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Customer Experience: HARDWORK WILL NEVER BE A REPLACEMENT FOR PROFESSIONALISM



A Sim card marketer approached me yesterday at Shoprite, Randburg Mall, Johannesburg, South Africa while I was shopping. The following conversation ensued:

Marketer: Hi pretty, what a lovely thing you have on you, it's too long to be a scarf, I think the Indians call it Sari or what? 

 Me: hmm (some show of displeasure) Marketer: What network do you use? Me: Why do you ask and why should I tell you? 

 Marketer: I want to tell you about Virgin Mobile. 

 Me: (With an attitude of let's hear what he's got to say) what’s different about virgin? 

 Marketer: We charge 99c per second for international calls, I know you make lots of international calls 

 Me: So does my network, Cell C 

 Marketer: We charge 67c for local calls and run on MTN facilities which exist all over even farther than Cell C's 

 Me: Really? So Virgin doesn't even have its own facilities, without MTN you do not exist. I am glad I have Cell C as my network 

 Marketer: We are fairly new, it’s better to build on an existing platform than start afresh. 

 Me: hmm 

 Marketer: You need not change your number……...

 Me: (Before he completed his statement) all I need do is port 

 Marketer: You seem to know a lot about my job, have you ever done this job before? 

 Me: (Picking some products from the shelf)I have never done your job, but I do Service Excellence Management. I consult and train people to be customercentric 

 Marketer: No wonder.... (Someone comes around and pulls him away)....... (His voice fades away as he goes farther) what do they............. 

 Me: (I carry on shopping and get into another aisle) Few minutes after, marketer approaches me in the new aisle 

 Marketer: so let's continue 

 Me: (Pissed off) You don't work off rudely and then come back to market to me because you're fortunate to still have me here 

 Marketer: (Apologetically) Someone came to call me, I am the only one with the machine for..... 

 Me: (I had stopped listening) you know what? You're getting your marketing task wrong. When you approach a customer, you introduce yourself after greeting them. Not all customers will be interested in you disturbing their shopping, so you would have to ask if you can please have few minutes with them while they keep shopping. You won't sell to any customer with the way you approached and spoke with me. 

 Marketer: Thank you; I have learnt something new 

 WHAT WAS WRONG?

 1. The marketer was either not trained or couldn't apply his training in the given situation. 

 2. Shoprite condoning the marketing of other products in their service area without prior notification of customers is an invasion of customer privacy; it could mar customer safety and result in customer deflection 

 3.The marketer forced his marketing on me without giving me an option to agree or refuse. 

 4. You don't approach a married woman with such watery lines, like you're trying to woo her. The marketer did no assessment of his prospective buyer to inform him of the right words to use. He failed at the first 30secs he had to make a good impression. He had awakened antagonism before the commencement of his marketing. He failed before he started. 

 5. The marketer did no justice to the product he was marketing with the unproductive details he gave. 

 6. He had no prior knowledge of competitors and their products. 

 7. He lacked courtesy and customer service ethics. 

 Note: Humans talk but customer engagement requires strategic connection.

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