Want my Business

Yesterday I went into Sheraton Mall - the mall that has it all - and I can recount four customer service experiences, three of which were bad while the other was not too bad.

Sad to say nobody blew me away.

In the boutique where I was sure to purchase at least a top and/or a pair of brown career shoes, not one person asked me if I wanted any assistance. Actually, one lady who was already dealing with a client rather asked me for an excuse so she could continue showing that person some clothing behind me.

The second was in a leather shoe store. I was the only person in there and the lady never even responded when I said good evening.

The third, which made the not too bad list was in the beauty supplies store when the cashier was the only person I could identify as staff and she grunted her response to me in between taking someone's cash. Since she said the product I asked her about was good, via a nod and a furrowing of the brow, with her sour facial expression, I bought the hair product.

The fourth and final was in a snooty little boutique where I spent at least ten minutes trying on sunglasses and not one person came to assist me or offer an opinion on which one's looked nicest on me.

The end result was that I left having made a purchase of approximately $11.75, when I was prepared to spend at least ten times that.

I don't know if I didn't look like I had any money to spend or what but I have a sneaky feeling it is the bad customer service that I've been hearing people complain about on the island but just never got the chance to experience.

Sad to think that on the weekend at the end of the month in the middle of a recession I could be subjected to such neglect.

I get better treatment in Bridgetown, where most of my high pedigree friends refuse to shop! Go figure.

Anyways, I can't wait until tomorrow so I can go patronize one of my better suppliers in the city. At least I know he'll be honest about what would suit me, give me a discount well below the sales price and remember my name.

In a nutshell, he wants and WILL GET my business.

The moral of the story here is that I only spent money where I got assistance. So good customer service must be equivalent to the cash flow of your business.

It's not always about image because after you convince me you are the 'mecca' of shopping on the island through your clever marketing on and offline, you have to deliver on that once I get inside.

That is where good PR ends and good customer service/ operations management begins.

Follow this blog for regular updates on Lyrical Lava's perspectives on marketing and public relations in Barbados.