Who's killing the high street?
9/14/07 posted by David Naylor at 2:48 PM
I walked into a high street store electrical store today and search for a while before deciding it was badly laid out and I should cut my losses and brave the world of 'The Shop Assistant'. I approached a guy who was busy recounting his exploits of a night out to his mate and got his attention.
"I'm looking for a lead..." I said before being cut off.
"Leads are over there mate" he said pointing across the store.
"No", I said. Seeing he was pointing to audio lead section. "I want a TV..."
"They're here mate. TV leads. Yes, that's the one you want", gently ushering me to the leads in another part of the shop. "Here you go" he said, picking up a white ariel lead. And before I had time to say anything he had thrust the packet into my hand and gone - just like the shopkeeper in "Mr Ben", but in many ways, not at all. (Sorry if you're not a product of 1970's UK children's TV)
So after a moment's deliberation I put the lead back on the hook and walked out. It wasn't the lead I wanted and clearly, he had many other more important things to sell somewhere else. Flatscreen TVs, DVDs...
I went on line when I got to the office and bought the lead I wanted.
We accuse call centres (especially offshore) of not listening properly to customer issues and delivering below standard service as a result, but this is common across all of the service industry. This guy thought he'd done just what was asked for and done it really fast. Nobody quality checking the interaction as they do in most call centres. Nobody stopped me to ask if "there was anything else they could help me with today?" or "did I find everything I was looking for?". This is simple stuff!!
There are some good stores out on the high street but it seems to me that the high street is not keeping up with service standards that are being set by the best call centres or website. I find myself voting with fingers (on the keypad or keyboard) and my feet (away from the high street) more and more these days.
There are lots of articles out there about the web killing the high street. Here are a couple:
The guardian comment
UK Busines forums
Do you think that the high street is its own worst enemy?
"I'm looking for a lead..." I said before being cut off.
"Leads are over there mate" he said pointing across the store.
"No", I said. Seeing he was pointing to audio lead section. "I want a TV..."
"They're here mate. TV leads. Yes, that's the one you want", gently ushering me to the leads in another part of the shop. "Here you go" he said, picking up a white ariel lead. And before I had time to say anything he had thrust the packet into my hand and gone - just like the shopkeeper in "Mr Ben", but in many ways, not at all. (Sorry if you're not a product of 1970's UK children's TV)
So after a moment's deliberation I put the lead back on the hook and walked out. It wasn't the lead I wanted and clearly, he had many other more important things to sell somewhere else. Flatscreen TVs, DVDs...
I went on line when I got to the office and bought the lead I wanted.
We accuse call centres (especially offshore) of not listening properly to customer issues and delivering below standard service as a result, but this is common across all of the service industry. This guy thought he'd done just what was asked for and done it really fast. Nobody quality checking the interaction as they do in most call centres. Nobody stopped me to ask if "there was anything else they could help me with today?" or "did I find everything I was looking for?". This is simple stuff!!
There are some good stores out on the high street but it seems to me that the high street is not keeping up with service standards that are being set by the best call centres or website. I find myself voting with fingers (on the keypad or keyboard) and my feet (away from the high street) more and more these days.
There are lots of articles out there about the web killing the high street. Here are a couple:
The guardian comment
UK Busines forums
Do you think that the high street is its own worst enemy?
Labels: customer experience, high street, listening, retail
posted by David Naylor at
2:48 PM
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