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Apple's New SVP of Retail Went Undercover as Regular Salesperson
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Sometimes it is hard to get the tone of voice over the internet. No offense was intended. If anything, I thought, my comment about, us Americans only exposure to civilization being Dr. Who might get a bit of a laugh. That said, keep up the good job of being British.
PS. Douglas Addams was one of my favorite authors and some of my best friends are from England, so no, I am not racist.
Ditto here...I have no damn idea who Dixons is or what it is about...my bet: Dixons Super Girls?
Oh well, brits and their delusions of grandeur...the empire is dead, guys.
Edit: Fine, London is cool...I even visited Viktor Wynd's Little Shop of Horrors a while ago in Hackney
Reminded me of the worst neighborhoods in the US and Brazil...DSGI - not that bad
John Browett was the big cheese at Tesco supermarkets before he came to DSGI, he was responsible for taking Tesco's up to the next level (sales wise) he came to DSGI and did implement customer service orientated processes.
All those bashing DSGI are basing their comments on what? Watchdog (BBCs consumer programme highly misleading at times) or on on personal experience (if it's more than one then why? go back if it's that bad).
In all honesty DSGI have better customer service than their store based competitors Comet, Argos (non existent ).
Give me examples of those who are similar businesses that offer better customer service.
The 'sales pitch' is very personal to how each shopper interprets or perceives it, many shoppers that buy from such businesses have little technical knowledge and many things 'need to be 'dumbed' down, trick is being able to deal with the techy customer too.
I could say that I find apple stores unpleasant, the way the staff dress and their scary obsession with iproducts, like I said personal preference.
DSGI do offer very good product training material but (when I was there) are not great at ensuring their staff make the most of it (onus is on the staff).
In summary DSGI have some of the best retail stores in terms of shopping experience (atmosphere, layout and range) in the UK, especially their new format ones.
Customer service is on par if not better than most of their immediate competitors.
John Browett was the big cheese at Tesco supermarkets before he came to DSGI, he was responsible for taking Tesco's up to the next level (sales wise) he came to DSGI and did implement customer service orientated processes.
All those bashing DSGI are basing their comments on what? Watchdog (BBCs consumer programme highly misleading at times) or on on personal experience (if it's more than one then why? go back if it's that bad).
In all honesty DSGI have better customer service than their store based competitors Comet, Argos (non existent ).
Give me examples of those who are similar businesses that offer better customer service.
The 'sales pitch' is very personal to how each shopper interprets or perceives it, many shoppers that buy from such businesses have little technical knowledge and many things 'need to be 'dumbed' down, trick is being able to deal with the techy customer too.
I could say that I find apple stores unpleasant, the way the staff dress and their scary obsession with iproducts, like I said personal preference.
DSGI do offer very good product training material but (when I was there) are not great at ensuring their staff make the most of it (onus is on the staff).
In summary DSGI have some of the best retail stores in terms of shopping experience (atmosphere, layout and range) in the UK, especially their new format ones.
Customer service is on par if not better than most of their immediate competitors.
Perhaps, he wanted to improve it, however, the Board of Directors would not let him. Perhaps, that is why he is no longer a member of that company.
Not sure what you're getting at. I've been to plenty. If you're trying to make an analogy between the brands, I wouldn't pick Wal-Mart as a choice given the somewhat monopolistic hold they have over their customers and suppliers.
Here here!
I hope Tim does not want the same sort of shopping experience for Apple customers.
Why is Wal-Mart opposed to a better image ?
They could do plenty to make themselves better.
You should visit Switzerland more often, then...probably the worst customer service of any country in this world (trust me, it is THAT bad - or nonexistent, apart from the public railways staff).
Wal-Mart hires nice people. By nice, I am saying, polite, however little to no skill and willing to work for nothing. Those people who have good intelligence and skill sets that work for Wal-Mart tend to be treated badly by management.
