Do customers really need to have someone waiting on them hand and foot, in order to provide good customer service?

Think about this:  You walk into your local Wal-mart to buy socks.  If you’re a guy, they’re in the menswear department, in the aisle closest to the main door.  I don’t know why they’re closer to the door, and to be honest, I don’t care.  What I do know is that every Wal-Mart in Canada keeps their men’s socks in the same place, regardless of the store’s layout or shape.  This menial detail saves me the hassle of finding an “associate,” and simultaneously decreasing their staff workload, simply because I can find the socks.

But we still need to ask–do I need someone waiting on me hand and foot to make me happy?  In this case, no.  Although my last trip to Wal-Mart wasn’t for socks, I was still able to find the toy cars (yes, I’m a grown man who still buys Hot Wheels) and leave, interacting only with the cashier.  Because the store’s design is user-friendly and consistent, my customer goals were achieved without having a (paid) staff member following me around.

Would that have worked at a car dealership or mattress store?  No.  Those products have a high involvement in a customer’s life, therefore, the customer’s decision needs a high involvement from your staff.  Does it work for a value-pack of socks?  Absolutely.

Time is relative, or so Einstein told us.  The passage of time is a real thing, but how your customers and your staff perceive time are often two different things–at least, according to research by Prof. Phillip Zimbardo, professor emeritus at Stanford University.  In this lecture (which has been converted to an ultra-cool animation) Prof. Zimbardo explains the six main “time zones” that people live in–two that look to the past, two that look to the future, and two that live in the present:

If we simplify this to three time zones–past, present and future–we now have three concepts of time that allow us to understand why other people do what they do.  People in the past-oriented time zones are those whose minds dwell on things that happened in the past.  Last weekend’s party, when their kids were young, or even that nasty breakup in grade nine.  Present oriented people live for the moment, either because of their hedonistic tendencies, or because of their belief in a pre-determined fate.  Future oriented people are focused on things that haven’t happened yet.  For example, planning their weekend, or writing out their bucket list.

What Professor Zimbardo tells us is that we live exclusively in one of these time zones.  But, what if your staff–or even your company–had the ability to switch between them?  For example, a college student working the floor part-time at a retail shop may be very future oriented in their personal life.  But when they are selling to customers, the goal is to make that customer buy something right now.  It doesn’t matter if it is candy or cars, the staffer has become present oriented to close that sale and move on to the next buyer.

What about the customer, though?  They have walked through your door with the intention of buying a product or service that will benefit them sometime after they leave.  After all, you don’t buy a dozen eggs and eat them in the express lane, right?  Your customer’s goal of getting a benefit after they leave makes them future oriented.

And here’s where the conflict starts to get interesting:  You and your staff are trying to get something now (the sale) and the customer wants something in the future (the benefit of what you sell them).  It’s a severe gap, and one that nearly everyone in the customer service business misses completely.

Does it really matter?  Think about this–you’re selling a cast-iron frying pan to an elderly customer.  You’ve presented the item, built the value, and bridged all the objections.  That’s when they finally pick up your sample unit with both hands.  Immediately they set it down, say “thank you,” and walk away.  You (and your boss) are wondering where you screwed up.  After all, it’s a great frying pan, and it would have served their needs perfectly.  In your present oriented state, you wonder “Dagnabbit, how did the customer not buy today?”

Meanwhile, the customer, in their future oriented state, wonders “Dagnabbit, how could I get that heavy thing home on the bus?”

This sale could have been completed if the store’s “Customer Design” had accounted for the difference in time orientation.  Creating a service option that bridged the gap between your present oriented goals and your customer’s future-oriented goals could have resulted in a happier customer, a pumped up salesperson, and a pile of money in your till.  Not a bad outcome just for thinking ahead.  After all, your customers are already doing it!