Retail Opposites

A friend of mine recently published this post regarding a recent trip to Sears where he recalls the poor customer service he had there. When you go to an establishment, it's not unreasonable to expect a certain level of service and when that expectation is not met, it leaves a bad taste in your mouth and a negative emotion associated with that store that you remember for the next time you want to shop for an item that store sells.

I would like to submit that, in general, our customer service experiences are either on par or moderately sub par with our expectations and this decline in good customer service has made it such that while we still expect the same level of customer service we always have, we may not be as surprised or disappointed when our expectations are not met since it has happened so many times before. Perhaps this is partially my fault when, to get lower prices, I shop at stores that probably hire people that don't require high wages or high skills & experience and are usually somewhat easy to replace.

Having said that, I think that when we get exceptional customer service it also leaves an impression on us. This is what reminds us that price isn't everything and neither is location. I say this in reference to my recent drive down to Lacey, WA where the only Cabela's store on the west coast is. That's a 40 mile drive for me. Every time I pass by it on I-5, I am always on my way to somewhere else like Oregon and I have the wife & kids with me who just want to get to where we're going and get out of the car.

We took the drive down there and it didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would to get there. First of all let me say this store is huge. It looks like it should be a warehouse store from the outside but is very much like a department store on the inside. As far as what's in the store and what it looks like I'll just say that it's amazing, there's lots to choose from, and many things I didn't even know existed. There's even an artificial mountain as the centerpiece for the store that displays all kids of taxidermy animals and birds from small marmots to Elk, Antelope, and Mountain Goats. Underneath even has an aquarium with real fish. Large salmon, halibut, trout, etc. There's even a section for African animals like Lions and Elephants. If you enjoy outdoor activities, there's something there for everyone.

Ok, back on topic and getting to the point of this whole post. The people there were very visible, made their presence known to the customers, and were not shy about stopping whatever they were doing to ask if you needed any assistance. They're the type of people that seem to have an eye for that look on customers faces that just says, "I could use some help please." My Dad was looking for a specific watch and while he was looking in the glass case he was asked if he would like to look at anything in particular. He replied that he hadn't found what he was looking for and was directed to another section of the display cases to where the item was located. He had questions about the item and the employee was able to answer what they knew about it and on specifics regarding how the item worked or how to use a particular feature, when they didn't know they opened it up, let my Dad handle the watch and check out the manual that came with it.

Ok not overly impressive so far but later when we were in an entirely different part of the store this same employee happened to be there as well. It wasn't even on the same floor (there's two floors). And again my Dad had that look and so again this employee approached and inquired if assistance was needed. This is the part that is unusual because typically an employee is trained on how to work in a specific section of the store and outside that section they are lost and try to not make eye contact with customers. Not so in this case. This person was knowledgable in this area of the store as well and was happy to help.

I've been in so many large stores like this that employ people that have no idea about other areas of the store and sometimes you're lucky if they even know anything about how to do their job in the area of the store they are assigned to. It becomes frustrating when you go into a store looking for assistance on an item they sell and you know more about it than they do so, like my Dad, you end up teaching them about it but still leave without your questions answered due to a lack of knowledgeable staff even if you can get someone to engage you. I will purposefully and obviously look around like I'm lost in the hopes that an employee walking by will ask if I need assistance rather than simply walk by without acknowledging my presence with a hello, eye, contact, etc.

For a great overall retail experience that includes a great selection, helpful & friendly staff, with a delicious variety of meats (like buffalo, wild boar, ostrich, etc) served at the deli & grill, visit Cabela's. It's worth the drive.