Behind the Counter
As an example: When a customer wishes to pay by credit card, we check ID. There are likely a hundred ways to ask to see someone’s ID. Some are courteous, some are borderline confrontational. I was reminded of this when I was recently told at a local store that the clerk there wanted to see my ID. I had selected a DVD set for purchase, and at the counter I handed the clerk my Credit card. “I need to see your ID,” she said. Not politely, not friendly, nearly confrontationally, as if she felt that I could not possibly be the guy who had a credit card with this particular name on it. Taken a bit aback, I fumbled for my driver’s license, and showed it to her. She checked the name, checked the picture against my face, then actually bent the ID card to see it if would, perhaps, separate, so she could see the REAL picture inside. WTF?
Back at my shop, I was sitting at my desk and listing some stuff for sale on Amazon, when I heard my employee say to a customer “I need to see your ID.” I looked up in time to see the slightly annoyed look on the customers face. I got up and smoothed things over, by saying “Sir”. Both my employee and the customer looked at me. So, I said “We check ID with every credit card purchase, sir – sorry, just a company policy. (now looking at the clerk) It is also a company policy to address customers as Sir or Ma’am.”
Once the customer left, I gathered my staff up and we talked about how, specifically and deliberately, to ask for ID. IMO “I need to see your ID” is neither polite, nor friendly. It is what a cop will say when they catch you trying to get into your car with a coat hanger. We’re not cops, not even “GAME COPS” and it is not our job to be forceful with customers. Polite, friendly, talkative, helpful, courteous – but not confrontational, forceful of demanding.
Anyway, that is just one small example of how, as a shop owner, I had gotten away from being deliberate with training staff and dealing with our customers.
Other Stuff I Had Forgotten About
Having spent the past 3 years on the “I buy it, you sell it” mission – I had gotten away from the day-to-day of the retail side of things. Working the store in Kalamazoo, I find that in many ways technology has changed the retail environment even more than I had thought. Now, nearly every customer knows more about the things that interest them than I or my staff does – and that will likely always be the case now. Consumers have far MORE access to information about their hobbies than ever before. Whether that thing is Magic, Yugioh, D&D, GURPS, board games, Warhammer or whatever – they have access to information more readily than ever. Now, folks not IN retail might say “Marcus, you have the same access they do, even better!” - and that is both true & irrelevant.
See, let’s say you are a board gamer. You can go to Board Game Geek and other sites, and read about games, reviews of games, learn all kinds of things about games. You can then go to Fantasy Flight’s website, Rio Grande’s website, Mayfair’s website – and learn more about games. It is your hobby, it interests you and you spend 4 hours a week at it. Meanwhile, the retailer (moi) can not keep up. Why? Well, to keep up with you I would have to read all the things you did, and then some. To keep up with the Magic customer would be another 2 to 4 hours of reading a week. The Yugioh guy, 2 more. And on, and on. Heck, to keep up on Comics would take 8 hours a week alone. I just don’t have that time, and my staff certainly doesn’t. So, sadly, the retailer can not be THE SOURCE for information.
Yes, I read BGG occasionally (reviews, not rants), and also RPGnet, the gin, icv2, Game Trade Magazine, Diamond Daily Emails, the Diamond Catalog, and many other sources. I even discuss relevant stuff with my staff. But, this is general knowledge – specific stuff, like what is going to be reprinted in Magic 2010, or what the new Munchkin set will be called, and how many cards are in it? Well, that is just a bit too much to know about all the different products we carry. When customers ask us a specific question, we do get the information for them – more often than not, our customers are giving US information. We help by promoting sites we feel are relevant, and helpful – and RETAILER FRIENDLY. I don’t want to send a valued customer to a venue that preaches “retailers suck, buy online only”. Yikes!
TECHNOLOGY has also changed our ability to MEET our customer’s needs. While ANYone with a computer, laptop, even a good phone – can buy online, on eBay, Amazon and even directly from publishers – that same technology has allowed us to order more efficiently and rapidly. While we still maintain a HUGE inventory of merchandise in our stores – I now also do special orders TWICE a week just to fill customers needs. Monday and Wednesday are our special order days. Sometimes that means I am ordering from Diamond, Games Workshop, Alliance, ACD, Lou Browns, GTS and other distributors EACH more than once a week.
Yes, while I was building our games liquidation side of things, retail changed. As always – my job is to manage our assets – manpower, merchandise, facilities, equipment, money and time – to best achieve high sales and profit results. I have found that many things have NOT changed. Good staff with diverse skills is still very key to creating a great shopping experience for our customers. Providing that experience is key to customer retention and loyalty – more so even than price.
It is days like today when I am thankful I am a retailer. Yes, the economy in Michigan is challenging. I heard on the local news that statewide – unemployment is at 14.8%, worst in the nation. But, I still get to set my own hours, and my course is set by me. And, honestly, that beats punching a clock doing anything else. Marcus King
owner
Titan Games & Music
1504 West Michigan - Kalamazoo, MI 49006
637 Capital Ave SW - Battle Creek, MI 49015
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