I have a friend who applied to work for Wal-Mart in the security department. His work history was with one of the top rated special force units in the world. Wal-Mart told him, they would not hire him because he was too smart and they could not stop him from shoplifting.
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Hillarious apple trying to justify their hiring of this guy in the face of the UK posters utter disbelief at his hiring. DSG is horrid and you can try and rewrite history but it won't wash. Those stores were a joke, are a joke and will continue to be a joke. This guy did nothing and anyone with a hint of expertise does not want to work there. But we're all wrong. We don't know what its like to live in our own country
Now unsubscribing from all of these John topics
Hillarious apple trying to justify their hiring of this guy in the face of the UK posters utter disbelief at his hiring. DSG is horrid and you can try and rewrite history but it won't wash. Those stores were a joke, are a joke and will continue to be a joke. This guy did nothing and anyone with a hint of expertise does not want to work there. But we're all wrong. We don't know what its like to live in our own country
Now unsubscribing from all of these John topics
Yeah great training material like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=eL2g-N-CRC8#!
If they started offering good service, their customers might think they were in a nice store, get scared and run away. Some people expect to be abused. If they are not being abused, they think they must be paying too much.
And what would that get them? What motivation do they have?
1) If he had that history, why wasn't he working private security as opposed to a dead end job in retail security?
2) Wal-Mart assumes their employees will shoplift?
This guy has really landed on his feet here. Best of luck to him.
Dixons is an awful shop and always has been. I don't care what people write about the guy, us Brits have years of experience in poor quality Dixons, Currys and PC World. They are all utterly awful.
Dixons is an awful shop and always has been. I don't care what people write about the guy, us Brits have years of experience in poor quality Dixons, Currys and PC World. They are all utterly awful.
Just as I will never shop in a WalMart, I will never shop in any Tesco stores. Tesco is notoriously worker-unfriendly and highly anti-union here in the U.S. Personally, I'm inclined to boycott Apple retail stores simply because Browett was once associated with Tesco. It will be interesting to see how well Browett "fits" with Apple's liberal culture.
Mark
Mark
I confess. I know nothing about retail chain stores in the UK.
Can someone that is British please tell me there's another retail chain store in the UK that has better service and what the name of it is ? Excluding Apple Stores.
This is merely for my education. As I said. I know nothing about the stores in the UK.
Can someone that is British please tell me there's another retail chain store in the UK that has better service and what the name of it is ? Excluding Apple Stores.
This is merely for my education. As I said. I know nothing about the stores in the UK.
This is VERY common in retail. Most companies have loss prevention teams that spend far more time policing the employees than they do watching the public.
Mark
1. That is what he eventually did. He was probably thinking about working his way into a corporate position. I also think he probabbly did not want to do anything too challenging when he first got out (had to deal with some bad stuff.)
2. Wal-Mart assumes everyone is stupid, evil or both.
Just to clarify, some people are confused about Dixons/Currys/PCWorld, DSG and where they operate.
Dixonsretail have survived the recession thus far. Comet is almost, almost under. Currys/PCWorld fought off the Best Buy/Carphone Warehouse partnership - every Best Buy has since shut.
Last time I checked, Dixons/DSG or whatever they're called are surviving, turning a relative profit (sales up 20%) and are strong internationally. As one analyst said, if they're making money now, they'll be making more when the recession starts easing in 2014+.
Dixons Retail plc operates it several countries;
Greece - KOTSOVOLOS
ITALY - UNiEURO
CZECH REPUBLIC, SLOVAKIA - ELECTRO WORLD
NORWAY - Elkjøp and Lefdal
SWEDEN & DENMARK - El GIGANTEN
FINLAND - GIGANTTI
Within the UK they consist of CURRYS/PCWORLD, Dixons Travel, as well as websites Partmaster.co.uk and Dixons.co.uk.
Also, PIXmania.com, which is a pan-European electrical e-tailer operating in 26 countries.
