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The spring onions on display looked really pathetic so we decided to skip it and as we were walking away, a guy asked us if we needed any help. He wasn’t one of those supermarket employees with an apron that said, “May I help you on the back” but in fact, he looked like a middle-management types with a suit and a checklist in hand (probably taking stock of the inventory). We told him that we were looking for some green onions (that’s what they are ‘officially’ called in Americanese) but the ones on display weren’t fresh. He asked us to wait and said that there might be some fresh ones in the back. He went in and came out within a few minutes with a cart full of spring onions. He sure looked funny - dressed in formals, checklist under his arm and pushing a produce cart. We found a fresh bunch in the cart and picked it up.
I liked it that he stopped what he was doing and offered to help us. He clearly helped make a purchase and even retained us as future customers. We clearly wouldn’t have returned if we had left without getting the spring onions as the image of stale produce would have stuck forever.
Customer service is all about making such small efforts at helping customers finding what they need even if it doesn’t fit in your job description. It is not always about beaming a clearly false smile and asking us to have a good day in a half-heartedly and hurried manner. After all, it is the actions that count.
On a related note, Neelakantan narrates the struggle of Indian retail produce companies like Big Bazaar and Reliance Fresh in keeping it fresh and yet cheap while tryin to carve out their niche. Quality and price have yet to find their equilibrium in Indian markets where balance still tilts in favor of price.
by Patrix | on Tuesday, May 22nd, 2007 at 3:31 pm | 
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