So, it was Sunday and my girlfriend and I were out shopping on Binjiang Dao - Tianjin's major retail area. We were not looking for anything in particular, rather we were just browsing. As we ambled around the Nike store, I noticed a rather nice Olympic T-Shirt with 'Great Britain' written across the front. After my native country's surprisingly competent performance in Beijing, I thought the shirt may be a nice memento. And, better still, it was 33% off.
Up until this point, my story is relatively mundane, right? Certainly. However, the events that followed certainly were a break from the norm. One of the sales assistants and approached me. I was expecting her to follow the standard procedure of offering a "ni hau" before standing awkwardly next to me and thrusting products I did not want under my nose. Yet, to my complete surprise she did nothing of the sort. Instead, the remarkable following conversation ensued.
"Can I help you sir?"
"Oh, yes, I am looking at these 'Great Britain t-shirts. Do you have an XL?"
"Let me see ... I don't think so. Because they are on sale. We have 'USA' in XL, would that be ok?"
"Not really. I want the other one because I am British."
"Ha ha, ok I see. Let me see, we have XXL, but it is a Chinese size, so it might not be too big. Why don't you try it. The fitting rooms are over there."
The shirt fit and I purchased it. Even though it looked great on me, I left the store thinking more about the great service I received. The sad is that high-quality customer service employees are a rare bread in China, so much so that when you do encounter good service, it leaves you pleasantly surprised.
Now, let me contrast my experience at Nike with the travails I encountered at Starbucks a few minutes later. My girlfriend was in need of a Green Tea Frappuccino and quite fancied a latte. Both of these products require milk. Something you would expect a major coffee chain to have in abundance. However, apparently, this was not the case. I visited three different stores along Binjiang Dao, and in each, I was told, "No Milk - Only Soy". In the first two outlets, when I asked why, I was met with only an embarassed stare and a repetition of "No Milk".
It was only at the third store that I got any form of explanation.
"Because there are problems with milk in China at the moment, we are only using soy milk."
This was quite a rational explanation - certainly one I would have no qualms with after the recent scandals regarding milk in China. However, I was not satisfied. I had wasted my time trapsing around three different locations, and still I had no coffee. Why couldn't they have told me at the first store and saved my time and energy? Let me tell you why. Because customer service talent is so scarce here in China, many organisations are forced to settle for less. However, the key issue is a lack of training, particularly in communications.
The sales assistant at Nike was such a surprise because she was happy to talk to her customer. When she didn't have the size I wanted, she was able to offer me alternatives, one of which brought the sale. Starbucks, on the other hand failed to effectively communicate that they had no milk. They could easily have put a large poster in the window explaining the problem. Had they done so, my girlfriend and I may have chosen a different product. However, after visiting three stores without success, I was so frustrated we simply went elsewhere - presenting Starbucks with a loss of 60rmb!
Up until this point, my story is relatively mundane, right? Certainly. However, the events that followed certainly were a break from the norm. One of the sales assistants and approached me. I was expecting her to follow the standard procedure of offering a "ni hau" before standing awkwardly next to me and thrusting products I did not want under my nose. Yet, to my complete surprise she did nothing of the sort. Instead, the remarkable following conversation ensued.
"Can I help you sir?"
"Oh, yes, I am looking at these 'Great Britain t-shirts. Do you have an XL?"
"Let me see ... I don't think so. Because they are on sale. We have 'USA' in XL, would that be ok?"
"Not really. I want the other one because I am British."
"Ha ha, ok I see. Let me see, we have XXL, but it is a Chinese size, so it might not be too big. Why don't you try it. The fitting rooms are over there."
The shirt fit and I purchased it. Even though it looked great on me, I left the store thinking more about the great service I received. The sad is that high-quality customer service employees are a rare bread in China, so much so that when you do encounter good service, it leaves you pleasantly surprised.
Now, let me contrast my experience at Nike with the travails I encountered at Starbucks a few minutes later. My girlfriend was in need of a Green Tea Frappuccino and quite fancied a latte. Both of these products require milk. Something you would expect a major coffee chain to have in abundance. However, apparently, this was not the case. I visited three different stores along Binjiang Dao, and in each, I was told, "No Milk - Only Soy". In the first two outlets, when I asked why, I was met with only an embarassed stare and a repetition of "No Milk".
It was only at the third store that I got any form of explanation.
"Because there are problems with milk in China at the moment, we are only using soy milk."
This was quite a rational explanation - certainly one I would have no qualms with after the recent scandals regarding milk in China. However, I was not satisfied. I had wasted my time trapsing around three different locations, and still I had no coffee. Why couldn't they have told me at the first store and saved my time and energy? Let me tell you why. Because customer service talent is so scarce here in China, many organisations are forced to settle for less. However, the key issue is a lack of training, particularly in communications.
The sales assistant at Nike was such a surprise because she was happy to talk to her customer. When she didn't have the size I wanted, she was able to offer me alternatives, one of which brought the sale. Starbucks, on the other hand failed to effectively communicate that they had no milk. They could easily have put a large poster in the window explaining the problem. Had they done so, my girlfriend and I may have chosen a different product. However, after visiting three stores without success, I was so frustrated we simply went elsewhere - presenting Starbucks with a loss of 60rmb!
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