The Right Tool For The Job

Years ago while working for bebe Stores, Inc., one of my responsibilities was the computer help desk, with primary support for the retail stores. I had been tasked with improving the quality of the IT support for the 200+ retail stores around the United States and Canada. My predecessor had a team of highly capable technicians who did a great job of fixing batch jobs and correcting things behind the scenes but the stores were reticent to even call in with problems because it was a painful experience for them to call in and try to explain their problem and would always receive a highly technical answer.

I came on shortly before the dot com bubble and it was becoming increasingly difficult to recruit and keep qualified individuals so as the staff was at a low, I proposed a business case for relocating the IT support group to Sacramento (from corporate headquarters in San Francisco). The case cited lower wages, greater retention, lower rents, and the ability for the handful of people who would move to buy homes. The plan was well-received and we quickly found property and began hiring.

One of the things that was clear to me was that we didn't require heavily skilled technicians on the front line to be able to relate to and communicate with our retail store personnel. Our systems were consistent through the stores and I had instituted a process for documenting and photographing all aspects of the retail stores and our group had heavily automated many of our common issues so we knew what we were dealing with. We still had a need for technicians but they didn't need to be the first contact. I recruited for individuals who had a customer service or retail background who showed the aptitude to learn. We hired retail store managers, employees, previous customer-service individuals, and, most were passionate about the brand. The result was that we had a team of individuals who really understood the retail environment and delivered exceptional customer service. They in turn were compassionate and patient with the stores and not long after our group became the defacto call center for other types of store issues. Part of it was because we maintained 17 working hour shifts but also because ours were the people the stores wanted to talk to. Soon after we became the official call center and began adding other departments to our ticket system. Other departments included merchandising, loss-prevention, human resources, and facilities.

So, the moral of the story is that before taking on a task it's important to listen to your customer needs, identify your own present capabilities, and then use the right tool for the job.