While there are laws for protecting consumers, it is high-time there is some sort of protection for retail service staff and other sales people in the customer-service function. Weird that there is none!
My driver in Ghaziabad was a seemingly nice guy, very polite and very accommodating. But on one occasion, I really found him to be extremely rude. I had gone to a local super market (actually mini-mart) to buy some stuff and the ever-curious driver followed. There I told him, to buy something if he needs. So he disappeared into one of the aisles.
After about 10/15 minutes I turned another aisle and noticed him speaking to the retail-assistant. The way he was talking to retail-help was extremely rude and bossy. For no apparent fault of the retail-assistant, the driver was mistreating him. After the incident, back-in-the-car I asked him whether anything was the matter. He replies with, a swagger in his voice “no Sir, it’s just that these people do not know how to give good service”. I was shocked! Then I was wondering whether I reacted badly myself, because he was a driver?. Partially yes. What is justified behaviour for us is not justified for our own employees.
If we draw-back and consider, the way we shout/scream at the retail-assistant/on-line customer service representative for a wrong bill, for putting us on hold or not speaking good english is appalling. It might be the brand’s fault, the customer-service-rep’s might be getting paid partially to handle the heat from the customer…but that is no excuse for us to behave the way we do. Is it?
Somewhere, somehow the repressed average Indian finds retail the best place to throw his weight around. Most of us are into saluting some superior or the other (social-superior, professional-superior etc;) and hence we need to be saluted to, too!. See the watchman of an apartment complex throw in a little bit of arrogance while checking whom you have come to visit. He could ask the same a lot more politely, but he choses to feel like a cop or a military soldier and exercise his authority at that moment. Especially if it is a multiplex office building or a private sector office building etc;. even more so if you do not appear in a posh car.
In India we serve babu’s and secretly all of us want to be served as babus.
I want to introduce you to Arindam Sahu & Raman Kumar Pandey. Two blokes around 23 yrs old from Uttar Pradesh, India. Arindam is a Odiya (from the State of Orissa, India) whose family migrated to Uttar Pradesh 2 generations ago and Arindam/s UP’ite Hindi is much better than his mother tongue Odiya. After finishing +1/+2 PUC in hindi medium, he left to Delhi to work in a big multi-branded-retail store. A bunch of youngsters were recruited by “work-force-agents” who look for semi-educated youth to work in these big big retails stores that we go to shop & splurge in.
These retail-agents recruit semi-educated youth as they tend to stay longer, are cheaper and they can be told that they are paid-less because they are being trained. The “company is investing in them”. By the way a lot of the in-city youth, native to that city do not want to work in these retail outlets or demand higher pay and more perks and considerations. Hence the rural-recruitment drive. anyways there is gut-wrenching Tamil Movie which depicts that part of the horrid story of retail. I will not dwell on it, go see the movie (Angadi Theru) at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SIgM9FvCto
What I want to talk about is the “rude king”.
So Arindam Sahu though from Hindi medium, was the dude who knew most amount of english, back home in Uttar Pradesh. He enjoyed a demi-god status in his hometown of “Anup Sheher”. He was thought of as the most urbane, forward and stylish amongst his group. His friends and sometimes even his elder brother’s friends used to come and ask him for style tips. The local saloon owner used to treat him special as he used to bring in his gang along.
His experience in Delhi with the “sophisticated shehri’s” was obnoxious to say the least. This smart, small-town boy aced his retail-training and took to the floor space with great eagerness, only to be shocked by the rude behaviour of the customers. A rich lady (South-Delhi types, from his description) shopping in-tow with her daughter refused to speak to him because of his broken-english and made faces at him. Imagine you being treated like that infront of a girl of the same age by your teacher, uncle, senior etc;. How would you react?. Arindam dealt with it the only way he could, smiled, bowed his head and moved on. There was another experience where a young teenage gang were making snide remarks about how “dehati” he looks (loud enough to be heard by him). Then there was the educated customer who called him names. Why? because he directed him to customer care. The customer had come to exchange a t-shirt after the due-date was over and was yelling at Arindam because he was trying to explain to him that the due-date was over and was politely directing him toward the appropriate people.
A visibly shaken Arindam is now back in Anup Sheher, working at a local cloth emporium. Getting paid less, but keeping his dignity. But ask his friends and they are quick to point out with anger that the Arindam who returned is much less confident, sometimes depressed and is not as full of life 😦
Raman Kumar Pandey is from Lucknow and his story is not so different. He also went to Delhi and had a pretty much similar experience. Only that he does not work anywhere now and sits at home depressed most of the time. The most painful incidents were (1) a customer calling and complaining to the manager that Raman’s ability to understand them was horrible and why do they have illiterate help like him around. What did the customer want him to understand? A “foreign” brand and a “foreign” size which was not the same in India. How many of us truly know what the US size of our jeans or T-shirt is?. (2) The last straw was a customer forgetting her bag on the mid-shelf of a denims rack and coming back and questioning him very rudely about it, instead of cursing herself for being forgetful. Suspect the “dehati/non-urban” looking guy first, even before you search & check where you have last been. What’s worse is that on finding her bag, the lady turned on her heel and left without as much as a polite & apologetic smile.
Why do we customers/shoppers behave like this? Were we born with a silver spoon or do we conveniently forget that we are not always best at what we do. We goof-up too, we are learning too! What if we are judged so harshly, would we take it?
If we mindlessly keep demanding this excess pampering without understanding the realities, then we will have no one to help us at retail.
The retail category on the other hand is plagued with the need for and lack of the”trained/sophisticated/sauve” help. They are caught between the devil & the deep sea. Well-educated (degree pass) youngsters do not necessarily want to work in retail, if they do – they come at a far higher cost (& where do you think the additional salary is going to come from you bargain-seeking-boor of a shopper?). Even if they are paid so much, there is high-attrition as they leave as soon as they get trained well enough. Poached by other retailers or banks or now even real estate brands who are willing to pay so much more for qualified service executives to serve their luxe-apartment buyers.
So while the customer might be king, please do not bend over your back all the time. Even a King if he/she is rude needs to be taught some shopping-etiquette.
It’s about time there was a campaign called shop with care for those who care for you at the shop. India which has a social-disease of exhibiting babudom, should learn how to be nice back to those, who are helping you buy.
nuff said…wolf out! #stratalogues @wolfzhowl
As I know it now 