For Me, Good Customer Service Makes All The Difference

I started working in retail when I was 15. This first experience was at Toys ‘R’ Us, where I stocked shelves over Christmas break to fund my summer trip to Europe. My last retail job was at age 22, when I was working weekends at the now-closed Bond underwear store off of Carnaby Street in London. (As a broke editorial assistant living in one of the most expensive cities in the world, the easy money made giving up my free time bearable.)

Between those two experiences, I’ve worked at Hallmark, the Gap, a now-shuttered store in Williamsburg called Landing (R.I.P., I still miss you!), and even Victoria’s Secret (although I quit that job one month in as I couldn’t take the pressure of selling people credit cards that they didn’t want). In general, I really loved working retail. I like selling products that I actually believe in. Although I always knew I wanted to be a fashion writer, owning my own shop is still a pipe dream. I think that’s why I was drawn to the business side of fashion in my journalistic endeavors.

Anyway, my point is: I think I have a pretty good handle on what excellent customer service means. And these days, most mass retailers–heck, retailers in general–aren’t cutting it. I’m not saying it’s not hard. Uniqlo, for example, has an excellent product. But the staff at its New York City SoHo store knows jack about what’s available, what’s not, and when certain items will arrive. (A lot of this has to do with the fact that they’re not paid much, which means it’s a transient position.) If you ask for a specific type of denim, they return your inquiry with a blank stare. Of course, I still shop at Uniqlo because I know quite a bit about the company and the product–I can overlook their ignorance. I don’t need them. However, I’m not a “typical” consumer. If my Aunt Barb, an accountant from Pittsburgh, walked into Uniqlo and they weren’t able to help her find jeans that were long enough to accommodate her sky-high legs, she’d simply leave and high-tail it to J.Crew, where the salespeople show real love and appreciation for their workplace and the products their shilling.

Spending the last week on the West Coast got me thinking about the importance of customer service. While I hate it when salespeople are “too friendly,” nothing makes me happier than coming across someone whose passionate about the brands and products he or she is paid to sell. For example, on Boxing Day, my significant other and I popped into a lovely store on Hayes Street in San Francisco called Nida. I immediately got excited because there were plenty of customers, plenty of my favorite brands–Steven Alan, Isabel Marant–and I heard one shop girl say that everything in the store was half off.

“Everything?!” I exclaimed. “Everything!” She responded.

I noticed a herringbone wool belted coat from Isabel Marant that I had spied at Bird back on Smith Street in Brooklyn. A salesperson named Atsushi came over and complemented my choice, asking if I’d like him to put it in a changing room for me. He also picked up a pair of Etoile trousers that he thought I might like. When I tried the jacket on, he helped me “style” it the way Marant did on the runway. Let me be clear: none of this was obtrusive or offensive. I actually enjoyed the subtle attention. And yes, I bought the coat.

I had similar experiences at Minimal on Hayes Street, Maison Reve in Mill Valley and of course, the Apple store on Chestnut. Apple proves customer service can work on the mass market level–you just need to hire employees that are passionate about the product.

Last night, while researching another story, I looked up Chicago boutique Hejfina, run by the lovely Heiji Choy Black. I’d interviewed Heiji for a piece I did at Forbes about two years ago, and I thought she’d be a good fit for this other story. However, I soon found that Hejfina had closed in September. Why? Heiji said that it was mainly because of the economy. But when I looked up Hejfina on Yelp, I found several angry reviews stating that while the clothes were great, the salespeople were cold and offensive. I thought Heiji was a wonderful person when I chatted with her, but I also understood what the Yelpers were saying. The few times I got a chance to enter the store, Heiji was not there and the salespeople were less-than-friendly. I didn’t buy anything. I do wonder if the poor customer service had something to do with Hejfina’s demise.

What Really Happened At Phi?

Phi, a much-hyped fashion label based in New York and backed by Susan Dell (yes, wife of Dell computer founder Michael Dell), announced yesterday that it was closing its doors due to recessionary woes.

I’m sure the recession had something to do with Phi’s shuttering, but I can’t help but question the real motivation behind this closure. How could a brand with so much hype and positive press fail during what seemed like its pinnacle?  (It was beloved by the folks at Vogue and also well-dressed socialites like Vanessa Traina and Dree Hemingway.)

In the end, Phi is pure proof that hype–and great press–doesn’t always result in sales. As a source familiar with the situation told me this morning, “It was just too niche. Great design, very hip and cool. But it appealed to a very limited audience.”

The source went on to say that Susan Dell was still pouring quite a bit of money into the company; she didn’t want to fund it any more.

What differentiates Phi from a similarly-styled–but infinitely more successful–brand like Alexander Wang? Momentum. Wang burst onto the scene in 2007 and quickly became a commercial hit. Phi, on the other hand, launched in 2003 and only began attracting substantial attention from the consumer press over the past two years. In fashion, like any other business, success has a lot to do with timing.

Vogue’s Covers Might Be Boring, But They Still Sell

Our new contributor Lauren Streib is a Brooklyn-based writer. For the past three years she was at reporter at Forbes, where she covered celebrity earnings and the publishing industry. She’s currently freelancing at The Daily Beast.

For a project today, I pulled the last 12 issues of fashion magazine mainstays Vogue, ELLE, Harper’s Bazaar and W. The cast of cover girls was mostly familiar (Jennifer Aniston, Angelina Jolie, Beyonce) with a few smart surprises (Christy Turlington, Amy Adams). There’s lots to be said about why magazines choose the cover models that they do. But while comparing the rosters across the four titles, I couldn’t get this particular thought out of my mind: What the hell has been going on at Vogue?

