Customer service when answering phone vs customer in store

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Yep wouldn't it be better to have a central office with people dedicated to phone enquiries so the shop staff can do their job.

Most sizable companies do offer this facility that you state.

 

[richw]

Every retail company I have worked for have had policy that the phone wasn't to be answered if there is a queue of customers in store. Keeping a queue of customers happy and annoying one because you don't answer the phone is more important than annoying a queue of customers to keep one customer happy answering the phone.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Every retail company I have worked for have had policy that the phone wasn't to be answered if there is a queue of customers in store. Keeping a queue of customers happy and annoying one because you don't answer the phone is more important than annoying a queue of customers to keep one customer happy answering the phone.

It seems like this at times when I ring our local Health Centre and I have seen the receptionists there also ignore the telephone when dealing with people at the reception area.

 

[hairyhandedfool]

The person on the phone IS a real customer. What if the person standing at the counter wants to spend £5, but the person on the end of the phone wants to spend £500??...

The person on the phone is a POTENTIAL customer, the person in the store with money in hand and items in the basket is an ACTUAL customer.

....How about you wait your turn while the staff member deals with the customer that was BEFORE you?....

I'll wait in line like anyone else, that's Ps and Qs, but being asked to wait because someone who may never set foot in the store is on the phone has the potential to have me shopping somewhere else in future.

....Customer service is "unnecessary"? There we have it ladies and gentleman: the state we're in today.

Um, yes he did....

Um, no I didn't. The problem with throwing about terms like 'customer service' is that it means different things to different people. For me, customer service includes the selling of products, which is exactly what I want an 'assistant' to do.

....IE he doesn't seem to think shop staff don't need to do anything else apart from hold their hand out for your cash, which is not what the vast majority of people want at all! Lots of people require assistance with choosing their purchase - it is a shop assistance's job to give this. It is what they are there for....

There are certain things I accept shop staff have to do, but a business is about getting money in the tills and someone not taking money and letting the queue build is less likely to see me return and hence is potentially losing the business some revenue.

....Yes it will, and it must; and it's what most people expect. People don't expect to phone a shop and either have no answer at all, or to be unceremoniously hung up on because some random has just walked into the store. Shops that treat customers like crap deserve to go under imo.

For any business, money in the till is the most important thing, that is what they are in it for.

If, for arguments sake, I needed to know something about a product before arriving at the store and I knew one store would answer the phone in preference to serving someone in store and another would serve in store rather than answer the phone. Assuming all other factors are equal or incidental, I would phone the first and buy from the second.

....Keeping a queue of customers happy and annoying one because you don't answer the phone is more important than annoying a queue of customers to keep one customer happy answering the phone.

Precisely.

 

[Bungle73]

The person on the phone is a POTENTIAL customer, the person in the store with money in hand and items in the basket is an ACTUAL customer.

They're both customers.

I'll wait in line like anyone else, that's Ps and Qs, but being asked to wait because someone who may never set foot in the store is on the phone has the potential to have me shopping somewhere else in future.

So...what? You want the assistant to hang up on the person they're speaking to just because you happen to walk in through the door?? Nice.....

Um, no I didn't. The problem with throwing about terms like 'customer service' is that it means different things to different people. For me, customer service includes the selling of products, which is exactly what I want an 'assistant' to do.

Um, yes you did. You said you only wanted shop assistants to take your cash and that's it. "Customer service" is giving the customer any help that that require with their purchase. Just holding out a hand for cash is not customer service - you might as well get a machine to do it rather than a person.

I get it now. You want the activities in a shop to revolve around what YOU want, and ONLY you, at one particular moment in time, and sod everyone else. Talk about selfish.

If, for arguments sake, I needed to know something about a product before arriving at the store and I knew one store would answer the phone in preference to serving someone in store and another would serve in store rather than answer the phone. Assuming all other factors are equal or incidental, I would phone the first and buy from the second.

And what if you need info that is specific to that particular store; or what if you base your purchase on that info and it turns out to be wrong? If you asked some random other store you have no come back, but if it's the actual store you made the purchase from you do.

 

[EM2]

Just holding out a hand for cash is not customer service - you might as well get a machine to do it rather than a person.

You've seen a self-service checkout, right?

 

[theblackwatch]

The person on the phone is a POTENTIAL customer, the person in the store with money in hand and items in the basket is an ACTUAL customer.

A similar comparison could be made at railway ticket office. One person wants to buy a ticket (an ACTUAL customer), another wants to make enquiries about train times or complicated fares (a POTENTIAL customer). Should the latter only ever been seen when there is nobody waiting to buy a ticket?

 

[hairyhandedfool]

They're both customers.

I guess that will have to depend on your definition of a customer. Someone who takes up staff time but has no intention of buying anything isn't yet a customer in my book, though they may have the potential to be one.

....So...what? You want the assistant to hang up on the person they're speaking to just because you happen to walk in through the door?? Nice.....

If I walk in? no. If I want to buy something would I expect some service? Yes. The staff member has to make an assessment of the situation naturally, but to keep someone, who wants to pay, waiting for long isn't good business.

....Um, yes you did. You said you only wanted shop assistants to take your cash and that's it. "Customer service" is giving the customer any help that that require with their purchase. Just holding out a hand for cash is not customer service - you might as well get a machine to do it rather than a person....

I've highlighted a bit you might want to look at. I said the pleasantries are unnecessary, I said nothing about customer service, just use your Ps and Qs and get on with it. The help I require with my purchase [customer service] is for someone (or something) to sell me what I want to buy!

....I get it now. You want the activities in a shop to revolve around what YOU want, and ONLY you, at one particular moment in time, and sod everyone else. Talk about selfish....

