Fading perspective.

Words by Dave Butcher

on 09/01/2021 09:39:30

Perspective 2

Sigh.

Here we go again. Another year, another Covid.

I’ll be honest (standard) 2020 was a mixed bag for me, both personally and from a business point of view.

I have found it quite difficult to resolve as a year.

The highs were significant for me :  I moved house to a new area after being cooped up for over a decade in a place I didn’t want to be, in order to build the business. Business was excellent and our small team rose splendidly to the unique challenges that Covid dragged with it. On the flip side, it was extremely emotional. Vikki and I spent 9 months in effective lockdown with my understandably concerned, at-risk parents, as we waited to move house; friends and family lost loved ones or experienced life changing illness.

Despite being motivated by the drive in the business, the ravages of the additional pressure, a month working solo and barely a day off (a week moving house is far from relaxing) left me – and indeed all at 700 – completely shattered. Costumes of men. The last 2 weeks leading up to Christmas – the promise of a break gradually enticing the body to close down – were spent in an almost zombie-like state!

Believe it or not, I am a largely positive person.

One of the single most difficult things to do last year was to temper my excitement at the good things happening to me when those around me clearly weren’t experiencing the same. I found myself reminding me to keep my perspective – something I have always tried to do, since I know how quickly things can change. Keeping things on an even keel is perhaps one of my strengths. In fact, my long suffering wife (also hugely positive, thank the maker) is continually reminding me to be proud, rather than to look for ways to diminish what I accomplish. Perhaps because I don’t see cycle retail as that important in the grand scheme!

The point is, perspective.

Not everybody has it.

I don’t mean to bash folk as I’m entirely certain that others have things going on and times are trying. However, being in a retail, customer fronting business, exposes you to human behaviour on a very large scale, far beyond the scope of a close circle of friends or a broader social or work group. On a daily basis we deal with hundreds of people from all over the place. Modern retail has no boundaries. And that includes – apparently – behavioural.

The age-old maxim ‘The Customer is always right’ is problematic. While it is common sense not to piss your customers off, by definition it creates a perceived gradient to the relationship – one that shouldn’t be there.

Transacting business in any environment, should be a stressless affair, it is after all a mutually beneficial arrangement.

It isn’t always – and it’s not likely to get better.

These days – and particularly in light of Covid – much of our business is conducted via the internet. Indeed, Covid has forced people to purchase online, which has further erected barriers and removed the face-to-face interaction that used to define the shopping experience.

As an example, we saw a significant increase in web business this year with a nominal growth in-store, for obvious reasons. While you may think, “That’s great, what’s the problem?” the internet age has brought with it a level of remove that allows folk to all but forget that they are dealing with real people – and of expectation. Expectation far beyond what would reasonably be expressed in a store environment. Body language and tone play such an integral part in the way we come to understand things – indeed they are fundamental in building relationships and friendships, as well as being ’seen’ as the people we are and values for which we stand.

The stresses of people’s lives, augmented in recent times by the additional pressures of Covid, coupled with a ’need’ for things (warranted or not) and that those things be available immediately, sets us up for a fall.

Expectation is the mother of disappointment and unfortunately in our game – when things beyond ours or anybody else’s control happen – that results in a large mass of unnecessary hostility making its way down that gradient.

Last year was unprecedented in many respects and sadly for us, in this particular area. All of us received unwarranted and often indefensible abuse on a reasonably regular basis, from individuals who could see only their specific ‘problem’. Usually the fact that the stated delivery date of their order had expired by 35 minutes. On occasion I felt compelled to call people out and to deliver – politely – a reminder of what else was going on in the world and that maybe the requirement for some new tyres paled in comparison to the woes of the world. Wonderfully, in around 50% of cases I had a subsequent email exchange that ended in dialogue, thanks, exclamation marks and smiley face emojis – mutual respect and a greater understanding.

Maybe we’re partly to blame.

In order to compete in retail these days you have to have a meaty web presence. We invest a lot in this area, both financially and in time. As a consequence we can appear to be ‘bigger’ than we are and that invites comparison with huge web creatures that have literally thousands of people in their employ, their own logistics and a monstrous hedge-fund sitting behind them. If we’re honest, we all find it easier to curse the might of faceless corporations, regardless of sector and perhaps doing what we do, we open ourselves up to it.

However, we are just 4 people. Yep, that’s it. More importantly though we are 4 people that actually give a shit! We aren’t in Cycle retail for the money – trust me. You want to make a million in the cycle trade? Start with 2. We literally run ourselves ragged to serve, not because we love the stress or answering emails at 2 in the morning to save on the following day’s workload, we do it because we like cycling and we want you to love it too.

So what’s my point?

As we move into what is likely to be another extremely testing year across the board perhaps we would all benefit from taking a step back every once in a while and grabbing a smidge of perspective.

I imagine (and this is partly driven by some of the email exchanges and ‘phone calls over the last year) that it is often assumed that those of us in this trade – as well as any other customer serving industry – are in the first instance setting out to deceive in order to take your money and at the same time, simply wandering around, looking at our mobiles and checking Faceache rather than dealing with customers’ requests, chasing suppliers and hurriedly processing orders in order to satisfy the demands of customers. Trust me when I tell you:

WE ARE ON IT!

When we are in the shop we do not stop. I go to sleep wondering about customer orders or bike builds, I wake up in the middle of the night and answer emails or chase suppliers when something springs to mind and I know that the guys in the shop do more than I ask of them (and I’m not shy) – not because they want a cuddle and bigger piece of cake – but because they care about the way they do their job. Something I am hugely grateful for and an admirable but sadly it seems, fading trait. We are a team, small but mighty and all of us conscientious to a fault.

I appreciate that this may sound a little sanctimonious to some – tis not! I have little or no idea about my customers’ jobs and their particular stresses or how you may be perceived or treated by those you deal with (though I’d be happy to hear your stories if only for the catharsis it might bring) and it was that thought that led me here. Perhaps by penning this it allows a greater understanding of what we do and why we do it – more perspective. I know that I use my experiences to modify my behaviour towards my suppliers and others to whom I am a customer and this in turn has led to some of the strongest ties in the industry – not to mention friends. The bonus is that with courtesy comes reward and this often results in me being able to source product faster and to help customers out – pleasant credit if you will. Believe me when I tell you it works with us as well! 

I think it is beneficial for all of us to take time to reflect on what others do for us – big or small – particularly when the world is so uncertain and many are suffering more visibly and palpably than ever.

So, rest assured – really – that we are doing everything we possibly can to process your order, find out that bit of information you needed to know, build your bike, chase suppliers or effect that repair you needed for your ride tomorrow. If you don’t hear from us, there’s nothing new to tell you and our efforts are firmly geared towards keeping everyone happy. Remember also, that there’s other things happening, Brexit and Covid will definitely slow down logistics this year, not to mention that suppliers and manufacturers are struggling to get / make the things we want. If you really want it, order it and secure your place in the queue – trust us when we tell you that we’ll do our best to get it to you as soon as possible – because we mean it.

Stay healthy and safe and have a solid 2021.

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