When examined over the course of the year, Vogue’s cover cast goes from stalwart Jennifer Aniston to 20-something starlet Blake Lively to first lady Michele Obama to a crew of high-fashion models to does-anyone-even-care-about-her-anymore Sienna Miller. Aside from propping up middling movie stars, what does this magazine stand for? Obama was a nice shot in the arm; not only is she a veritable style star with the required pedigree, but her fame and relevance bolstered newsstand sales to 560,000 (the mag’s average for the first half of 2009 was 384,000). But what does someone like Charlize Theron bring to the table?

Newsweek’s Take On Versace: Good Stuff

Think long-form journalism is dead? In fashion, I’d argue that it’s never truly been alive. But it doesn’t have to be that way, as Paris-based journalist Dana Thomas’ piece for Newsweek on Versace proves. It’s a critical piece that doesn’t shy away from the truth of the matter: that this company is in deep trouble financially and aesthetically. I would have liked to see more colorful analysis on the current business–most of the numbers are from reporting Thomas seems to have done in the 1990s, and she doesn’t detail the differences between the brand’s current style vs. its look while Gianni was alive–but overall, it’s a good read. Here’s the best bit:

All agree that the Versace name still has value, even if consumers no longer know what it stands for. Many in the fashion industry believe it’s time for the brand to continue without Versace family involvement—and some suggest that the family is starting to accept this idea too. Last year, Santo was elected to the Italian Parliament. Allegra has been attending Brown University and has said her dream is to become an actress. And will Donatella remain at the helm? “Maybe,” says the former Versace executive. “Then again, maybe not.” Which, after a decade of turmoil, may be the best thing for the company after all.

If you like this piece, I suggest picking up Thomas’ book Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster.

The Gap Does Something (Else) Right: Crowd-Sourced Fit Reviews

What’s really cool about the Gap right now–even cooler than those amazing Pierre Hardy-designed boots, shown below–is that it’s aiming to do more for the customer than simply providing quality product. (Of course, that’s the most important thing, but stellar customer service is crucial, too. ) Here, you can see an example of Gap.com’s crowd-sourced fit reviews. Unlike most e-commerce sites, Gap not only provides a place for customers to leave reviews, it also asks each reviewer to rate the overall fit (i.e. whether it’s true to size or not) as well as the accuracy of the length, hips, rise and waist measurement. For example, on this pair of red schoolboy khakis, 4 out of 4 reviewers said that the pants fit true to size. For someone a bit weary of buying clothes online for fear that they’ll need to be returned because of a bad fit, these reviews are a comfort. Plus, these reviews result in honest market research–no focus group needed.

Despite its reputation for pioneering the specialty retail category–as well as being the biggest clothier on the planet–the Gap has struggled over the last decade to tap into the cultural zeitgeist. The naughties proved difficult for the basics brand (we were sick of those rainbow-striped sweaters long before Gap designers were sick of them). But bringing on the unlikely team of cost-cutting chief executive Glenn Murphy (his experience is in drug stores) and fashion insider Patrick Robinson (whose resume includes unsuccessful stints at Perry Ellis and Paco Rabanne) in 2007 has unexpectedly worked. While sales still aren’t where they should be, they’re getting better, as is product selection and fit. (What’s more, Murphy is so good at managing the bills that the company is still operating at a profit despite declining sales for several years.) And of course, it doesn’t hurt that khaki is making a comeback.

Why Hermes Is the Apple Of Its Industry

As a lifestyle reporter at Forbes and Forbes.com, I covered fashion and luxury industry news, but I also investigated trends in other areas of design, such as home decor and letterpress printing. I’ve always had a personal interest in product design, so I searched for stories in that world well.

Here’s what I learned. No matter what area of industrial design you’re examining–from cars to kitchen gadgets to medical equipment–the designers, marketers and executives at these varied companies live by one mantra: “I want to be the Apple of my industry.” In fashion and luxury, upcoming brands prefer the saying “I want to be the next Hermes.”

Hermes and Apple are very different companies. One is 172 years old, the other is just 33. Hermes makes money by employing technology similar to what was used when it was established in 1837. Loyalists love that each Hermes leather saddle, bag or boot is handmade in France with only the finest materials. The company even opened its own crocodile farm in early 2009 to keep up with demand for its exotic-skinned belts and purses. Conversely, Apple is lauded for advancing technology and spurring seismic shifts in specific industries. The iPhone, for instance, was a game-changer in the mobile market.

But as different as they are, Hermes and Apple operate on a similar platform: Offer the consumer something that they can’t get anywhere else. That’s why Hermes’s 10.2% year-over-year sales increase in the third quarter of 2009 (to $671.4 million), announced today, doesn’t surprise me. (Wholesale trading isn’t as strong as sales at the group’s own stores, which saw a y-o-y increase of 12%.)  Of course, a lot of that growth is in China, where 55 people are said to be made millionaires each day. But Hermes execs also remarked that sales in Europe and the US–or the “more mature” luxury markets–were also strong. (Competitors LVMH (Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton) and PPR (owner of the Gucci Group) saw y-o-y sales decrease by 3% and 7.6%, respectively, in the third quarter of 2009.) Apple’s most-recent quarterly sales were up 25% year-over-year to $9.87 billion.

Those numbers–bad economy or not–could make any entrepreneur want to aim to be the Apple or Hermes of his or her industry. Is it a good idea? Probably. Just try to remember what too many companies–big and small–forget: It’s not just the marketing that makes Hermes and Apple so successful. It’s the product. A product that outshines any and all competitors in terms of quality and performance will almost always succeed. Seems like common sense, but there wouldn’t be so much crappy stuff out there if it was.