Customer service key to surviving retail downturn

RETAIL THERAPY: Gulf retailers must improve customer service to survive the economic downturn, says an industry expert. (Getty Images)

Gulf retailers must focus more on customer service if they are to survive the economic downturn, a leading expert has said.

Inadequate training, a transient workforce and cultural differences are some of the reasons for the deteriorating level of customer service in the Gulf.

Readers of Arabian Business have complained that staff in some of Dubai’s high end stores sometimes know very little or nothing at all about the products they are selling.

“I can understand if people are upset because generally, the levels of customer service here are pretty bad,” said Naeem Ghafoor, chief executive of retail consultancy Skyline Retail Services.

“Because we’re in a bit of a cultural melting pot, your staff has to be well versed in how to deal with multiple nationalities.”

For example, while shoppers from the US are used to salesmen engaging in casual conversation with them, people from Russia and China generally like to have some time on their own before being approached.

Some retailers, though not all, provide staff with virtually no training at all, Ghafoor said.

“A lot of it has to do with the growth rate here being so high that companies are having to play catch up all the time.”

Still, some of the larger firms should be able to provide employees with more training than they currently do.

“If they’re big enough, they should have their own internal retail training programmes. I know that the majority of franchises that they run provide them with good sales training material,” he said.

Motivating an employee who is only going to stay in the country for one or two years with a view to make some extra money could still be difficult.

Some sales staff are educated to degree level in their home countries and have gone into retail simply to make ends meet, and sometimes become disillusioned when they realize the true cost of living in the Gulf, Ghafoor said.

In addition, customer service in cities with a high number of tourists could suffer due to the low number of recurring customers.

International chains that provide good service in other markets may need to become more involved in their franchise operations or their brands could suffer, Ghafoor cautioned.

“They’re not as concerned as they should be about it. I think they should be more involved in what’s happening with their franchises.”

The consumer slowdown could be good news for frustrated shoppers as companies are forced to work harder to attract business.

“When times are good, nobody complains because everybody is making money,” Ghafoor said.

“But when times get tough and you have to go out of your way to make a sale...this is the time when you really know how good your staff are.”

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READERS' COMMENTS

Competitive Edge
Posted by AT on Sunday 1 February 2009 at 13:39 UAE time


When the good times roll, many operations in variou sectors could get away with poor/inefficient services. Now that we are facing bad market environment and steep competitions worldwide, it is this time when the operationally excellent will survive !! (ie not to make an unrealistic exorbitant profit, this is about survival)

No Doubt Customer service has to be in priority
Posted by Mathew Samuel on Sunday 1 February 2009 at 10:20 UAE time


Customer service has to be on the priority always never the less which industry you are in.Specially in retail the decision of the customer is rationalised by 2 factors, one the product and its features, price and the second is the location which means the service he is has received at the point of purchase from the staff of the retail outlet.

I believe all the retailers across UAE should get thier staff trained in Custmoers service , so they go well with any type of customers irrespective of the nationality ,colour or creed and ultimately meets the target of the firm or which he is working for.

Any customer irrespective of his nationality ,colour or creed has to be treated equally at all times. In this part of the world we can't judge the financial power of a person with the looks, its what matters is the interaction with them.

Without any doubt
Posted by Shalini, Dubai on Saturday 31 January 2009 at 10:03 UAE time


I am in total agreement with the article and hope the future brings a better service level in all sectors. A

mong the numerous instances i would like to share a recent visit to Cellucom, a leading mobile store in the MOE. I had purchased a product from the store not 3 months back and wanted to get it repaired. I was told to visit their sevice center in Burdubai. When I dropped in to the service store amongst all traffic, they inform that they do not have service for this particular brand and I need to go back again to some place in Sheik Zayed Road to check it out.
I do not understand why the customer has to run around the whole of Dubai, when all he did was accept a defective product sold by the showroom.
And all the above discussion happens with a courtesy level worse than a street vendor with no sense of reponsibility from the staff.

retail downturn
Posted by ahmed on Friday 30 January 2009 at 15:44 UAE time


no amount of customer service will help...the biggest problem facing retailers today is exorbitant rents...anything from aed 500 to 1000 per sq ft!!..this has to drastically come down

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