How About This Alarming Statement To A Customer? "You're Obviously In The Wrong Place. Please Leave."

It never crossed my mind that a scene from one of my wife's favorite guilty pleasures would serve as a centerpiece for one of my post; but it has happened.  A 90 second scene from a Hollywood movie has intersected with a recent observation at my local +Walmart  to underscore a key #CustomerService lesson.

Those familiar with the movie "Pretty Woman" will recognize this screen shot.  It shows the lead character Vivian, played by Julia Roberts, in a very swanky Beverly Hills boutique.  Vivian has been given an uncapped amount of credit to spend by a wealthy businessman, Edward, played by Richard Gere.

Edward had previously met Vivian, securing her services to be his weekend escort for various social events. They subsequently fall in love and the transformation to classy, sophisticated, "Pretty Woman" unfolds.   In the scene depicted, the boutique's sales personnel coldly confront Vivian based upon her appearance, refuse to inquire about her needs and rudely ask her to leave after telling her she was "obviously in the wrong place".  I won't go into the subsequent chain of events, just in case there are some who have not seen the movie.  Let's just say that payback can be personally, financially painful at times.

Unfortunately, this Hollywood scene often unfolds in the real world of customer service to varying degrees.  Assumptions customer facing personnel make about individuals based solely on their looks are sometimes just flat wrong.  These preconceptions can result in negative repercussions for a business, ranging from lost sales opportunities to lingering word-of-mouth about the insensitive way a business treats certain customers.  Regardless of severity, each misguided assumption about a customer potentially drives revenue from one company's income stream to that of a competitor.  Given the amplifying power of today's social media, if the offended person or group is so inclined, this could cascade into more than just an undetectable lost sale on a company's financial report. 

So how does my local Walmart fit into this story?  Well, I was recently shopping there for a household item.  Suddenly, I heard the "thump, thump, thump" of what obviously was a basketball being bounced through the toy and home repair sections. After a few minutes, a store associate approached the three young men responsible for the noise.  The associate engaged them with a stern demeanor.  She admonished one young man for bouncing the ball and demanded he stop, telling the three it could potentially cause an accident should the ball slip away.  If they did not stop, they would be asked to leave the store.  She did not inquire as to why they were in the store, only learning of their need when the three, now obviously upset with her approach, told her.

It turns out they were shopping for an item that was behind a locked display case. The trio had previously requested support and had been waiting for quite some time without anyone coming to their aide.  The store associate, still very direct in her demeanor, stated she would find the support needed and walked away.  

My customer service radar was on high alert at this point as I lingered to see how this might play out.  Regrettably, the anticipated support did not arrive as quickly as one might expect.  Soon after, the "thump, thump, thump" of the bouncing basketball resumed, followed by a reappearance of the store associate who again, with a very direct tone, reminded them not to bounce the ball.  As one might imagine, the young men were now more confrontational.  They strongly voiced their displeasure with the entire interaction, given their sole desire to make a purchase and "get outta here". To her credit, this time the store associate asked the young men to accompany her, as she personally planned to help them with the purchase.

Given the way this encounter evolved, it seemed apparent the store associate engaged the young men with a preconceived view about them.  I have not mentioned that the three young men were older teenagers, 17 to 19 years of age. Since they were walking around, displaying a lack of courtesy and concern by bouncing a ball in the store, it's conceivable the associate assumed the group was simply lingering, without any intent of making a purchase.  While I agree bouncing a ball through a store is not behavior one should condone, this was not a complete picture of reality in this instance.  By not knowing the complete story, the store associate's assumptions caused her to fall into a common customer service trap.  A trap all businesses are better off avoiding when seeking to create a culture that includes positive #customerexperience.  The Walmart example highlights that losing control of the customer interaction and possibly angering your ready-to-buy customer are part of the unintended consequences that could result from making incorrect assumptions about your customer

I recently read two good articles that came to mind while writing this post.  I recommend them as additional food for thought given the perspectives shared here.

The first is by +Small Business Trends and addresses the need for customer service to be part of an organization's established operational processes.

http://smallbiztrends.com/2014/10/customer-service-must-part-process.html

The second is an interesting piece from +Micah Solomon concerning Starbuck's new tattoo policy.  Given assumptions and perspectives people have about individuals with tattoos, I found it a refreshing read.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/micahsolomon/2014/10/17/starbucks-employees-to-show-us-their-tats-how-this-improves-customer-service-and-even-hr/

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