25 May 2023
Laura Bill looks at whether our customer service expectations have changed, and what retailers in St Albans city centre are doing about it.
My first job, circa 1996, was in Next Boys & Girls – a children’s only brand of Next in Christopher Place where Whistles currently stands.
My training was basically to smile loads and try and give everybody more than they expected every time. (To be honest I think I’ve been trying to do the same ever since – no wonder I’m so exhausted!!)
The classic ‘upsell’ was key too. A dad would come in with his daughter looking for a party dress. They would leave brimming with joy and 70 quid lighter clutching the dress plus matching socks and hairband.
My manager and I would do a little happy dance – often to Club Tropicana, which seemed to be every third song on the standard company shop floor cassette tape – and then I would go back to straightening the already very straight coat hangers and all was well.
Sometimes it feels as though we’re a million miles away from that level of assistance, especially as lately I have had some pretty poor shopping experiences. All of this has inevitably led me to ask whether customer service has declined in recent years, and if so why?
I briefly wondered if there is a rule of thumb: the more expensive the shop, the worse the service. Take very overpriced beauty items, for example. If I’m handing over two hundred nicker for a pot of moisturiser it would be nice not to be sneered at by the assistant. Then when I asked with genuine concern if she was okay, to be told how very busy she was and what a lot of things she had to do today. I was the only person in the store.
Surely the main point of working in a shop is to serve the people who come in?
A dire experience can put a real dampener on the day. Several times I have eyed up the cakes and sandwiches in one of our artisan bakeries. They do a very nice spinach and ricotta roll which I must say is delicious but there is often a long queue and nobody ever looks up or smiles to acknowledge me when I enter.
I’d rather go to Simmons where I have a nice gossip with the friendly and personable women working there and come out with a reliable gingerbread person and I didn’t have to take out a second mortgage or sell a kidney to pay for it.
As I like to give people the benefit of the doubt I thought I would have some confidential chats with a few customer service assistants.
Reluctant to share their concerns with me at first, it gave me an insight into what working in a shop in today’s demanding and time-poor society might actually be like. After all, 1996 is a long time ago.
A woman in her fifties told me that she is constantly left alone, expected to do loads of things at once and that it is difficult to keep staff for long as the latest generation of first-job teens seem to be “very up on their rights” and have an air of confidence that can be “misunderstood for rudeness”.
A young man serving coffee in a St Albans chain told me that he finds many people are very rude: “They come in and tell me they are running late and I need to hurry up. But because I cannot speed up the basic process of making a decent cup of coffee they then become obviously angry and frustrated.”
Words like ‘understaffed’ and ‘undersupported’ make me ask whether, like our schools and hospitals, the retail industry may now be irrevocably broken?
I met up with three independent business owners to gain more insight into how they find the marketplace these days.
I asked Oliver Zissman, owner of Leafy in Christopher Place, if he thinks the pandemic has affected the retail industry and if so how. He replied: “Customers haven’t changed too much since pre-pandemic. The only thing was we started taking cash-only during the crisis. We now take cards and cash but even today people still always ask before paying with cash.”
Fashion boutique The Dressing Room celebrated 18 years of trading last week. I would hail it as one of the best customer experiences in our city.
The team there know me by name and my idiosyncrasies such as not wearing white (I’ve got a thing about it) and my love of oversized knitwear and Harris Wharf coats. Quite often they will bring a glass of something or a coffee and are super patient and knowledgeable about my wardrobe, helping me to buy accessories or clothes that go well with others.
Because of this personal experience I knew I had to get the viewpoint of owner and founder Deryane Tadd.
Deryane said that she thinks that a self-service culture is more present across the high street than ever and so people are even more keen to have those personal interactions with retail assistants.
“Our customers still enjoy the personal touch that shopping locally gives them and appreciate a great shopping experience more than ever. I’d also like to think that people are generally more aware of supporting their small businesses and endeavour to shop locally when they can.
