Customer Service Review – HMV
Shopping for a lot of people – and me personally – is about independence and getting things done without any outside input. Buying music in particular is something I’m happy to spend ages doing alone, for the sake of the experience itself as much as the purchase. So, understandably, I’ve been put off in the past by overbearing and majorly proactive customer service assistants, determined to prove themselves useful when I’m managing fine alone. During my last trip to HMV, however, I found a unique brand of service, which changed my outlook completely.
On one of my regular pursuits for new music, I wandered into HMV in the hope of finding an album I was determined to add to my collection. With so much choice, it can often be a little too much, making it more difficult than you’d expect to track down the one thing you’ve come in for. What makes things especially difficult is when you’re as pretentious as I am and have tastes niche enough that they’re rarely accommodated in high street stores.
This was one such occasion – as I searched tirelessly for the floaty surf rock vibes of my latest love, Swim Deep – and found nothing. Depressed by my lack of success, I saw a member of HMV staff making their way over to help me out in my peripheral vision. Fully prepared to shun him and leave in a huff, irritated by my own musical snobbery, I politely waited while he asked if I needed some assistance and got ready to turn him down. But as I explained that I’d been looking for something very particular and had no luck, he asked who I’d been after on the off-chance that he could help me find a suitable replacement.
Amazingly to me, not only was he familiar with the band Swim Deep, but was even able to recommend similar artists and albums by genre so I’d still leave the store with a bag full of surf rock goodness. While he led me to these alternatives, we made conversation about the bands he recommended – and he came across insightful and empathetic.
Once I’d been shown the way, I took a leap and bought something from each of the three bands he’d suggested – and can safely say I have no buyer’s regret whatsoever. His recommendations were sound and I was all the better for his specialist customer service.
In my opinion, this is a very rare kind of service – and indeed pretty high level. Being able to accommodate customers not only in a general sense, but employ expert knowledge within your role, is something I wish I could find anywhere. Relating directly to a customer the way he did – and addressing my unique needs – is the difference between being a service drone and a bespoke customer service assistant.
