I will never understand inefficient customer service. How any sane person would invest so much into getting their store up and running, then either proceed to put up a shit attitude that guarantees customers don’t come back, or impress a system so inefficient, it instantly frustrates anyone that dares to approach.
And when these business owners cannot quite manage this themselves, they hire someone else in the guise of a customer service agent/sales person to totally ruin the business. I don’t mean to generalize as some Lagos stores offer remarkable service and if you look closely, that counts as one of the secrets behind their success. As for the others…
I’m not sure what sort of qualifications you require or what sort of interview process you need to go through before being employed as a sales girl in Lagos but one thing is clear for most, the knowledge of basic customer etiquette is sorely lacking.
If I walk into your store, courtesy demands that you drop your nail file and attend to my needs, not peeking at me over the top of your magazine to give me a once over then promptly returning to it like you found the secret to eternal youth between the pages.
The ones who even bother to stand up proceed to stalk you around the store as you are going about your shopping, not bothering to offer any form of help. And when you make an inquiry I guarantee you they will be unable to offer any useful information, so they promptly proceed to get madam or call her up.
The most annoying are the ones who do not seem to understand the English language or even variants of it like pidgin. You know those ones you ask to bring you a white dress and they give you a white and blue dress followed by “ehn aunty there is white on it” once you complain. Or when you ask them to bring you a skirt in a particular size and they return with one almost 3 sizes larger or smaller than the one you asked for, telling you “that’s the one we have.”
Ever asked a Lagos sales girl to bring you a particular item she hasn’t heard of yet? She will never admit to her ignorance, instead she’ll either return with what she has decided the article should look like (asked for culottes once and the girl came back with coats), or tell you it’s not available even though the whole back of the store is lined with the particular item.
So this is an appeal to Lagos store owners, do something about your sales girls and make our lives easier. Lagos is already hard enough to live in. Please we are all fed up.
Sincerely, customers everywhere.