My husband and I were in our favorite Lowes Home Improvement store the other day. One of the really neat things about Lowes is that you don’t have to go running all over the huge store to find someone to help you.
Strategically placed around the store are little buttons you push which activates a loud speaker announcement that you need help. But there’s a catch. The store employee normally responds very quickly — in an attempt to meet some company metric I suspect. It seems that they must respond in a minute or so. But that doesn’t mean you will get the help you need.
Way too often the employee shows up and says, “I’m helping another customer and will be right with you.” Many times the follow up wait is about 10 minutes. Bleh. Kind of frustrating from a customer perspective. I don’t know about you, but I experience relief when I see that company jacketed rep come toward us and then disappointment when he leaves without being able to resolve our issue.
So what’s the right answer? It’s a balance between satisfying your business ability and goals and making the customer happy. Unhappy customers talk more than happy ones, so take a look at your customer service process and see who it is serving more — your company or your customer?
What do you think? Please leave a comment.
About Denise O'Berry
I actually don’t mind that a sales person says “I’m helping another customer, I’ll be right with you.” I find that that’s respectful on both sides. What I can’t stand is being ignored. Just a quick message telling me what the sales person is good enough. If the reason you’re not ready to serve me is because you need to add receipt paper to the register, tell me. If the reason why you left the cash register is because you need to get small change from your manager, share that with me. I’d prefer some information, than to be ignored.
Leesa —
Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing your thoughts!
I get your point and understand where you are coming from. The thing that bothers me is that the “bell” and the response are geared to satisfy some metric. You can bet money that corporate headquarters beats their chest about how quick they are with customer response when that’s not really the case at all. I believe that if you respond to my request, then you should help me. Really help me. Not just come say hello and make me wait even longer for service.