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Did you hear that J.C. Penney, starting in the fall of next year, will become the exclusive licensed seller of Liz Claiborne? If you’re one of those smug shoppers like the NYT shopping critic, you might raise an eyebrow.
Claiborne is pulling their merch from Macy’s and Dillards where it didn’t sell to JC Penney’s where it did. Analysts all believe it was smart, as do I, but it isn’t from a pricing standpoint.
Why does the same merch sell at JC Penney and not down the street at Macy’s? JC Penney is still grounded in the Golden Rule.
When I moved to Long Beach, California thirty years ago, I needed drapes. I went to J.C. Penney’s where an elderly lady came over and asked if I needed help. Instead of just pointing me to the ready-mades, she took the time to ask the right questions. When she realized I knew nothing about my windows, she politely and carefully showed me how to measure them. Next she showed me some of the products they had. I thanked her, returned home and came back with the measurements. She continued to guide my choices. Afterwards, I went to the management office to offer my compliments. The manager said, “Oh yes, she’s been cited many times over the years for her excellent customer service.”
Now that I’ve moved to upstate New York, I needed some ready-made drapes for a window. I went there Saturday at the start of their big sale – by mistake. I figured I was in doorbuster hell. While the four saleswomen were all busy with customers, several of us patiently waited.
Why? Because they continually checked in with us that they would be with us shortly. One woman got on the phone to ask management for someone to ring. They arrived within 10 minutes. Another politely excused herself from helping custom orders to quickly get shoppers on their way. All with a smile on their faces.
After I got home I ordered an additional item online. It came in wrong yesterday – my fault. The people on the line couldn’t have been nicer and more helpful. The attitude of service is what embodies the JC Penney experience.
J.C. Penney’s was built on service. The original name for the store that started Penney in the dry goods business was The Golden Rule Store. Said Penney, “In setting up a business under the name and meaning of Golden Rule, I was publicly binding myself, in my business relations, to a principle which had been a real intimate part of my family upbringing. To me the sign on the store was much more than a trade name. We took our slogan “Golden Rule Store” with strict literalness. Our idea was to make money and build business through serving the community with fair dealing.”
“Having made the point of a new store by opening up at sunrise on the first day, we then settled on an opening of 7 a.m. Closing time was when no more people in the streets seemed to be heading for the store. Saturday nights, that meant at least midnight. We couldn’t make perpetual-motion machines of ourselves and on Sunday opened the store at 9 a.m.”
It isn’t that Penney’s is the cheapest or off-price; they have a hiring and training policy that shows they are truly there to serve.
Treat yourself sometime and put them to the test. If nothing else, you’ll get a lesson in what makes one customer choose a store over another and it isn’t due to selection, location or the fact they sponsor a parade, its about the people who serve them.
Learn how to make your business standout.
I worked at my local Iowa JCPenney’s when in high school and was trained in this manner…but I KNEW all the customers and they knew ME!
I HAD to treat them all well, because they’d not only tell my parents, they’d tell ME to get with it!
I’m still a JCPenney lover and seek them out in any town. I feel comfortable in the stores.
Good for Liz Claiborne.
It is good to read that a large retail chain like JCPenney’s still has old fashion customer service. Now a days if you go into a store like Macy’s the salesperson waits for you to approach them with a question…they are not too quick to offer help.