Why Working Luxury Retail Is Hard... But Not: A Reflection on Customer Experience at David Yurman

If store experience were
limited to presentation and display,
DY would be flying high.

Author's Note: I have worked in food service for six years, retail for seven, and luxury retail for three. Though I now work in the non-profit sector and tend to write from a customer perspective, I feel my experience in the industry balances my point of view and allows for credible, fair journalism on my part.

I've had some really just terrible customer service experiences at David Yurman (like at their Chicago boutique on Oak St., which I used to hold in high regard). I've also had some day- and memory-making experiences at DY, interactions so fulfilling that they approached transcendence.

Neither variety of experience should altogether surprise me, really. Having made so very many visits to so many boutiques over the years, I should expect encounters that run the gamut, right? But here's the problem: For reasons I'll soon detail, I don't expect nor excuse, for that matter, the approaching-poor service experiences that crop up all too often throughout the year at certain retail locations (problem stores, I call them) and at nigh-all brick-and-mortars during certain times of the year (cue the sleigh bells).

At problem David Yurman stores and at Christmastime, subpar customer experience tends to be the rule rather than the exception, for reasons that are too often unacceptable in their needlessness, stemming from poor shopper impression and negative employee service dispositions.

SHOPPER IMPRESSIONS ARE MADE FAST BUT WITH LASTING EFFECT.

According to Roberts (2004), product impressions tend to be made in under three seconds. The same likely can also be said of store impressions. A positive David Yurman boutique impression starts with a doorman's welcome that is followed quickly by a salesperson's warm greeting. A negative DY boutique impression starts with an unresponsive doorman and finishes with salesperson neglect. Sure, ambiance and sensory touches have an effect, but it tends to be instant and predictably good. (DY's merchandising is seldom anything but masterful.) 

And so, as is so often the case, the make-or-break aspect is an altogether human one, hinging on two basic questions: One, was there a doorman, and did he open the door? And two, are sales associates floor aware and willing offer acknowledgement, full or casual, to new shoppers? Yes, from my experience, it all comes down to that--quick and warm personnel interaction--which, really, makes lapses in impression-making all the more egregious (because, really, how hard is a 'Hi, and welcome'?).

NEGATIVE IMPRESSIONS HARDEN INTO SERVICE INCIDENTS WHEN THE SALESFLOOR REMAINS COLD AND INDIFFERENT OR, WORSE, BECOMES SUPERIOR.

When I worked in luxury retail, I endeavored every day to remind myself I was an agent of one of the world's most prestigious, aspirational brands, which meant, like it or not, I would be held to a very high standard. Simultaneously I would call to mind that beneath all of the affectations and posturing people are people, and everyone deserves to be treated with dignity, presence, and  respect.

The service representative who consistently fails to deliver service is an individual who should be nudged, perhaps forcibly, into another line of work. The boutique whose collective staff consistently fails to deliver service is a boutique whose management practices are in need of an audit.

Incredulity creeps up anytime I have a poor customer experience in a high-end boutique (be the brand DY, Tom Ford, Bottega Veneta--whatever) as really, even on an individual or team's worst day, smiles can be feigned and egos kept in check. Too often, though, at problem stores and Christmastime, poor service professional behavior prevails as staff seem to forget that while they cannot control sales goals, customer demands, and corporate mandates, they can control their reactions, authentically or, if need be, artificially. At the end of the day, it is employee perspective that drives customer perspective. To my friends, acquaintances, and, yes, antagonists in luxury retail, I issue a plea. Be mindful of the fact that work is work, expectations are high--it's the nature of the upscale beast--and providing service is not just a key occupational duty and hazard but a brand- and livelihood-sustaining imperative.

So David Yurman Chicago (and all other problem stores or Yuletide-weary sales professionals), say it with me: 'Hello and welcome. We're happy that you're here. You matter.'

It's OK some days not to mean it. It's not OK not to say it all the same.

With hard love,
DYguy