Of course, who wouldn't? and that is the point isn't it? No-one wants to be kept waiting, but keeping people, who want to pay, waiting at the till while you're on the phone to someone who may not pay for anything is not good for business.

....And what if you need info that is specific to that particular store;....

For the second shop? Well, I'd either have to search online or go to the store obviously.

....or what if you base your purchase on that info and it turns out to be wrong?....

Then I have to accept the choice I made. Of course, if it was product information that was wrong, it gives me even less reason to buy from the first shop.

....If you asked some random other store you have no come back, but if it's the actual store you made the purchase from you do.

True, if I based my information on something another store said I would have no comeback, but if the query is about the product the answer should be the same whichever store I choose. To give out wrong information about it would make me even less likely to shop there in future.

A similar comparison could be made at railway ticket office....

I don't know of any ticket offices that keep paying passengers waiting at the sales point while staff take a phone call (which is not to say it doesn't happen, but I certainly don't do it).

....One person wants to buy a ticket (an ACTUAL customer), another wants to make enquiries about train times or complicated fares (a POTENTIAL customer). Should the latter only ever been seen when there is nobody waiting to buy a ticket?

It is the railway's policy to answer the questions regardless of who is asking them, this is actually required of them by their contract to run the service.

But if you are asking if I think this policy will put people off buying at a ticket office that consequently has long queues, yes, I think it does. I have experience of passengers coming to my smaller office, with few, if any, queues, because they don't want to queue at the larger stations. In fact, I tend to go to smaller offices to buy tickets (in advance if necessary) to avoid queues at larger stations.

 

[heart-of-wessex]

May I also add, whilst we are a big supermarket chain, are local store phone number is in bold on the website so they can call direct, and then if it's related to electricals and general merchandise, the call is sent to me.

If I'm busy with a customer or as mentioned I am on the checkouts, I am not allowed to answer so my hands are tied even if they want to spend £500 I have to deal with people in the store.

Oh, and we would fail and audit/mystery shopper if I did that!

 

[bb21]

I think hairyhandedfool and Bungle73 are arguing over two completely separate issues, from totally different viewpoints.

In an ideal world, there would be sufficient staffing to man the tills and the telephones. However we do not live in an ideal world, therefore when there is not sufficient staff around the shop, something has to give. There is no correct answer as to which customers take precedence and are more important. Different shops just take different approaches and both of them are correct in general.

As the saying goes, "You can't please everyone." This is especially true when there is not enough staff.

 

[swj99]

There is no correct answer as to which customers take precedence and are more important. Different shops just take different approaches and both of them are correct in general.

As the saying goes, "You can't please everyone." This is especially true when there is not enough staff.

True. And to add to what's already been said about customers in the actual shop, and 'potential customers' who phone the shop, these so called 'potential customers' might actually be existing customers, ie people who either wish to do repeat business, or who having already made a purchase, wish to raise a question, or possibly make a complaint. If the call isn't answered, how is anyone ever going to know what business may have been lost ? People are very quick to make judgments and form impressions, and any organization that deals with the public either succeeds or fails, depending on how they treat their customers. You've only got to read what people are saying about the standards of customer service at Comet to see this in action.

 

[richw]

In reference to comet above, the worse service I have ever experienced came from them. They wouldn't honour my girlfriends extended warranty on her laptop because it was bought for her by her mum who had since passed away, and as the purchaser of the guarantee was deceased they claimed nothing could be done.
I've also always been wary of their extended warranties myself that these kind of stores push to sell at hundreds of pounds for 3 years, when most content insurances have the option for such covers, considerably cheaper. I recently attempted to buy an electric cooker from a chain store who were so pushy to sell a warranty and despite me insisting I didn't want it as my home insurance covers the goods, I ended up walking out the store without buying the cooker. We here of ppi misselling but very little of extended warranty misselling which I imagine to be regulated as it is effectively an insurance. The aa charged me 50p a month extra to add on electrical goods failure cover for a comparison for what these stores push you to buy. That is appalling customer services to me.

 

[SS4]

What did I stir up now!?!?

In the spirit of Bonfire Night you've lit the fuse, retreated to a safe distance and witnessed the fireworks

In reference to comet above, the worse service I have ever experienced came from them. They wouldn't honour my girlfriends extended warranty on her laptop because it was bought for her by her mum who had since passed away, and as the purchaser of the guarantee was deceased they claimed nothing could be done.
I've also always been wary of their extended warranties myself that these kind of stores push to sell at hundreds of pounds for 3 years, when most content insurances have the option for such covers, considerably cheaper. I recently attempted to buy an electric cooker from a chain store who were so pushy to sell a warranty and despite me insisting I didn't want it as my home insurance covers the goods, I ended up walking out the store without buying the cooker. We here of ppi misselling but very little of extended warranty misselling which I imagine to be regulated as it is effectively an insurance. The aa charged me 50p a month extra to add on electrical goods failure cover for a comparison for what these stores push you to buy. That is appalling customer services to me.

I agree, the mark-up they have on those products means they're being told to push them onto you and that means acting like sleazy salesmen. A by-product of that is that one will be more wary of any genuine advice that's been given, especially if it's positive and losing customer confidence is the death knell for any business with competition.

Another wheeze is the overpriced accessories. A £5 HDMI cable is pretty much the same as a £50 cable in my experience.

 

[Roverman]

This is why I buy from places like Richer Sounds, the extended warranty is fixed at 10% of the price and provides 5 years cover, over and above anything the manufacturer gives you. In the last 10 months I've spent nigh on £1000 in there on HD TVs and Bluray players and barring 1 issue in the Hanley store where the guy basically knew nothing about TVs its been an excellent experience.