what would be the impact of sending cards for your smaller sales?  Do you include all visitors in your social network?  Do you say “hello” to every single person entering your store within 10 seconds?  Do you drop “busy-work” like a hot-potato every time someone enters, or do you say, “Awe, gee, if it weren’t for all of these clients, I could get some work done!”  Do you have an in-store atmosphere that takes into account all 5 senses?  Committing to these tactics might come at a cost, but do you really expect to double your sales without increasing your costs?

Start the list today.  I hope you discover that you do a lot of things well, and are ready to commit to doing them all the time in order to create a consistently remarkable customer experience.  Oh, and if you don’t really want to increase your sales, just keep this in mind: the status quo will earn you diminishing returns.  There’s more competition, more rapid access to product information, more sharks, and more is required of you just to keep your sales even.

You don’t have to do it all yourself!

I used to subscribe to The Monthly Mentor program by a fellow named Raymond Aaron.  Two interesting elements to the program were delegation and appreciation.  When thinking about achieving personal success my first thought is about how important my own efforts are.  But, think about it.  Those who can most effectively get others to help achieve worthy goals tend to be the movers and shakers of our society. 

In your store, you might have a great idea for reorganizing a display.  If you can communicate effectively your wondrous vision for the new display and get your manager or coworkers excited about your idea, you can delegate portions of the work to others.  Once achieved and all involved feel the pride of a job well-done, don’t forget to express your appreciation.  You’ll be more likely to gain support for future initiatives.