Editorial

Some business owners seem to believe that by simply putting up signage for a brand above an open door, customers will flock to spend their money. They fail to realise that, in a market over-supplied with international and lesser known names within various price ranges, customers are spoilt for choice for anything from fashion wear to electronic goods.

Complaints of how customers are (badly) treated are frequently made in the press, not just in relation to retailers but also to service providers. ARMS Ltd, which handles water and electricity bills, must be topping the charts in this regard.

In the case of retailers, they certainly cannot afford to lose a single customer as they fight to win a share of what is, in reality, a very small pie. Many do not understand that customer attraction – and retention – ultimately goes beyond brand and price. An essential element of the “retail experience” many stores try to build is escaping them. It’s called customer service.

Why are customers so often made to feel as if they are disturbing staff when they ask for information about an item or a service? It is commonplace to find sales assistants on the phone or chatting among themselves as shoppers wait to be served. Then they insist on serving customers as they carry on their conversations.

Some staff members lack basic courtesy, like saying please or thank you, or exercise some eye contact when being addressed. There are instances when employees turn customers away because it is nearly closing time or expect shoppers to step over buckets of dirty water or under ladders as they go about chores.

Worst of all is the lack of respect for merchandise. Some stores are so packed with stock that items of clothing, especially, are creased and crumpled as they hang on racks jostling for space. Some sales assistants even have the audacity to pile clothing on the floor, as they are packed away at the end of a sale, or kick boxes containing goods across the floor. Do they seriously believe customers looking on in amazement will return to buy them?

The bottom line is people do not need to shop for practically anything on the high street anymore. As air travel fares drop, more and more people are opting to go on shopping trips abroad more often. They not only seek the handful of brands that do not have a presence here, they even visit stores which have franchises at home. Collections are different in some markets and so is the pricing.

Besides, Maltese consumers have taken to online purchases like fish to water. They trust payment gateways and delivery charges are hardly prohibitive.

Polite, efficient and informed customer service is perhaps the only factor that will entice shoppers to return to a store in the town centre.

Retailers must pull their socks up and train their staff in the art of sales. Welcoming customers through the door and making sure most of them effect a transaction before they leave is a skill that is obtained through hard work and experience, focus and a smile. It is preposterous to expect people to return if staff is rude, oblivious or dismissive. That much must be drummed into any new recruit.

Sales assistants must be made to understand that their jobs ultimately depend on the relationships they forge with customers and that customers have a world of options of where and how to part with their cash.