I had to go to the mall today to run an errand. Now, as a normal citizen of the world, it seems that all that's required is that I show up clean and don't forget to pay. But, no. Ask any woman, when you walk into any "fashion" store -- you get assessed.


Shoes, hmm. Bag, how much might she spend? Hair, makeup .... another indication of how lucky (or unlucky) the salesperson who "got" you is. I am not kidding!
Now, frequently I don't worry about the review, and throw on my jeans and trek to the mall and get in and get out. These are the times when shopping is most interesting .... because it's almost like I'm invisible or have something strange growing out of my head. NO ONE approaches me.
But when I'm duded up, as I was today, people appear out of the woodwork to ask what I need, what I'm there to buy and how they might help me buy it. Why is there a connection between being put together and being treated well in retail?
For me, THIS is a true litmus test of the service orientation of the company and staff!
Now don't make me feel bad and tell me I'm the only one this happens to!

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

image of Jeanne Bliss
Jeanne Bliss began her career at Lands’ End where she reported to founder Gary Comer and the company’s executive committee, ensuring that in the formative years of the organization, the company stayed focused on its core principles of customer and employee focus. She was the first leader of the Lands’ End Customer Experience. In addition to Lands’ End, she has served Allstate, Microsoft, Coldwell Banker Corporation and Mazda Corporations as its executive leading customer focus and customer experience. Jeanne has helped achieve 95% retention rates across 50,000 person organizations, harnessing businesses to work across their silos to deliver a united and deliberate experience customers (and employees) want to repeat. Jeanne now runs CustomerBliss (https://www.customerbliss.com), an international consulting business where she coaches executive leadership teams and customer leadership executives on how to put customer profitability at the center of their business, by getting past lip service; to operationally relevant, operationally executable plans and processes. Her clients include Johnson & Johnson, TD Ameritrade, St. Jude’s Children’s Hospitals, Bombardier Aircraft and many others. Her two best-selling books are Chief Customer Officer: Getting Past Lip Service to Passionate Action and I Love You More than My Dog: Five Decisions that Drive Extreme Customer Loyalty in Good Times and Bad. Her blog is https://www.ccocoach.com She is Co-founder of the Customer Experience Professionals Association. www.cxpa.org