“Shopping for fashion and lifestyle should be a pleasure and give you a lift, so we make sure our shopping experience does just that which keeps people excited and wanting to return.”
Hotel Chocolat is another example of great customer service. They know my name. If I accidentally buy chocolates with alcohol in the box they point it out to me quietly (I don’t drink). Staff in there are always smiling and seem genuinely interested in the products they sell.
My dog-owning boss told me what a nice touch it is when staff at George Street Canteen bring his pooch some biscuits, and said there are plenty of other places which go out of their way to be dog-friendly – important in a canine-loving city like our own.
I left homewear shop Cositas in a very happy mood a few weeks ago with a new make-up bag. Not only was it handmade and very affordable and I got to moan about the menopause for a bit – one of my favourite pastimes.
Cositas’ owner Emma Bustamante is a beaming ray of sunshine no matter who walks through her door, and always enthuses about her latest quirky acquisitions.
She told me: “I chose to have a high street presence instead of just an online business because the interactions with our customers was something I knew would let us apart. The retail world is so unpredictable but one thing I know we can always know for sure is that our customers will always leave feeling like they’ve had a nice chat or even just the exchange of a smile can make someone’s day. I’m all about relationships, communications and fun and being able to genuinely convey that to our customers. It is really important for customer loyalty and ultimately the longevity of the shop.”
I also love Black Eyewear as I feel really good in there and I’m always pleased with whatever I buy whether its designer sunglasses or a new pair of specs. They take time to make sure everything fits really well and I can pop in any time to get them adjusted.
I love knowing that I’m in good company wearing Black as Lady Gaga has shopped there as well as our very own Bob Golding, who had his Eric Morecambe glasses made there for his one-man shows about the legendary funnyman.
It is often about time it would seem. Staff having the time to care. So going back to the point about understaffing, I enquire about recruitment.
Oliver explained: “Staff can be hard to get, especially back of house. But again, we work really hard to ensure it’s a great working environment and our front of house team really enjoy coming to work we have a very low staff turnover and those away at university are coming back for the summer again, as they did last year.
“I’m pleased to say unexpected and challenging situations are rare at Leafy. We offer a relatively simple product with great service. If we over complicate, it plays havoc on our systems, so we just don’t do it.”
Deryane agreed: “There have been periods of time where recruitment has been challenging, particularly when it comes to weekend recruitment which seems to be more difficult than ever these days. However, I currently employ 20 women who are great. We have many long-standing team members at The Dressing Room with around 80 per cent of the team made up of people that have been with the business anything from two to 16 years.
“I always think that retail in its many forms can be overlooked as a great career choice, but The Dressing Room is proof that talented and bright people can build long standing careers in a creative and customer focused industry.”
Happy staff seem to make happy customers. Simples.
Shopping has much more of an ethical side to it these days too.
Before it shut down I spent nine pounds on two cards in Paperchase and wasn’t happy with a paper bag. I asked if they had ‘a proper bag’ worried my cards might melt away like sugar in the rain.
The woman said most customers like the more environmentally friendly bags to which I said, “Well, I just want my cards to be okay when I get home”, and then wondered for the rest of the day if I was shallow.
I’m not Greta Thunberg, I’m just rushing around town making sure I don’t break my mum’s heart by forgetting Mother’s Day. That would be far more of an ethical issue surely?
After all my musing and digging around, I am inclined to agree with Oliver on this: “The bottom line is that top level service is the easiest thing in business, no matter what, no matter who the customer. There is no excuse for rude, unhelpful, lazy staff.
“Customers will go elsewhere, even if you think your product is the best.”
Why would I bother spending my money in places that make me feel like a massive inconvenience?
With St Albans promoting itself a destination city these days, it’s ever so important for the overall visitor experience to be just right.
Vivien Cannon of St Albans BID said: “St Albans has a fantastic mix of vibrant independents, big brand names and artisan market stalls making it a top shopping destination.
“BID’s role is to promote all its levy payers but it is perhaps fair to say that bigger chains will often have support from their head offices so we focus much of our attention towards our independents.”
