Can we turn niceness into genuine service?

Quite often I experience something that alters my perception of the service levels in the retail sector, and, if only for a short while, convinces me that we have turned a corner towards a more efficient, consumer-orientated approach.

On a recent early morning, during a short flight to Bahrain, my colleague and I were in need of a pick-me-up, and asked the quietly efficient hostess for a coffee. She politely stated that as it was a short flight the drinks options didn't include coffee, however she then continued and said once she had finished with the more normal juice and water rounds, she would go and make one, just for us.

Now I realise that, strictly speaking, this experience doesn't slot into the normal comments on the retail sector but it made me think the last time someone had genuinely offered to go that extra mile to make sure that I was happy, content and I received what I had asked for. Unfortunately my power of recollection failed me, but my conclusion is that if it is too long ago to recall then surely something is lacking in this key area of retail sector.

In my experience, normal customer service in our stores typically extends to lots of happy, smiling staff who are quick to wish me a nice day, and yet at the same time also appear to be unnaturally inattentive. When asked if a changing room is free, they will happily whisk me towards a cubicle.

However, ask them when the next delivery of stock replenishment is arriving and what will be included; if there are some different coloured or sized items in another store that I could put on hold; what their 10 best and worst selling items are; or what are the key items that have been bought for next season, then a shrug or stony silence is unfortunately the favoured response.

Syndrome

I call this the 'in-the-box' syndrome, where anything that falls inside the relative comfort zone of an employee, will be undertaken with grace and numerous pleasantries. However ask anything that falls outside the comfort zone or 'box' then the niceties continue but the knowledge, or experience to talk around the question and offer insightful and informed responses is lost.

Apologies to all those members of shop-floor staff that are attentive, knowledgeable, informed and offer solutions to customers questions; however I'm afraid to say that you're a rare breed here in the Middle East. I am a firm believer that it is the experience of the shopping trip that a customer remembers not necessarily the actual purchase. As a result, if the experience is a positive one, then it will be this that keeps customers returning to a store. If the experience starts and stops at a well directed but ultimately flaccid 'hello' then I won't be rushing back to a store.

The industry needs to invest much more in the education and customer management of its core personnel, because these people that are the life and soul of the retail sector. The retail management courses that are increasingly available in universities in the region are a great starting point and I many more continue to be launched, especially if it means that I continue to receive freshly made coffee on my early morning flights.

- The writer is head of GRMC Retail Services, Dubai.