So please, please ignore all the UK centric replies knocking a lifetime's worth of jaded experiences in Dixons/Currys/PCWorld. The group is continually changing and Johns replacement is tasked with further carrying out Browetts strategy.
Dixonsretail have survived the recession thus far. Comet is almost, almost under. Currys/PCWorld fought off the Best Buy/Carphone Warehouse partnership - every Best Buy has since shut.
Last time I checked, Dixons/DSG or whatever they're called are surviving, turning a relative profit (sales up 20%) and are strong internationally. As one analyst said, if they're making money now, they'll be making more when the recession starts easing in 2014+.
Dixons Retail plc operates it several countries;
Greece - KOTSOVOLOS
ITALY - UNiEURO
CZECH REPUBLIC, SLOVAKIA - ELECTRO WORLD
NORWAY - Elkjøp and Lefdal
SWEDEN & DENMARK - El GIGANTEN
FINLAND - GIGANTTI
Within the UK they consist of CURRYS/PCWORLD, Dixons Travel, as well as websites Partmaster.co.uk and Dixons.co.uk.
Also, PIXmania.com, which is a pan-European electrical e-tailer operating in 26 countries.
So please, please ignore all the UK centric replies knocking a lifetime's worth of jaded experiences in Dixons/Currys/PCWorld. The group is continually changing and Johns replacement is tasked with further carrying out Browetts strategy.
Ok, so it sounds like the company this guy came from is really bad, but we have our fair share of companies with really bad customer service here in the U.S. as well:
Walmart (I will shop Target much more frequently)
Fry's Electronics (Really, the only reason to go to them is for the selection, do not expect to ever be able to return anything of have them honor their extended warranties).
Best Buy (Unfortunately this means no quality computer/electronic stores with good customer service in the U.S. now)
Now many ask why they don't improve customer service and the simple answer is money. While many would like to improve it, I am sure, the reality is that the companies that had good customer service (especially in the computer/electronics field) went out of business, due to the fact that they couldn't make a profit in this economy. The general public have chosen price over customer service.
Now, one company that in my opinion shows great customer service is Fresh & Easy (owned by Tesco). Their employees are always friendly and willing to help. As to the comment that they are anti-union, that is not actually an accurate statement, they allow each store to vote to be union or not and all but one has voted to not be in a union and that one store ended up with lower take home pay, because they have to pay union dues and the store has to spend money to negotiate with the union. Of course my opinion is that unions have outlived their usefulness and should all be disbanded.
Walmart (I will shop Target much more frequently)
Fry's Electronics (Really, the only reason to go to them is for the selection, do not expect to ever be able to return anything of have them honor their extended warranties).
Best Buy (Unfortunately this means no quality computer/electronic stores with good customer service in the U.S. now)
Now many ask why they don't improve customer service and the simple answer is money. While many would like to improve it, I am sure, the reality is that the companies that had good customer service (especially in the computer/electronics field) went out of business, due to the fact that they couldn't make a profit in this economy. The general public have chosen price over customer service.
Now, one company that in my opinion shows great customer service is Fresh & Easy (owned by Tesco). Their employees are always friendly and willing to help. As to the comment that they are anti-union, that is not actually an accurate statement, they allow each store to vote to be union or not and all but one has voted to not be in a union and that one store ended up with lower take home pay, because they have to pay union dues and the store has to spend money to negotiate with the union. Of course my opinion is that unions have outlived their usefulness and should all be disbanded.
A lot of people would like to leave the UK.
A lot of people want to leave, even more want to move here. Same story.
John Lewis or Richer Sounds both have better service. They have a lot fewer stores than Currys/PC World though.
Unfortunately we only really have two major electrical chains left - Currys/PC World (Dixons) and Comet. Comet are struggling at the moment and their French parent company sold them off for £2.
Best Buy coming over was welcomed, and they did have much better service than the other electrical chains in this country. It was just unfortunate they came over at the wrong time, whilst in the middle of an economic downturn. Really they needed to buy Dixons or Comet to be able to increase the number of stores they had quickly.