Customer service: a truly radical approach to sales

Coda • GREG BEAN

The results for the 2008 holiday shopping season are almost in from the nation’s major retailers, and it looks like it was worse than anyone could have predicted.

Business was so bad at places like KB Toys and Sharper Image that it’s possible those companies won’t survive the coming year. Circuit City announced it is closing its remaining U.S. stores.

And even among those who will likely survive, the numbers were staggering. Saks was down 19.8 percent; Nordstrom, 10 percent; Abercrombie & Fitch, 24 percent; American Eagle, 24 percent. Even the giants like Wal- Mart and Target had disappointing results.

The list of bad news goes on and on, but the bright spots — if you can really call them that — were surprising.

J.C. Penney, for example, was down 7.3 percent and our old friend, Sears, was down “only” 5.3 percent, according to some reports.

The talking-head analysts on the evening news had plenty of theories about what was going on. But I’ve got my own theory, based on purely anecdotal evidence, and if that theory holds water, it’s good news for consumers.

Regular readers will remember that I pummeled Sears last year about their abysmal automated phone system, and while that phone system hasn’t changed, the company did something right this holiday season in another area.

In years past, whenever I shopped at Sears, it was difficult finding a clerk to answer questions about the merchandise, or sometimes even take my money. Once I found a clerk, they were usually nice enough, but it was usually easier to find a gold nugget in a mountain stream than a sales clerk at Sears.

This year, however, when I stopped in to buy a piece of luggage for a trip, an amazing transformation had taken place.

There were sales clerks everywhere, one about every 10 feet it seemed. And they were all smiling and helpful. For a few minutes, I wondered if I had slipped through the space/time continuum and popped into an alternative universe. But no, the company had just hired a lot of sales associates for the season, and they were apparently told to make the shopping experience pleasant.

One of those helpful souls latched on to me the minute I walked in the door, and when I asked him where to find luggage, he actually said: “Follow me. I’ll take you down there.”

And take me he did — schlepping through the entire floor of the store, down the escalator to the basement floor, and back to the rather secluded luggage section.

He stood there and talked luggage with me until I made my selection, then he carried it back upstairs, stayed with me through the purchase process, and then carried the luggage to my car.

I’m not making that up, and I wasn’t the only customer that day who got such incredible service. In fact, it looked like almost every customer in the store had his or her own personal sales associate.

If providing that level of service to holiday shoppers this year was a corporate decision, and not confined to the store where I bought luggage, it’s no wonder Sears had a better season than almost anyone else. You just have to compare that experience to the one you probably had at some of the other major retail outlets. You know the ones I’m talking about, where 18 of the 20 registers were dark, and the harried cashiers at the only two working checkout lanes were overworked, stressed and justifiably cranky.

I sincerely hope this was the start of a trend at retail stores, and not just

one-shot, Hail Mary attempt to make the most of

dismal economy. If it’s the start of a trend, that’s got to be good for consumers. And I, for one, know where I’ll be shopping next holiday season.

• • •

By the time this column sees print, Barack Obama’s inauguration will be over and he will be the president of the United States.

One of the cardinal rules for columnists is that if you can’t say anything new, or add some new perspective, you ought to keep your mouth shut. I can’t add anything new to the discussion, but I can’t resist making a personal observation. The inauguration of a man like Barack Obama was something I never thought I’d see in my lifetime, and his election was truly remarkable.

But in our family, and many others in this nation, 2008 was the worst year in memory and we were glad when the clock ticked down on New Year’s Eve and we were finally able to kick that scurvy, black-hearted varmint’s skinny butt out the door.

Most analysts say that if anything, 2009 will be worse than 2008, and our national economy has not bottomed out. Most people don’t even know where the bottom is.

But in that very dark world, Barack Obama has lit a bright light we hope signals the end of the tunnel, and not another oncoming train.

For that, he has my thanks, and support. His election was the best thing that happened in an entirely miserable year.

• • •

I get a lot of reader response, and while it’s nice to hear from people who like it, it’s just as interesting to hear from people who don’t.

And my recent column about Lord Voldemort Cheney moving back to the cold of Wyoming brought a lot more response than usual, most of it from knee-jerk conservatives who said I was unfair to the soon-to-be former vice president.

One guy wrote: Ordinarily I find your commentarywitty and enjoyable. This expectation held true for the first half of your editorial ‘After Obama’s …’ Unfortunately, the second half was a great disappointment. Quite frankly, you were mean and unprofessional. The opinions you set forth were not of the caliber I expected from a generally non-partisan paper.”

And that was one of the nicer responses. The really mad readers said things I can’t print here, although I’m saving them for my book.

Two observations:

First, this is an opinion column, and because of that, I’ve never pretended that it is objective or non-partisan. It’s just my opinion, and by definition, opinions are never objective.

Second, I wasn’t surprised to see that these mouth-foaming conservatives are still out there. It just heartens me to know that — for the next four years at least — I don’t have to listen to them because they’re irrelevant.

Gregory Bean is executive editor of Greater Media Newspapers. You can reach him at [email protected].