Articles

Part One: Price Check Please

Jana M. Kemp

During a recent shopping experience at a big-box white and orange home-improvement store, the need for customer service skills at all levels came vividly to life. At check-out, the total came to twice what I had expected so I asked the cashier about the pricing of the sheet rock I was buying.

As many of you know, sheet rock is packed two-sheets together. Having dutifully read the pricing guide in the store aisle, it said $8.17 along with the SKU number so I was surprised when the cashier said the $8.17 is per sheet and not per pair. This seemed so unreasonable that I walked back to the aisle to check the signage – which did not indicate that the pricing was per sheet nor per any unit. So I asked the helpful cashier how this pricing made sense because when buying light-bulbs packaged together the posted price is for the package, not for each light-bulb in the package. By this point in my conversation, three more cashiers had joined around the check-out station. One said “sheet rock is priced by the sheet” which prompted me to ask “how is a customer to know that.” Two other cashiers said, “what you are saying makes sense about pricing and packaging.”

Knowing that none of us could solve the problem, I asked for a manager. The manager arrived and listened to my question about pricing and my concern that the posted price did not reflect what was happening at the check-out. His second response was “it is common sense that the price is per sheet, we sell thousands of sheets a day in this store.” My response? “No sir, it is not common sense or I would not have asked for you. The store signage is not clear.” The manager responded that he’d check the signs and walked away. I needed the product so I checked out and thanked the cashier for being more helpful and professional than his manager.

Two days later, I decided to call seven home-improvement stores around the Treasure Valley to see how they price sheet rock. Each store prices sheet rock by the sheet even though the sheets are packaged in pairs but none of the store signage indicates that the price is per sheet. In other arenas, this is called “false advertising.”

So, the point of sharing this story is two-fold. First, make sure everyone in the store can provide professional and gracious customer service. Second, check the signage for product pricing and make sure that honest and clear language is used so that customers know what to expect when they get to the cashier station.

In fact, this whole scenario reminds me of what Idaho Press Tribune reader Linda B. wrote to me in 2006. “Please remind people to do the right thing. When you have the answer give it and when you don’t, do some research and get back to the person. Put the needs of others before your own. Don’t use excuses and get back to people when you say you will.” All of these customer service tips apply to everyone interacting with buying customers, with vendors, and with co-workers.

Has your organization assessed customer service lately? If so, did you check on each manager’s ability to deliver customer service too? And, do you provide customer-feedback forms so that you can learn about the good and poor experiences customers are having in your store?

For those of you wondering what I did about my experience, I filled out the customer feedback form for the big-box store and sent it in. Now, let’s see what if any response I receive back. When I hear something, I’ll let you know.

Action Item: Take a hard look at your customer service practices and price-signage throughout the company and make them better than ever in 2007. And reader Doris, please call again about technology, the number you left didn’t get me to you – Thanks.

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Reprint Permission: The author is willing to grant reprint permissions. Please contact Jana Kemp: jana@janakemp.com or call 208-367-1701.