My favourite place to shop
My favourite place to shop - Checkout, April 2006
I first found my favourite place to shop when I was looking for it. That may sound obvious, but you would be surprised at how many shops give inaccurate directions or have inadequate signage. This one is visible and welcoming from the road, and the instructions I had been given worked perfectly. Once there, it was obvious where I was supposed to park and more to the point I was able to do so in a clearly marked bay that had sufficient room on either side to open my car doors. I then followed the walkway to the front entrance, which is much safer than dodging the traffic (and also makes it easier for me to avoid pedestrians when I am the driver).
I like the way that there is always someone on the door. He or she may be there primarily for security purposes but they are always friendly and after a while they recognise their regulars. They always wear badges so I know which one is Arnold, which one is Bob and which one is Claire. If I’m not in a hurry we might have a little chat, and they are always well informed about the shop layout, current promotions, holiday opening hours and so on. I’ve noticed how well they greet people who might need a bit of assistance, making it easy for them to ask for help without in any way feeling patronised or compromised.
Inside, I like the way that there is high-level signage so that I can navigate my way around. There is nothing more irritating than being sent on a mystery trip and having to walk up and down every aisle to see what’s where. I know they want you to make impulse purchases but I don’t like having my intelligence insulted by being treated like a rat in a maze or a wallet on legs.
This place has got the important balance right between giving customers some elbow room and giving them some help. For a start the staff are in uniform so you can easily pick them out. It’s a smart uniform too, with a name badge that’s in big enough letters to read. I appreciate that the ladies take care not to pin them in places that I am embarrassed to look at closely. And staff not actually attending customers are always circulating, not huddling together to gossip and cackle about their social lives or the lack of them. Seeing lots of people with nothing to do always suggests to me that I will am paying over the odds; there needs to be a happy medium.
If they think you might need help, drawing an intelligent conclusion from the way you are looking or behaving, they either ask a very simple and general question like “how can I help you?” or they might try a more direct approach like “Would you like me to get the product out/down/working/open?” And whatever the question, they first look you in the eye, smile pleasantly and say good whatever-time-of-day-it-is. The general effect of all this is that they give the impression of being there by choice (not filling in until a better job comes along) and interested in helping you. Yes of course they want to sell me something, but then again I probably came here to buy something. After all, it is a shop.
They are very professional in the way they ask me polite questions about whether I am looking for something on behalf of myself or someone else, if for me how and how often I would use the product, what experience I have with goods of this kind, roughly how much I had in mind to spend and so on and so forth. It doesn’t feel like the Spanish Inquisition, because they seem genuinely interested in me as an individual and not just as a punter. If I have a technical question that they need help with, they say so quite openly and then go and get either the answer or the person who can provide it. And when they bring someone else they have already explained to him or her what I have asked so I don’t end up wasting everyone’s time by repeating myself.
And nothing is too much trouble: they are happy to show me how things work or let me try them out for myself. Let’s face it, you learn much more by feel than you do by spiel! And they treat me as a normal, intelligent being, not a genius or a dunce. Like most people, I’m less interested in all the technical language than I am in what this product will do for me and why it is worth whatever it costs. It’s probably not true, but I did hear of a customer who asked about the difference between a Jaguar and a Daimler and was told “about £800”. I don’t think sales people always realise that I sometimes need quite a bit of reassurance when I am spending money, so the more they explain how well it will do the job and how reputable the makers are and what guarantees they provide, the more likely I am to do the deal. Like most people, I accept that you can often buy more cheaply on the Internet, but who do you contact when things go wrong? Bill Gates?
They don’t show any surprise or disappointment at my decision when and if I make one. If I say “I’ll go away and think about it” they don’t suck their teeth and say “Well all right but I can’t guarantee we’ll still have the stock when you’ve made you mind up”. They might offer to hold it for 24 hours but I take that as a favour not as pressure. And they certainly don’t come over all sniffy if I take the cheapest option, as though they feel their commission ebbing away.
If I do make a purchase, they thank me for it by name. How do they know it? It’s on my credit card, of course. It really is odd that when I present this absolutely personal piece of information to so many people they can’t or won’t be bothered to make use of it. I love being called by my name; that’s the truest expression of my individuality. A little foible here: I get really put off when cash handling staff have dirty hands, or write phone numbers and messages all over their person. At my favourite shop they are clean and well presented in every way.
They ask if I need any help getting heavy stuff to the car, and if I do they provide it cheerfully. And they always say goodbye or something that comes equally naturally. They do not tell me to ‘have a nice day’. Finally, on the way out I always get a cheery smile from whoever is on door duty. You can see why this is my favourite place to shop.
If only it existed…