Thursday, December 21, 2006

Customer Care - Not Pushy Salespeople

Some years back, I can remember working in a highly competitive shoe store. I sold shoes, fitted feet, arranged displays, stocked shelves, rang up orders, unloaded boxes, etc. My manager encouraged me to push certain products; no matter if the customer needed them or not. Everyone was given a sales pitch when they walked in the store.

My previous manager used to hold in-store sales contests; now those were the worst and they were very cutthroat. I can remember a specific contest; the Insole Contest. Each customer no matter their age, size, or type of shoe they needed, I had to put them in an insole. My manager wanted our store to outsell all the others in this category. So I did my job, I tried one on every customer; some bought, most of them did not. And along with insoles, I was trained to oversell customers everything from embroidered socks to over-priced canvas shoes.

But when I started at NB Web Express, a whole new world of real Customer Care was introduced to me. I worked with a group of extremely knowledgeable people who genuinely wanted to give the customer the best fit and the best shoe possible for their needs; no matter if they made the sale or not. People of all ages and ailments call everyday. Each person is given the same high class treatment, not a set of insoles they don’t need.

But it’s just selling shoes…right? Wrong. Customer Care at NB Web Express is more than just selling a pair of shoes; it’s about never losing touch of what is really important. Knowledgeable staff, a friendly voice on the other end…how about someone who genuinely cares about you, not about making the sale? Non-pushy salespeople. Period. Now that is a company I want to do business with.

Cassie B.