The Importance of Being Enthusiastic

Several days ago, I went on a short overseas trip to Kuala Lumpur for work. As is common with me, I normally like to browse at the duty free (no GST) shops which are beyond the customs chek-in at Changi airport Terminal 2 as they normally have the latest fashion and accessories on sale and this time of year is when most boutique outlets have the year-end or pre-Chinese New Year Sales.

I made a beeline for the Raoul menswear shop at T2, I was dressed to meet customers in KL so was in the full business getup,longsleeve shirt,tie,business pants,the works. Raoul has one of the more fashionable mens ready to wear range of clothing in Singapore, and their prices are mid range, the higher end being Hugo Boss, Armani and Zegna. Why I stress this is that I was not dressed like some foreign worker or even a casual tourist.Being a regular customer of Raoul in their downtown shops at Paragon as well as Raffles City, I was aware that the year -end Sales of 40 to 70 percent applies to the Changi T2 shop too.

As I approached the shop, I noticed that the signage for the Sales was not displayed but another Sale sign was displayed for Singapore Airlines travellers, display your SQ boarding pass and you automatically get a 15% discount.

The SINGAPOREAN salesman manning the shop was busy chatting on the phone, he was obviously talking to his girlfriend, or sweetheart when I entered, as his expression displayed it.I went to the business shirts area intent on picking up a nice shirt or 2 at a good price. After about 5 minutes, of further yakking on his part, he noticed I wanted some clarification so he put down the phone and looked at me, rather haughtily and said " Yes ?".

It seemed that I was "invading" into his private space and was providing to be a nuisance to his morning talk-cock session. I asked him several questions which I knew the answers just to check what I already knew, the items with the Red stickers would be marked down 40% and Yellow stickers were 30% markdowns. He answered just to the point,not elaborating and for all intents and purposes 'doing his job'

The perception I got was that he was just "doing his job" - giving the customer the basic information requested and nothing more. No selling techniques of promoting the various designs, whether they were this seasons or last seasons, cutting,shirt size, not even coaxing me to try on a shirt,nothing. The notion of an over-pushy salesman would definately NOT apply to him. Anyway, most over-pushy salespeople, can be overcome by a "No, thanks, I'm just browsing" and they would back off.

I decided NOT to buy based on 2 criteria :

a) I did not want to lug the extra shirt or two and would buy after my trip when I
touched down. The shirts were of full cotton fabric,stylish and 'slim fit'.

b) I was not sold to ; - that is the saddest and most off-putting part. So I did
not give him the pleasure or the opportunity of making a business transaction
from me.

Fast Forward to the Next Day, when I returned from my 2 day trip.Upon touching down, I made my way to the same shop and decided to buy the shirt(s) as I needed some for the CNY.

Upon entering the shop, this CHINESE (foreign) went straight up to me and said,

" Good evening sir, can I help you, are you looking for anything specific?"

Immediately, I felt elevated, I was THE CUSTOMER. This Sales person went to describe the Sales items on the racks, the latest designs, the cutting and material used plus the additional special offer for SQ flyers would get (15% discount, if one presented the boarding pass). Always with a smile on his face and ever ready to serve me.He obviously was very enthusiastic about his job and it showed.

While trying on the shirt, he enquired about its fitting and if I was satisfied, would pack in a new shirt and even told me the discounted price to gauge whether I was comfortable with it. I was so pleased that I almost wanted to buy 2 shirts on impulse (what with the Sales going on) but resisted after convincing myself to exercise restraint,"times are bad".

PEOPLE LIKE TO BE SOLD TO (FACT)

So, especially in these difficult economic times,everyone is fighting tooth and nail for survival, particularly the retail industry.If you were the boss of these 2 sales people, the SINGAPOREAN and the CHINESE, and you had to decide that there was only room for 1 job, because of cost cutting,just think :

a) who would sell more and thus ensuring the survival or even the eventual expansion of the business ?

The answer is obvious,the nationality is stated in this story to emphasise that to my fellow Singaporeans, these are exceptional and potentially very dificcult and trying times,and they call for exceptional performances and services to meet up to the challenge. Business owners like myself are not obliged to keep staff because they are Singaporean, they may be 'just doing their jobs' but THAT IS NOT ENOUGH. However,what is additionally required is :

a) good work attitude and earnestness
b) hunger for securing business and with an eye on lowering costs

Who has demonstrated these above 2 criteria ?

This is the IMPORTANCE OF BEING ENTHUSIASTIC