Power Up - Marketing and Selling for Greater Success

Is product knowledge too much to expect?

I had to huge shopping experiences this past week.  Huge in the impression they made on me.  One was very professional and the other very sad.  Both came down to product/service knowledge.

I went into Target to buy a lamp that was on sale.  I have not been in the store in months.  I am just not that much of a shopper.  I was struck by how bright it was: the lighting, the open isles, the clean floors that reflected the light, and the colorful but not overbearing product promotional signage.  I found the lighting section and saw that the desired purchase was out of stock and I had to get a rain check.  The instruction notice told me what to do and I brought the slip to the cashier and told her I needed a rain check.  She was new and did not know how to do it.  It was late and I was in a hurry so I looked around for another cashier.  The first cashier immediately called her supervisor who came over and showed the cashier how to ring up a rain check.  Smooth, easy and when they printed out the slip it also listed the other stores, which had the item in stock in case I wanted to go there and pick it up immediately.  I was pleased with the service even though I walked away empty handed.  That is the way a store should be run.

I also wanted to visit the new bank branch in the area and stopped in to pick up a brochure showing the various services.  The initial contact was pleasant; she gave the brochure to me and suggested I could talk with the manager who was right around the corner.  I had a few minutes and agreed.  I told the manager I was interested in a business checking account.  She smiled and opened the brochure and read where it listed “business checking accounts.”  I asked what was the difference between the various business checking accounts.  She read the brochure description to me.  She agreed that it was not too descriptive and looked in her files, then on the bank’s Internet site, then she called someone who told her to check a different site – an Intranet site.  She could not find the specifics and kept searching – all the time apologizing for not having the information.  After 20 minutes in the branch I signaled her I had to leave.  Yes, she was pleasant.  Yes she got my name and address to send the info to me (the topic of a future blog) and she shook my hand when she greeted me.  However, I left very disappointed.  How can a manager of a new branch not know product information or how to quickly find it?

In one instance, the store cashier was able to quickly obtain the right solution, in the other encounter, I found a manager totally flummoxed about a simple question.  When will the banks lean they need to compete on quality of service and not just cute advertisements?

Wash your mouth out !

Was your mother like mine?  Loving, kind, gentle, and stern when it came to hearing inappropriate language around the house!  I recall vividly, and painfully, when I used a word I heard repeatedly on the schoolyard and used it at home when I was upset with my older brother.  It was instantaneous – mom got up and whacked me upside the head and sent me to my room.  There was no discussion, just firm words – “Never use that word again!”  She made quite an impression, along the side of my head, as well as in my use of inappropriate language.  Why does this matter to you and what does it have to do with selling and marketing products and services?  Let me quickly explain.

The other day as I was at the checkout counter of a local store one clerk was talking with the other and stated, “If you tell Tom I said that I will kick your (butt).”  I was stunned, surprised and disappointed.  I had heard the word before and have used it on several occasions but never in a business setting.  I looked at the young clerk and wondered if she was ever told, or trained, that such language around customers was inappropriate.  Or, am I of the dinosaur era and anything goes these days in a retail environment?

I think that this little instance spoke volumes about the store’s management.  It also has left a very indelible mark about why I would or would not go there again to shop. 

Marketers discuss how to develop a shopping environment so that it is appealing to the customer paying a lot attention to: paint, store layout, design of carpet, volume of the subtle music, etc.  Every slight detail is addressed and reviewed to make sure the “shopping experience” is ideal and provides a competitive edge.  The effort is squandered when the employees take it upon themselves to create their own environment without regard to the customer.  Management must take a firmer stand as to the importance of language, manners, dress (which we could go on about), and attitude.  These are highly relevant aspects of the shopping environment and need to be addressed and monitored.  Without doing so management may have less stressful employee encounters, but the store's competitive edge is lessened and their lack of training creates negative word-of-mouth that will decrease sales.