In-store service

What makes great in-store customer service to you? Is it efficiency and knowledge? Is it personal connection? Investment of time in the customer? Or just a smile?

For me, I do a lot of shopping and such online so its not all that common I find myself in a store, especially when I don't know exactly what I want and where to get it.

My best experience ever though was at a Wolford boutique in Chicago last year. I had a day free and was just walking around the city and saw the small shop and decided to stop in since I have always wanted to.

For those unaware, Wolford specializes in very high-end hosiery and for those really into nylons, it is like the holy grail, albeit very expensive.

I went in to find it was a VERY small store (think: a small hallway) with 2 employees working and an older woman finishing up her purchase.

I was immediately greeted and they said they would be with me shortly. My intent was to quickly browse and get out quickly since I was already a bit embarrassed to even be there. However, in a minute a younger woman came over and asked what I was looking for.

I got a little flash of confidence and just told her I liked hosiery and had never owned any Wolford and was interested. Without missing a beat, she went on to ask me a lot of questions about preference and what brands I did know, etc. At one point, she clarified if the hosiery would be for me and I confirmed. She then tailored questions about style and sizing more specifically towards me and had super helpful suggestions about what size would work best (saying we would probably wear the same size) and which color would look good with my skin tone.

I was then super comfortable and we discussed all sorts of options and even talked about what types my wife would prefer. After it all, she gave me a card and wrote down the options we discussed. Even when I didn't end up purchasing that day, she was incredibly helpful in making me feel welcome and at ease and answered a lot of my questions.

The overall lack of judgement and dedication to my specific interests was really fantastic.

 

The stores I go to sell things like bicycles and skis.
The ones that have survived thus far, and will continue to make it, will do it through outstanding customer service like you just described.
When I get excellent service I don't haggle over prices. And I'm going to buy more, plus be a repeat customer in the future.
If the purchase is a simple commodity item like paper towels, then being cheapest is probably what matters.
But I don't want to live in a world where my shopping options are Amazon and Wal Mart.

 

Another amazing experience we had was at the Lego store near us. One of the employees there literally sat on the floor in the doorway with our child throwing a tantrum and built with him while he calmed down.

And it wasn’t a one time thing. She greets us every time we go in and often spends time with the kids and gives them extra sets as gifts.

As a result, we made a point to notify corporate to tell them how awesome she was and it is no coincidence that we buy a ton more Legos there than we normally would have

 

i hate wal mart