Greta the Great

By Lenny Saucier

I will admit it. I am a 32-year-old man and every time I am away from the great state of Louisiana on a business trip, I go dress shopping.

You see, I have two beautiful little girls that insist I bring each of them back a dress from my travels. And they are waiting at the airport just beyond security when I land. Sometimes it seems like they are waiting on their dresses more than they are waiting on me! 

Have you ever heard the phrase “moments of magic or moments of misery”? It’s often used in customer service. After dealing with a business there are generally only two impressions you leave with: It was either a moment of magic and you tell some friends and family, or it was a moment of misery and you tell a lot more people. If it was neither it usually does not make an impression in your memory.

Well I am here today to talk about a misery moment. As a man, it can be very uncomfortable and nerve-racking to walk into a dress shop. The place is surrounded with women who have a great knowledge of what I need, and I have very little knowledge about the entire process — kind of sounds familiar doesn’t it!

Recently, I was visiting some lube shops in Charlotte, North Carolina, and stopped in at the Concord Mills mall to get what I had to get. I stopped at a few shops, and seeing that I could not easily identify what I needed, I left quickly. My next stop was at a children’s clothing store. Now, I really felt uncomfortable going to a store dominated by moms and kids. But I was on a mission.

Immediately, I was greeted with the smiling face of a young woman named Greta. She interviewed me to access my needs. After a couple of moments I realized that she was not judging me. I began to feel more comfortable in admitting my lack of knowledge about clothes for girls. She brought me through her store and showed me lots of fall and winter dresses. That is where I had to stop her. You see I am from southeast Louisiana, and we really don’t have those seasons. Our “seasons” are Mardi Gras, crawfish, football and the holidays. Our temperature is hot and a couple weeks of cold and cool that alternate every other day.

She immediately shifted her attention to meet my special needs. The options were overwhelming, and before I knew it she had dresses draped across her counter. Having all the options explained and in front of me, I quickly made my choice. Happy with the service, she began the upsell process (matching hair accessories). Once you have my trust, you can just about sell me anything you want. So I bought some of those matching hair accessories without even looking at the price.

Next came the checkout. I was offered a chance to become a part of their “club,” an offer I was glad to accept; I knew that any time I was back in the area I would single out Greta and her store. Finally, I was given coupons for my next visit.

My misery at walking into a dress shop had become a moment of magic.

So why would I be writing to a bunch of oil change shops about dress shopping? Because there are several things that we can all take away from my experience:

1. Crossing gender lines — In all of your shops, you are confronted with ladies who enter the shop very insecure about coming into a “male-dominated” world. Even if that shop is owned and operated by a female, there is naturally going to be some sort of anticipation for a moment of misery.

Greta must have been able to read my body language and realize that I was not comfortable and needed help. I imagine if I were a female with kids in tow, she may not have spent so much energy in getting my business. And Greta could have just as easily said, “This is in style, and this is what you need.” Doing so could have left me with buyer’s remorse.

Do you as a technician, operator or owner expend that much energy easing the minds of your female customers? Face it, female customers are becoming a majority in our industry. They are also increasingly becoming a major force in the workplace and social media. On Facebook alone, women have 55 percent more posts than men do. What do you want female customers saying about your shop?

Continued
[ 1 ] [ 2 ]

[Printer-friendly version]