Last week I went to the local computer city looking for a new 24 inch monitor.

In case you’ve never visited China the computer city is a big department store inside of which is a warren of corridors. Each corridor is packed with scores of small shops, many no bigger than your average bedroom.

Here you can buy anything from computers to software to cellphones and walkie-talkies. Many of the shops sell the same things but they all seem to be busy.

Which is strange…

Because they all have something in common — poor to non-existent customer relations!

Almost every shop Susan and I went into to enquire about the choice of monitors showed a “I’m not interested – don’t bother me attitude” A couple of times you can brush it off but when it becomes the norm it really gets to you.

Take the shop I finally bought the monitor from for instance. When I told him what i wanted he picked up the phone and asked someone to send one down then CONTINUED to talk to his friends. He didn’t even have the manners or good grace to ask me to wait a moment while someone brings it down!

Now you may ask me why I bought the monitor there, certainly I was close to losing it and just walking out.

But the problem is this seems to be the norm in this part of China. I’d already spent an hour or so comparing different monitors and knew I’d waste more time if I left and came back later. Also I’d set the time to buy the monitor that day.

This ‘couldn’t care less” attitude is not reserved for the computer city either. There are many shops and restaurants I’ve walked out of in disgust at the attitude shown by the owners as well as staff. It seems the people are just downright rude.

One shop I went into the staff and owner were playing Mahjong and told me to wait a moment. But after about a minute when they didn’t show any signs of leaving their precious game to help a customer I lost it.

On the way out I told them in no uncertain words they should learn some manners and customer relations if they wanted to do any business. The reaction I got back?

Stunned incredulity. They probably thought “What’s wrong with this crazy foreigner?”

Many times I’ve said to Susan I want to move back to Nanning where the people are more friendly and care about their customers.

Interestingly the people here seem to treat everybody this way.

Last year there was the yearly ‘beautiful city’ competition in China and local government spent thousands tarting up the streets etc. Pity they didn’t have the foresight to ‘tart-up’ the shopkeepers minds though.

When the judges arrived unannounced they went to a shop near the hotel they were staying at to buy something and get the ‘feel’ of the city.

And did they certainly get it…

They were totally ignored in the shop for more than five minutes even though there were no other customers there!

Eventually they managed to attract the attention of the owner and explained who they were and what they felt about the reception they’d got. The owners answer was “So what?”

Needless to say this city didn’t fare very well in the competition, they ended up somewhere very close to the bottom.

The thing is are you giving the visitors to your website or store a similar experience? Do they get a good feeling or become confused or disgruntled?

I’m not sure about you but I’ve visited many websites and wanted to order something but couldn’t even find an order button!

I’d suggest you take a look at the whole customer experience any visitor may have. Look with fresh eyes, get a friend to ‘critique’ it for you.
Experience what a customer may — you never know there may be something that’s very off-putting but simple to fix. And when you do it could make a big difference to your bottom line.

Speak to you soon,

Stuart

PS
I’ve got a couple of slots left in my schedule for the next month. Drop me a line to “copy [at] kungfucopywriter.com” if you want me to review a website, help you with a marketing problem or write some sales copy for you. I’d be glad to help.

And let me know if you get a bad experience when you visit my sites – I love the feedback.