7A- Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1

Issue:

Employees in the United States within the service industry are pushy and violate personal space of individuals shopping within their store or place of work because the employee is wanting to close the sale.

Who, What, Why:

Who- 1. Individuals shopping for something specific 2. Individuals who choose to shop as a leisure and therapeutic activity 3. The store reputation and their sales

What- 1. They are unable to easily walk in a store a go straight for what they need without interruption 2. They are unable to enjoy the activity of shopping 3. They will have a bad rap due to the customers talking amongst each other and their total sales will decrease because of it

Why- 1, 2. Individuals walking into a store with a specific item or not cannot assume that the employee knows what they are there for 3. Stores do not see how they can be affecting their customer service reputation rather they think they are performing exceptionally in that aspect

Pushing the boundaries of the Who, What, Why:

Who- Individuals who are intimidated by the employees approaching them because they are shy

What- They are unable to ask their question because they are overwhelmed

Why- Some individuals have a hard time overcoming shyness

5 Interviews:

1.       Middle Aged Mother

-          She attends stores where annoying employees are present

-          She feels the issue is most prominent in women’s department stores and personal care stores

-          She constantly turns employees away because she is the type of shopper who likes to window shop or browse around the store until something catches her attention

-          She has not seen a solution to this problem, but mentioned she would like to see a solution be created so she can shop peacefully

2.       20-year-old Male

-          He occasionally visits stores where employees follow him

-          He finds the issue to be most apparent at shoe/apparel stores and car dealerships

-          He is polite to employees when they approach him, he doesn’t feel the need to express to them that they are irritating him

-          He has not come across any solutions to this problem

3.       19-year-old female worker at Dick’s Sporting Goods

-          She offers each and every customer help because she is advised by her manager to obtain exceptional customer service skills

-          She has had over 20 customers in the past three months show rude facial expressions or gestures when she asks if they need her assistance

-          She is unsure if this affects Dick’s sales as a whole

-          She feels that a solution would be good so that she does not have to deal with unhappy customers daily

4.       Customer walking out of Bath and Body works on Archer Rd.

-          She often has to deal with irritating employees and at the time of the interview walked out of Bath and Body works with no items because of an employee bothering her

-          She believes stores where this is a big problem is beauty, home décor, and self-care stores

-          Most of the time she deals with the situation by making her way to the exit, but f she knows she needs something from that store she tells the employee she is fine

-          She has never seen a solution to this but wants one very badly

5.       A male customer in the Oaks Mall in Gainesville (about 55 years old)

-          He says he often comes across employees in stores that are pushy and that he will actually have a question, but won’t ask it because of how the employee has affected his mood and caused him discomfort

-           He finds that the most annoying employees are the ones at the kiosks in the middle of the mall offering cologne, hair and skin treatment, shoe cleanings, and phone service (T-Mobile, AT&T, etc.)

-          He currently deals with the situation by saying no thanks

-           He has not come by any solutions to this problem  

What did I take away from interviewing?

I learned that situations individuals have encountered are very similar to mine. I came up with this belief because I felt I couldn’t enjoy the experience of shopping and that I was swaying more and more towards the decision of online shopping. I am not a big fan of online shopping because I like to try on the items and feel the material, but when shopping becomes a burden because of the people hovering over you in stores it can cause you to reevaluate what you would like to do. Building my knowledge on the prototypical customers has led to me to believe that I should implement a solution that not only benefits the customer but benefits the employee. It seems that employees also become irritated because customers are snappy with them, but they deal with it because they must follow the rules of their workplace.